RAM

[vovan]

I bought a new machine DIMENSION 9200 from DELL with 4GB of RAM with Windows
Vista Business 32bit.
Via BIOS I see 4 dimms with 1GB each. Via System it says about 3070MB of
RAM. I talked to DELL technical support and they said that it should be like
that.
I used CD with Vista came with my new machine and installed it on my old
machine DIMENSION 9150. Via System it says now about 3.5 GB of RAM.
I'm confused. What is the real amount of RAM used by Vista in both cases?
What does affect the displayed amount?

Vovan

 

[Troy McClure]

ugh... just curious, did you search for this topic before you posted? it
exists at LEAST 6 million times.
you have a 32 bit OS... there is a mathematical limitation that defines how
much memory can be available to the os, and to applications. if you want to
"see" all your ram, install 64bit windows

 

[ChrisM]

In message (e-mail address removed),
vovan <[email protected]> Proclaimed from the tallest tower:

:: I bought a new machine DIMENSION 9200 from DELL with 4GB of RAM with
:: Windows Vista Business 32bit.
:: Via BIOS I see 4 dimms with 1GB each. Via System it says about
:: 3070MB of RAM. I talked to DELL technical support and they said that
:: it should be like that.
:: I used CD with Vista came with my new machine and installed it on my
:: old machine DIMENSION 9150. Via System it says now about 3.5 GB of
:: RAM.
:: I'm confused. What is the real amount of RAM used by Vista in both
:: cases? What does affect the displayed amount?
::
:: Vovan

Until a more advised reply comes along, I think it has somthing to do with
the fact that a 32bit machine has problems addressing 4Gb of RAM. I think
that all of the 4Gb is available, just the Vista has problems showing it
all...(?)

 

[vovan]

Is math different for the same OS on different machines? In 1 case it says
3070MB, in another 3.5GB. Both machines show 4GB via BIOS.

Thank you
Vovan

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Is math different for the same OS on different machines? In 1 case it
says 3070MB, in another 3.5GB. Both machines show 4GB via BIOS.

The issue (with all 32-bit Windows versions, not just Vista) is that there
is a 4GB address space and all the memory has to be mapped to it--not just
the system RAM, but video RAM and any other memory used by other devices.
Depending on what devices are installed on the particular machine, there is
usually somewhere between 3 and 3.5GB of that address space left available
for System RAM.

 

[vovan]

Thank you very much Ken.
This is the real answer.

Vovan

 

[Bill Condie]

Why not search? Because most people would not have your knowledge of 32/64
and expect an answer here.

 

[Bill Condie]

I learned something too

Thank you very much Ken.
This is the real answer.

Vovan

 

[Ed]

At least your machine is showing more than 2GB RAM. I have a XPS600 and
recently upgraded from 2GB to 4GB with Vista Business. However mine is still
only showing 2GB in windows whereas BIOS says 4GB. Called Dell and they say
that it's a Vista thing not showing up the RAM and that it will still be
using it which is tosh as my machine is still just as slow (using big
photoshop files) as when I had 2GB installed.

 

[BSchnur]

Until a more advised reply comes along, I think it has somthing to do with
the fact that a 32bit machine has problems addressing 4Gb of RAM. I think
that all of the 4Gb is available, just the Vista has problems showing it
all...(?)

Vista 32 can address up to 4G of RAM -- but depending on the
motherboard BIOS, memory above 3G (and especially between 3G and 4G) is
handled differently. Dell systems in particular tend to reserve nearly
all of the 3G to 4G range for memory addressing purposes, and, being
DELL, lack BIOS settings to modify that. For others, the space between
say 3.5G and 4G is what they use for this and in some cases, there are
settings available to control/restrict this further.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thank you very much Ken.
This is the real answer.

You're welcome. Glad to help.