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Windows 7 64 bit and memory

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NS13Stinger

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2002
Location
Gray, GA
Hey guys...and maybe gals...I'm going to be installing Windows 7 64 bit and would like to know if it is necessary to use 6GB or more memory. I have never used a 64 bit OS and did not see any threads requesting the amount of memory to use.

I'm trying to decide whether to get a P55 (dual channel) mobo or a X58 (triple channel). If I go with the P55...4GB will be used. X58...6GB will be used. Trying to save a few dollars.
 
You can use any amount of memory. There's no lower end for 64bit other than what it takes to run the O/S(same as 32bit). 4gb is nice right now, and probably for the next couple of years.
 
Goahead and grab a P55. 4GB of memory is more than enough for Windows 7 (64 or 32 bit) and going the P55,i7/i5,4GB DDR3 Route is definitely a great way to save money and still wind up with a kick *** setup.

Currently I run 3GB and hit a Max 70% usage . And that's only when Crunching Rosetta.
As far as I'm concerned I have sufficient memory for anything I want to do.
 
Awesome! Thanks for the replies, johnz and baditude_df! Will show my wife the X58 setup (more money) and when she says "That's alot for a new PC!" I'll show her the P55 setup...lol!
 
Keep in mind that 32-bit programs will only be able to take advantage of a max of 2gb of ram each even under a 64-bit OS. A program can use more if it is made large address aware but this is almost never the case.

So 4gb will be a practical amount of ram until we start to see some real 64-bit apps and games.
 
I have 4GB and I abuse the heck out of my computer with multitasking. (1-2 games running while watching movies and even rendering music) I have yet to use more than 3.5GB even in the most extreme situations and I have virtual memory disabled.
 
The only issue with 32-bits is the max of 4GB of addressable space. Taking account of hardware that uses a portion of address space, users will see at most 3.5GB and typically 3 to 3.25GB with decent video card.

64 bits OS do not have the 4GB limitation but rather 64 bits OS goes all the way to 8 exabyte (that's 8 billion GB) but currently customer level mobo don't go that high. Most decent board stops at 8 or 12GB and higher end boards could go to 24GB or so.

For an average users, 4GB (dual) or 6GB (tri) is more than enough. I seriously doubt anyone needs 8GB+ for the next few years.
 
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