kurei

I've actually seen this debate go on in parallel on several threads.... Mostly NOOBS but still with so much of misinformation flying around even some veterans aren't sure. So I'll Explain this Mathematically.

Q: How Much Maximum Memory can a 32 Bit OS USE...?
A: Exactly 4GB. Before You start Jumping for Joy .... lemme finish. That is the total amount of memory you can use on a 32 Bit OS. 2^32 =4096 MB = 4GB exactly.

Q: Does This Mean My 32 Bit OS can use all 4GBs of RAM I have installed.
A: No . 4GB is the Amount of Memory you Can Use, not the Amount of RAM.... what does this Mean? it means not all of the Memory is from the RAM.


Q: This is Confusing... how Much can I actually Use...?
A: Different Hardware configurations Can Result in Different Usage. For Example with a PCI-express 512MB 256 bit bus Graphics Card , 6 USB ports, A firewire port, 2 PS2 Ports and the general paraphernalia will use close to 3.2-3.4 GB of RAM.

Q: Where Does the Rest of the Maximum 4GB go...?
A: It goes into the Memory Mapped I/O of your devices. Your I/O devices are Mapped as Memory for assembly level Bus addressing so that giving a command to your PCI express device is no different than writing something in your RAM. It is a very Common Practice.

Q: Can I Use the whole of 4 GB in any way possible....?
A: You Can... only theoretically and that too at a great performance loss. whatever from your RAM is not being used goes to something called foldback Memory. You can address that too by indexing the Foldback at the assembly level explicitly.

Q: With The Same Hardware Configurations, windows and my Unix based Setups are showing me different amounts of RAM...?
A: Again ...Memory Mapped I/O . Both of these O.S. are using your hardware in a very different way. The Hardware Abstraction layer is very different in both of these.

Q: Can SP1 use all 4GB....?
A: Nope . Live with it. SP1 can at best show you that you have 4GB .... once you run dxdiag you'll see that its still using the Same amount in the end.


I hope this clears most Doubts about the issue. Please Direct people to this if you found it informative and see the ugly debate raising its head again.

__________________
swaying to the Symphony .....the symphony........ of destruction....!
My guides:
Memory Usage http://www.overclock.net/intel-memor...os-memory.html

CPU Voltages and temps http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/...5-degrees.html

OverClocking on Intel Boards http://www.overclock.net/intel-mothe...rds-guide.html

DarkNite

Nice guide but you could easily have summed it up like this:

"32-bit Operating can only ever use 3GB of RAM. No exceptions"

kurei

really... 3 GB only...? how about this then..... RAM is read and used at 3.9 Gigs and system is i586 arch...(translated 32 bit) how do you explain that......?

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
swaying to the Symphony .....the symphony........ of destruction....!
My guides:
Memory Usage http://www.overclock.net/intel-memor...os-memory.html

CPU Voltages and temps http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/...5-degrees.html

OverClocking on Intel Boards http://www.overclock.net/intel-mothe...rds-guide.html

DarkNite

Nice

My bad, I should have specified under windows only. Nice desktop btw.

+rep

kurei

Thanks... and you should try this O.S. if youre into Linux.... pretty stable and flexible at the same time.....

__________________
swaying to the Symphony .....the symphony........ of destruction....!
My guides:
Memory Usage http://www.overclock.net/intel-memor...os-memory.html

CPU Voltages and temps http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/...5-degrees.html

OverClocking on Intel Boards http://www.overclock.net/intel-mothe...rds-guide.html

DarkNite

I remember trying it once, it was like 5CDS lol! Is it still 5? If there's a way to find em all on on 4.7Gb disc i might.

I love ubuntu. Tried arch but installing wouldnt work.

kurei

i think its on DVD Media now...

You can even download the ISO ... Mount it and Run the executable to install the bootloader from within windows.... Pretty convenient.

__________________
swaying to the Symphony .....the symphony........ of destruction....!
My guides:
Memory Usage http://www.overclock.net/intel-memor...os-memory.html

CPU Voltages and temps http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/...5-degrees.html

OverClocking on Intel Boards http://www.overclock.net/intel-mothe...rds-guide.html

DarkNite

Oh neat You got me so excited I installed ubuntu :S Ill have to download Suse

kurei

try it.... i used to be a core RedHat / Fedora core guy.... but this gave me their flexibility with the stability of a Debian Distro

__________________
swaying to the Symphony .....the symphony........ of destruction....!
My guides:
Memory Usage http://www.overclock.net/intel-memor...os-memory.html

CPU Voltages and temps http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/...5-degrees.html

OverClocking on Intel Boards http://www.overclock.net/intel-mothe...rds-guide.html

Oupavoc

nice job man, lots of info there

__________________
Oup <°)))><™