XP mem

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I

just wont use it all, 32 bit can only address 4gb of memory, some goes for your motherboard, video card and any other addon cards you have, then wahtever is left is taken from the ram
enabling pae can sometimes help, but it wont see more than 4gb, probably more like 3-3.5

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sli_shroom

· #4 · Mar 17, 2009

just wont see all 4 gb.

some see as much as 3.5gb, others as little as 2.5gb. depends in part on how much vid mem you are running

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stevenma188

· #5 · Mar 17, 2009

yup, I believe it just shows up as ~3.7Gb of ram

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t_russell

· #6 · Mar 17, 2009

It will only use 3GB as it need the rest of the addresses for GRAM and cache. It may even slow some things down but not hurt anything.

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Miki

· #7 · Mar 17, 2009

Dude you're better off sticking with 2 gigs. Depending, you'll prbably see 3-3.5 gigs out of the 4. But, even if your system could see all of it, you wouldn't get any improvement in system performance vs 2 gigs.

If you have memory laying around, leave it. When you upgrade your OS to Vista, or if you're waiting, 7, then add it in.

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NoGuru

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 17, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by t_russell

It will only use 3GB as it need the rest of the addresses for GRAM and cache. It may even slow some things down but not hurt anything.

It may even slow things down. That is what I was wondering. I won't do it if I lose performance.

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t_russell

· #9 · Mar 17, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoGuru

It may even slow things down. That is what I was wondering. I won't do it if I lose performance.

Mostly benchmarks. It can throw off the balance of the PC causing slow behavior in 3D performance.

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Blameless

· #10 · Mar 17, 2009

4GiB+ of physical memory won't slow anything down, in and of itself. It's just that 2GiB dimms, or four dimms of any size tend to be less OC able.

With identical memory timings and frequency, 2GiB and 4GiB will perform exactly the same in XP, provided you never need more than 2GiB of ram, in which case 4GiB will obviously be much faster.

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Sullivan

· #11 · Mar 17, 2009

Mine only reads 3.2 gigs.

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crashnburn_819

· #12 · Mar 17, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sullivan

Mine only reads 3.2 gigs.

Its 4gb minus any other memory like graphics and stuff.

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Sullivan

· #13 · Mar 17, 2009

Ya? Well i have 4gigs of ocz mem, and a 512mb graphics card.

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Acoma_Andy

· #14 · Mar 17, 2009

Vista SP1 32-bit can actually "show" that you have 4GB, but will use 3.25GB.

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The Fryer

· #15 · Mar 17, 2009

my xp shows 3.5gb of mem, but mem monitor shows the entire 4gb and i have been able to use the entire 4gb. something with windows i guess. but at least it can still be used.

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Rook_

· #16 · Mar 17, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Fryer

my xp shows 3.5gb of mem, but mem monitor shows the entire 4gb and i have been able to use the entire 4gb. something with windows i guess. but at least it can still be used.

I'm curious how you were able to use all 4gb, and how you tested that. I was under the impression that the 3-3.5gb memory cap in Vista/XP 32 was due to the programming of Windows 32 not being able to make use of more than that 3-3.5.

Could be wrong, it's just my guess, haven't much looked into it.

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macsbeach98

· #17 · Mar 17, 2009

It wont slow it down it is the 32 bit system limit it doesnt matter weather its XP or Vista in 32 bit it can only use 3.5 gig even though Vista will tell you there is 4 gig in there it can only actually address 3.5 (XP will only tell you there is 3.5 no matter how much is in there) any 32 bit Operating System can only address 3.5 gig. its actually 3.55gb from memory.

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macsbeach98

· #18 · Mar 17, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Fryer

my xp shows 3.5gb of mem, but mem monitor shows the entire 4gb and i have been able to use the entire 4gb. something with windows i guess. but at least it can still be used.

32 bit can only address 3.5 gb you cant possibly use it even though mem monitor will tell you its there

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Rook_

· #19 · Mar 17, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by macsbeach98

32 bit can only address 3.5 gb you cant possibly use it even though mem monitor will tell you its there

32bit Windows, I'm fairly certain that one can compile a linux kernel to access up to 64gb of RAM using the Hugemem Kernel, but unfortunately individual programs can only access around 3gb.

This is not a 32bit OS issue, it is a Microsoft issue.

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Blameless

· #20 · Mar 19, 2009

It's an x86 hardware issue, not a Microsoft issue.

Everything must fit in the the 32-bit address space. This includes any addresses reserved for device resources.

Doesn't matter what OS you use, if it runs on 32-bit x86 CPUs, it will not beable to utilize all 4GiB. With the right hardware you could come very close on some OSes, but you'll never actually be able to use all of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by macsbeach98

32 bit can only address 3.5 gb you cant possibly use it even though mem monitor will tell you its there

Again it addresses 4GiB (which is nearly the very defintion of 32-bit addressing). It's just a varying number of these addresses are reserved.

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