4gb in Windows XP

[Amo]

I read the sticky, which answered a lot of questions I had. So props to Nightelph for writing that, but I had another question, which I might be wrong to make a new thread.

But, I was wondering, if I get 4 gigs of ram, 2+2 sticks, that run in dual channel, and I don't upgrade to a 64bit OS, and just leave it at 3.12 gigs of memory, will my system suffer at all? Will the dual channel still run properly?

[ibitato]

Your system will run just fine.
Only that you are just wasting almost 1GB .
Your BIOS will recon all of the mem but O.S can only use 3.x, thats all

[Cyberking]

That is correct. Windows vista with SP1 will show 4GB :)
Use Windows vista to enjoy full 4GB. Have fun.

[thideras]

That is correct. Windows vista with SP1 will show 4GB :)
Use Windows vista to enjoy full 4GB. Have fun."Vista" by itself will not use 4gb. It specifically has to be a 64 bit based operating system. There is both XP 64bit and Vista 64bit. So, you CAN run with more than 4gb in XP and Vista.

[grndragon57]

As others stated you will run fine if you use 2x2gb RAM in a 32-bit OS. Buying 2x2GB may not be a waste though, depending on the memory it is usually just as cheap or cheaper to buy 2x2GB as it is to buy 2x1GB and 2x512mb to get 3Gb.

[Trap05]

That is correct. Windows vista with SP1 will show 4GB :)
Use Windows vista to enjoy full 4GB. Have fun.

Actually Vista itself will only use 4GB if its a x64 OS same as XP or the upcoming Windows 7

[=ACID RAIN=]

That is correct. Windows vista with SP1 will show 4GB :)
Use Windows vista to enjoy full 4GB. Have fun.

It shows it, but that doesn't mean you get to use it. You load XP 32, you get 3.12 and it tells you 3.12. You load vista 32 SP1 and you get 3.12, but it lies and tells you 4GB.

[Amo]

Thanks for the replies and help everyone.

The reason I am going to try and get 2x2gb is because I do plan on upgrading my OS, just not quite yet. I have a bit of backing up to do >.>
>.<
I am also an awesome procrastinator.

[ChanceCoats123]

Seriously, the 32vs.64 is unnecesarry unless you have a server and run HUGE amounts of ram. There is not a huge difference between running using 3.12 gb's and 4gb's in what you see and feel atleast. Might have a small synthetic advantage, but really nothing you'd find.

[thideras]

Seriously, the 32vs.64 is unnecesarry unless you have a server and run HUGE amounts of ram. There is not a huge difference between running using 3.12 gb's and 4gb's in what you see and feel atleast. Might have a small synthetic advantage, but really nothing you'd find.But here is the counterargument. Why would you not use RAM that you paid for? Doesn't that seem, to be blunt, stupid? :eh?:

I guess if you don't own the 64bit operating system and it cost a pretty penny to buy it, that it would be worth the "trade off" of less RAM.

[18 is # 1]

The extra 1.2GB does make a difference, but only on some applications. It REALLY helps with graphic processing.

[ChanceCoats123]

But here is the counterargument. Why would you not use RAM that you paid for? Doesn't that seem, to be blunt, stupid? :eh?:

I guess if you don't own the 64bit operating system and it cost a pretty penny to buy it, that it would be worth the "trade off" of less RAM.

Oh I agree completely. I was simply saying don't buy a 32 and then move to a whole NEW 64 because of .8gb's of ram. Using a 64 is not the issue as I use one myself, but I was never on 32 before this so it is a different story. I just want to say him some money by telling him not to move to 64 simply for .8 gb's of ram.

[rommie]

Keep in mind that in XP, video card ram counts toward the 4gb limit

[Trap05]

Actually anything with ram does ie soundcard and its not just XP 32 its Vista 32 as well.

[thideras]

Actually anything with ram does ie soundcard and its not just XP 32 its Vista 32 as well.It is ANY operating system...

[Venomos1996]

I went ahead and got the Vista home premium 64 with my new system so I could run 6G in tri-channel. Now the Dell prebuilt my wife got (she wanted it right now, not let me build it) has 6G ram in it as well but its a vista home 32 OS. Why in the world would Dell make a mistake like that??? plus only put a e2200 in it... LOL.. Tha'll be coming out as soon as she gets here to Guam...

[thideras]

Make a mistake? They tell you what to put in it, not sure how it is their screwup...

[OC101]

Seriously, the 32vs.64 is unnecesarry unless you have a server and run HUGE amounts of ram. There is not a huge difference between running using 3.12 gb's and 4gb's in what you see and feel atleast. Might have a small synthetic advantage, but really nothing you'd find.

I agree.

Besides, if he use Vista instead of WinXP, he won't be getting all of those extra 900MB RAM that couldn't be used by XP. Vista will swallow most of that extra RAM over 3.25GB. He might gain extra 400~500MB FREE RAM at most, while the performance will probably go down compare to run things in XP.

[thideras]

I agree.

Besides, if he use Vista instead of WinXP, he won't be getting all of those extra 900MB RAM that couldn't be used by XP. Vista will swallow most of that extra RAM over 3.25GB. He might gain extra 400~500MB FREE RAM at most, while the performance will probably go down compare to run things in XP.Huh?! :eh?:

That makes no sense at all. If it is 32bit, it will have the same "available RAM", where are you getting this "extra 400-500mb" from?

[Amo]

I am actually using Windows XP, and since it's kind of late in the game, I really don't see myself buying Vista, I'll probably just end up waiting until Windows 7 comes out... considering it would be kind of useless imo to purchase an OS just to have a new one come out half a year to a year later.

[Venomos1996]

No... That they used a 32 bit OS and put 6G of ram in it... Thats all I was saying.. Thats a waste of a 2G stick.... I was just pointing out that Dell could have made a mistake. The wife was telling me about how much ram her new system has... Then I asked what OS she had and she tells me home premium 32 ... I laughed at her... hehe :clap:

[thideras]

No... That they used a 32 bit OS and put 6G of ram in it... Thats all I was saying.. Thats a waste of a 2G stick.... I was just pointing out that Dell could have made a mistake. The wife was telling me about how much ram her new system has... Then I asked what OS she had and she tells me home premium 32 ... I laughed at her... hehe :clap:No offense, but I don't see how that is Dell's fault. Sounds like they just selected more RAM without changing the OS.

[Rich'[ard]]

not only do you use nearly 1gb of ram, but each process cannot use more than 2gb of ram.
with 64bit OS, a single program/game etc can use more than 2gb of ram, to my undertsanding. there was a thread about Crysis on 2gb vs 4gb. which may help you.

[Cuiiey]

Anyways back to the main point of the article.... Amo, the sticks will run in dual channel and you should be fine with xp with the 3gb of ram you get from 32 bit. :)

[OC101]

Huh?! :eh?:

That makes no sense at all. If it is 32bit, it will have the same "available RAM", where are you getting this "extra 400-500mb" from?


I was saying, since 32bit OS can only read 3.25GB RAM out of 4GB. If somebody switches to Vista 64bit, yes he can get all 4GB RAM read by the OS. That means extra 800~900MB RAM will "magically" appear. But Vista will eat up more RAM than WinXP, so the user will not get to use that extra 800-900MB RAM anyway...they'd probably get at most 400MB more FREE RAM by switching to Vista. The performance might be worse than in XP even with slightly more free RAM.

[thideras]

If somebody switches to Vista 64bitSorry, when I read your comment above, you said going from XP to Vista. I assumed that you mean from a 32bit OS to a 32bit OS. See below:

Besides, if he use Vista instead of WinXP

[JimmyG]

Thanks for the replies and help everyone.

I am also an awesome procrastinator.

You know that the great thing about waiting 'till the last minute is that whatever you have planned will only take a minute!!!