32bit OS only see up to 3 gigs right?

GatorChamp · Mar 5, 2010

Title says it all pretty much. I got myself another 2 gigs today, put it in a Vista 32 bit says I have 4 gigs? Am i missing something here? Is the whole 32bit thing limited to xp. Im getting this info from "system" in Control Panel.

jaymz9350 · Mar 5, 2010

No it can still only use less than 4 (depending on how much vram you have) but after service pack 1 or 2 Vista reports the full 4 so uninformed people stop asking why doesn't all of my ram show up.

boucher91 · Mar 5, 2010

vista sees it and posts it but doesnt use all of it
xp knows its there but doesnt post it or use it
this is for the x86 not the x64

GatorChamp · Mar 5, 2010

Sweet thanks! That's what I thought.

JustChillinUno · Apr 14, 2010

any word on windows 7? And please tell me if i am getting this right, my work pc has 6GB of ddr2 in it with vista 32-bit running, its seeing all 6gb but just not using it?

I.M.O.G. · Apr 14, 2010

If you are on a 32bit windows OS and seeing greater than 4GB of ram, the OS is not using it all.

This is a good explanation of why:

In non-PAE modes of x86 processors the RAM memory is always limited to 4GB.
Limits on memory and address space vary by platform, operating system, and on Windows by whether the IMAGE_FILE_LARGE_ADDRESS_AWARE value of the LOADED_IMAGE structure and 4-gigabyte tuning (4GT) are in use.
Limits on physical memory for 32-bit platforms also depend on the Physical Address Extension (PAE), which allows 32-bit systems to use more than 4 GB of physical memory.
PAE and 64-bit systems can address up to the full address space of the x86 processor.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAM_Limit#32-bit_x86_RAM_limit

32bit OS only see up to 3 gigs right?

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