$ gigs on XP

[Bob]

I'm told that win XP Pro will only handle 3 megs of board ram. True/false?

If true is there a way around this? I got 2 megs on it now.

MD=foxconn

Thanks
Bob

 

[Dave]

I'm told that win XP Pro will only handle 3 megs of board ram. True/false?

Partially true. If it's patched correctly, you can use 3 Gigs of RAM. If
unpatched, the limit is 2 Gigs.

If true is there a way around this?

If you get a 64-bit Version, yes. But, that would assume that all of your
current software will run on 64-bit OS, without modification.

Then there is the question of, what kind of software are you running that
can benefit from MORE than 2 Gigs of RAM?

You probably don't need to do anything, as far as RAM goes. -Dave

 

[Conor]

Partially true. If it's patched correctly, you can use 3 Gigs of RAM. If
unpatched, the limit is 2 Gigs.

Err, no.

The limit is 4GB for 32 bit versions. That is 4GB in total including
all the hardware so ends up being in the region of 3.5-2.5GB depending
on things like how much RAM the graphics card has.

If you get a 64-bit Version, yes. But, that would assume that all of your
current software will run on 64-bit OS, without modification.

I'd like to find some that doesn't...

Then there is the question of, what kind of software are you running that
can benefit from MORE than 2 Gigs of RAM?

Indeed.

 

[Paul]

Partially true. If it's patched correctly, you can use 3 Gigs of RAM.
If unpatched, the limit is 2 Gigs.


If you get a 64-bit Version, yes. But, that would assume that all of
your current software will run on 64-bit OS, without modification.

Then there is the question of, what kind of software are you running
that can benefit from MORE than 2 Gigs of RAM?

You probably don't need to do anything, as far as RAM goes. -Dave

Based on reviews on the Newegg site, for the WinXP x64 they're selling,
not everyone is happy using that version of the OS. You can have more
trouble finding drivers for it and the like. So it may not represent
good value, as an upgrade from the x32 version. A 64 bit version of
Vista, or Windows 7 when it comes out, may work out a bit better.
(Windows 7 was offered for download, and you could have used that
to test out what a 64 bit OS is like, for free.)

There is a setting in WinXP, that controls the split between
user and kernel space. With no modifications, a single program can
use up to 2GB of memory. If you run several programs, you can use
up whatever memory remains. With "/3GB" and a program with the
"large address aware" flag set, a single program can use up to 3GB.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx

The maximum total memory available, is limited by address space on
WinXP x32. There is 4GB of address space, and some address space must
be provided for PCI bus, AGP bus, or PCI Express bus. On some
machines, you'd install 4GB of RAM, and see a report of "3.5GB free".
On others, this number drops, as the hardware uses more of those
resources. On a machine with two Nvidia 512MB video cards in SLI,
the reported free memory could be as low as 2.75GB. (On a machine
like that, it may make more sense to install 3GB of physical memory,
and only lose access to 0.25GB of it.)

So the hardware installed in the WinXP x32 machine, can have an
impact on the free memory reported, because the machine has run
out of address space to use it all. Using a 64 bit OS can make
a difference, or perhaps a server OS, where the PAE facility still
works as intended. On WinXP x32, PAE is hijacked for other purposes.

"Memory Limits"
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778(VS.85).aspx

Paul

 

[Dave]

If you get a 64-bit Version, yes. But, that would assume that all of

I'd like to find some that doesn't...

That would be MOST software. Currently. 64-bit has a long way to
o. -Dave

 

[Dave]

That would be wrong, at least for Windows x64 OSs. Their emulator
mode for x86 software runs just about everything.

OK, you are half correct. The OS is FINE with 32-bit software. The problem
is, there is a lot of 32-bit software that will choke on a 64-bit OS. Until
you've actually tried to convert to 64-bits, it might LOOK like all your
software will work. But when you actually try to do it is when you run into
the 'gotchas'. This app. isn't compatible, although it -says- it is. The
next one has an update available, for a fee. The next one requires a full
version upgrade (buying a new version is cheaper). Etc.

64-bit OS is only a good idea if you are prepared to buy ALL new software,
and not use any of the software you currently own. Because when you
actually go to switch to that 64-bit OS, you're going to find that you are
replacing most of your software anyway. Might as well start fresh. -Dave