knight0334
Rated XXX
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 Posted: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:05:58 Post Subject: |
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| SpeedZone wrote: | | knight0334 wrote: | | you'll need 64bit Vista for even 4gb of memory. about 1gb goes to PCI addressing in a 32 bit OS, leaving you with 3gb. so keep that in mind for driver support when selecting devices and software.. |
I have 4GB on WinXP and i "see" around 3.5GB -- although that may vary a bit from computer to computer. People generally get somewhere between 3-3.6GB if 4GBs are installed under 32bit OS.
But for users that dont multitask alot...and dont do any intensive graphic stuff...2GB is already enough...and they wont see any real measurable difference between 2GB and 4GB.  
In my case...I always tend to go with "The more the better" saying...and with ddr2 prices so low lately...you cant go wrong nor broke if you buy 4GB.   |
It will depend on your PCI devices. If you have a 512mb video card and 4gb of ram - you will have about 3.5gb of ram open for addressing(before other devices are addressed). If you have (2) 512mb video cards - you will have 3.0gb. (4) 512mb VGA cards - 2gb of addressable memory.
Even some sound cards have addressed memory too - so you will lose addressing to that as well. Or buffered LAN cards, RAID controllers, etc.. etc..
The point being is 32bit OS's are limited to 4gb of addressed memory. The end of which is where the PCI devices are addressed. VGA, sound, LAN, RAID, and many other devices will dig into the addressing tables.
But, 64bit OS's aren't quite the cure either. They use a larger footprint and cache more(Vista is bad for it). 8gb 64bit system is typically equivalent to a 4gb 32bit system.
But nearly all 32 and 64 bit applications are written to only use upto 2gb of memory. Want more out of your memory - stay away from Vista. stripped Vista @ 2.0gb used ram vs. stripped XP Pro @ 100mb.
Last edited by knight0334 on Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:08:43; edited 2 times in total |
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