4GB in a 32 bit system...

[Levi]

Ok, so I know that xp (the 32 bit version at least) has problems with using more than 3GB of RAM because of Physical Address Extension. Or so I thought.

When I go into settings it shows me 3.25Gb of RAM. I thought you couldn't have more than 3GB?

Also, since I have to RMA my memory anyway would it be better to go ahead and buy 2x2GB sticks as I did this first time, or would it be better to buy 3x1GB sticks?

[Drayu]

2x2gb is better, but why if you have a 32bit system?

[Levi]

In further discussion, is 2x2GB going to have a real world performance gain over 2x1GB? Because 1GB dimms are way cheaper. lol

[Drayu]

if you system can address 4gigs at 2x2gig, it will be faster than 2x1gig because you have more memory to hold more tasks without having to go to virtual memory (pinging you HDD constantly).

[ThaDoctah]

Originally Posted by Drayu

2x2gb is better, but why if you have a 32bit system?

The max RAM your 32-bit OS will "see" and use is something like 3.15 GB. To achieve the max and still have your dual channel architecture functioning is to install a 2x2 GB RAM kit.

[Tonk]

the truth behind a 32 bit system is that it can address a TOTAL (including any audio buffer... video ram... and a few other small memory items) is 4gb... if you have a 512mb video card, adn your audio card is 128mb... and give or take an other 128mb in random non-specific addressed memory, that leaves you with 3.25gb left to address to the system memory, and 1gb dimms are not that much cheaper.... 2x1gb = $70 name brand... 2x2gb = $80 name brand...
i have a 64bit os, and i have 8gb ram.. i disabled my page file so my hard drive is no longer being called for information, its all on my ram all the time, it is a world of difference faster imho, and 64bit os can address 128gb of ram.. so im good to go for a while (64bit server versions can address 2TB) while running my task manager, i have seen my system use roughly 6gb of ram at the most.. but that was with TF2 running taking 1.1gb, 15 tabs of firefox running (no page file means every tab is in memory, and thus, doesnet need to be loaded from the HD.. its already there and takes no time to tab over) firefox was taking 700mb of ram.....

[Bamboo]

Go with some good name brand 4 gigs.
Vista is much happier with more than 2 gigs, and I can actually tell a difference between 3 and 4 gigs. I started playing ARMA, and have to drop back to 3 gigs to get it to run till a new patch comes out, and I can tell when I have the full 4 gigs running.
And besides, in a year or so you will probably decide to upgrade to 64bit, once the majority of games has support for it and games start wanting to use more than 2 gigs by themselves.

[birdie_in_Texas]

OH hell bamboo...here we go again..i did not even think about an OS when i started planning upgrades/builds for friends..

i guess i need to find out what works in 64-bit and what does not..

FFoW
BF2
PoE2
CoD4

maybe i want to go on to 64-bit Vista instead of 64-bit XP..?

[Bamboo]

I would.
And all those games work on Vista 64.
I play POE and BF2/Reality Mod, and know other guys that play COD4.

By the time you build, Service Pack 1 will be offically out as well.

[Ferris Bueller]

I can vouch for that. All 4 games mentioned run in Vista 64. I did the same thing that tonk did with the page file and I'd have to agree. The recall is a good leap faster than having to pull from the hard drive.

[Drayu]

go with vista 64, better choice long term than xp64. and yes, all games run fine. HUGE difference going from 2gigs to 4 gigs! If my board behaved better with 8 gigs, I would have gone that route for sure!

[TOOmuchMcLovin]

Yep, to clarify

memory is assigned in HEX, which is just another number system, instead of 10 base like the normal one it is 17.

00000001 = 1
0000000f =17
that said a 32bit uses 8 bit hex to assign memory addresses which happens to address 2(e32) {2 to the 32nd power} = 4,294,967,296 bytes of memory, or 4 gibibytes (GiB).

a 64 bit processor with an os that takes advantage of it uses 01234567A plus another 8 bits

the resulting max memory addressing is 18,446,744,073,709,552,000 (or 16777216 terabytes) of course our hardware doesn't support that yet but it leaves it open to the future

[MagnaCentipede]

Reading the above post, my higher functions want to believe it is an intentional farce, but I'm going to take it seriously because computers are serious business.


"Yep, to clarify
memory is assigned in HEX, which is just another number system, instead of 10 base like the normal one it is 17."

I am officially banning you from talking about computers, online, irl, and in your dreams, for flagrant distribution of misinformation.

Hexadecimal means "six and ten"-al, 16. Thus, 0x1 is 1, 0x10 is 16, 0xF is 15.

GB = Gigabytes; gibs are chunks of people who didn't keep their heads down, and "gibibyte" is a sample of newspeak that tests what's the stupidest thing They can convince their sheep to bleet.

You've rounded up to the thousand for some reason with your Nice Long Figure. If you're going to quote a large integer, don't cheat us on the significant figures. 18,446,744,073,709,551,616.

[ScratchMonkey]

Moreover, memory is not "assigned" in hex. Rather, hex is a convenient way to express numbers that are powers of 2 in a compact form. Most computer parts come in a power of 2 size. You could give its size in binary as a 1 followed by a bunch of zeroes. Hex lets you group all the foursomes of bits, so it takes 1/4 the digits to express a binary number in hex.