What are the ram limitations under older operating systems?

[csu]

I think XP can support up to 4gb ram, right? What about win2k, me, 98, and 95?

 

[elBogg]

as far as i know win98 will only use up to 256mb, so anything more is a waste

 

[rogerdugans]

Win2k and WinXP are basically the same thing- NT5; there capabilities are pretty much the same really.

Win9x was reported by many to have problems with more than 384mb of ram but there is a regedit hack for those who need it that fixes the issue. I know some people that were running with a gig of ram.

Windows 3.1 ran in dos so it was limited by the version of dos you used.......if you remember dos

 

[Fever]

Windows XP is limited to the ammount of RAM that your motherboard can support, I think.

 

[oops]

Windows XP is limited to the ammount of RAM that your motherboard can support, I think.

what I know is WinXP can take any amount of RAM without giving error, but the performance will decrease once above 768MB.

 

[csu]

what I know is WinXP can take any amount of RAM without giving error, but the performance will decrease once above 768MB.

oh that's bad news, I was thinking of getting 1gb of ram in dual channel ddr setup, as 512mb may not be enough after a year.

 

[oops]

That information first I saw someone said a web site posted the testing resaults of a system with different amount of RAM. So that was just "heard about".

BUT, just now, I did a test myself !!!
(I am on WinXP Pro)

I ran my 2.4B at default speed with 3:4 ratio for RAM.

First I ran test with 2 sticks of 512MB Corsair DDR PC3200 RAM, that's total 1024MB PC3200 RAM.

Then I took out 1 stick, and I ran the test with 1 stick 512MB.

and PCmark2002 shows

(under exectly same condition)

with 1024MB RAM
CPU 5796
Mem 5770
HDD 925

---------------------
with 512MB RAM

CPU 5821
Mem 5972
HDD 950


That was under exectly same condition.
here are the links to my resaults
(NOTE: PCmark shows CPU frequence 50MHZ BELOW the actually speed)

1024MB RAM
http://service.madonion.com/compare?pcm=843515

512MB RAM
http://service.madonion.com/compare?pcm=843591


So, what do you think now??

So many people said "WinXP" can use unlimited RAM. Worth it?

 

[csu]

So, what do you think now??

I think I'll go with two sticks of Samsung 256mb pc2100 for the dual channel DDR setup.

What exactly makes 1gb ram have lower performance than 512mb though? Maybe dual channel 1gb will get better score than dual channel 512mb...?

In terms of gaming performance, does 1gb have advantage over 512mb?

 

[oops]

What exactly makes 1gb ram have lower performance than 512mb though?

It's not the RAM problem, it's the WindowsXP cannot manage memory well once above 768MB. So even the dual channel DDR will be the same resault.

 

[rottenspam]

Windows 3.0 Supports 1 meg (really 640K) in real mode, 16 Megs in 286 protected mode, and 256Megs in 386 Enhanced Mode
Windows 3.11 supports 16 Megs in 286 Protected mode, 256 Megs in 386 enhanced mode.
Windows 95/95/ME claim support for up to 2gigs of ram, though it has known problems with systems containing more than 512Megs of RAM.
Windows NT 3.51/4.0/2000/XP all support 4 gigs of RAM, though really only 3.5 is possible, since the other 512K of address space is reserverd for system I/O aka PCI,AGP and other devices.
Windows 2000 Advanced Server support 64gigs of ram by take advantage of the Pentium PRO introduced 36bit address mode. Pentium PRO AKA, Pentium II/III, and was later adopted by the PIV.

 

[oops]

Windows 3.0 Supports 1 meg (really 640K) in real mode, 16 Megs in 286 protected mode, and 256Megs in 386 Enhanced Mode
Windows 3.11 supports 16 Megs in 286 Protected mode, 256 Megs in 386 enhanced mode.
Windows 95/95/ME claim support for up to 2gigs of ram, though it has known problems with systems containing more than 512Megs of RAM.
Windows NT 3.51/4.0/2000/XP all support 4 gigs of RAM, though really only 3.5 is possible, since the other 512K of address space is reserverd for system I/O aka PCI,AGP and other devices.
Windows 2000 Advanced Server support 64gigs of ram by take advantage of the Pentium PRO introduced 36bit address mode. Pentium PRO AKA, Pentium II/III, and was later adopted by the PIV.

Max support is one thing, performance change is another thing ....