32-bit editions of Windows XP Pro and Windows Vista

[Guest]

I have read several technical articles which note that the 32-bit editions of
Windows XP Pro or Windows Vista -- as opposed to the 64-bit editions --
cannot take advantage of anything more than 4 GB of RAM. Beyond this point
it is, essentially, a waste of money to have additional RAM on board.

Is this technically true?

The reason that I'm asking is because we are presently considering the
acquisition of a new desktop computer for our small business. We would
certainly like to be able to take advantage of more than 4 GB of RAM with the
Vista 64-bit edition. However, one of the key pieces of software that we use
is 32-bit only -- Dragon NaturallySpeaking (now owned by Nuance). According
to technical specs on the support webpage (of NaturallySpeaking) it simply
cannot run on a 64 bit OS.

Both my wife and I suffer from repetitive motions stress, i.e. carpal tunnel
syndrome and other repetitive motion problems, which makes reliance upon
voice-recognition software a must.

The next version of NaturallySpeaking is expected to be able to run on the
64-bit edition of Vista. Unfortunately, this upgrade will probably not be
available until late 2008.

In the meantime, we desperately need to move forward with the acquisition of
a new system.

Bottom line question: if we ended up ordering 8 GB of RAM, for instance, in
use with the 32-bit edition of Windows Vista, is the extra 4 GB of RAM going
to go completely unused? Or will the operating system still be able to
utilize some of this extra memory?

Thanks!

 

[Brian A.]

I have read several technical articles which note that the 32-bit editions of
Windows XP Pro or Windows Vista -- as opposed to the 64-bit editions --
cannot take advantage of anything more than 4 GB of RAM. Beyond this point
it is, essentially, a waste of money to have additional RAM on board.

Is this technically true?

The reason that I'm asking is because we are presently considering the
acquisition of a new desktop computer for our small business. We would
certainly like to be able to take advantage of more than 4 GB of RAM with the
Vista 64-bit edition. However, one of the key pieces of software that we use
is 32-bit only -- Dragon NaturallySpeaking (now owned by Nuance). According
to technical specs on the support webpage (of NaturallySpeaking) it simply
cannot run on a 64 bit OS.

Both my wife and I suffer from repetitive motions stress, i.e. carpal tunnel
syndrome and other repetitive motion problems, which makes reliance upon
voice-recognition software a must.

The next version of NaturallySpeaking is expected to be able to run on the
64-bit edition of Vista. Unfortunately, this upgrade will probably not be
available until late 2008.

In the meantime, we desperately need to move forward with the acquisition of
a new system.

Bottom line question: if we ended up ordering 8 GB of RAM, for instance, in
use with the 32-bit edition of Windows Vista, is the extra 4 GB of RAM going
to go completely unused? Or will the operating system still be able to
utilize some of this extra memory?

Thanks!

Memory Limits for Windows Releases
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/aa366778.aspx


--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have read several technical articles which note that the 32-bit editions of
Windows XP Pro or Windows Vista -- as opposed to the 64-bit editions --
cannot take advantage of anything more than 4 GB of RAM. Beyond this point
it is, essentially, a waste of money to have additional RAM on board.

Is this technically true?

Yes, but the situation is actually worse than that.

All 32-bit versions of Windows (not just XP and Vista) have a 4GB
address space. However they can only use *around* 3.1GB of RAM. That's
because some of that space is used by hardware and not available to
the operating system and applications. The amount you can use varies,
depending on what hardware you have installed, but is usually around
3.1GB. But I've seen numbers as high as 3.5GB.

The reason that I'm asking is because we are presently considering the
acquisition of a new desktop computer for our small business. We would
certainly like to be able to take advantage of more than 4 GB of RAM with the
Vista 64-bit edition.

Why? Very few Vista users can make effective us of that much RAM.
Unless you run particularly memory-hungry applications like video
editing or photographic editing of very large images, that 3GB
restriction shouldn't impact you in any way.

However, one of the key pieces of software that we use
is 32-bit only -- Dragon NaturallySpeaking (now owned by Nuance). According
to technical specs on the support webpage (of NaturallySpeaking) it simply
cannot run on a 64 bit OS.

Both my wife and I suffer from repetitive motions stress, i.e. carpal tunnel
syndrome and other repetitive motion problems, which makes reliance upon
voice-recognition software a must.

The next version of NaturallySpeaking is expected to be able to run on the
64-bit edition of Vista. Unfortunately, this upgrade will probably not be
available until late 2008.

In the meantime, we desperately need to move forward with the acquisition of
a new system.

Bottom line question: if we ended up ordering 8 GB of RAM, for instance, in
use with the 32-bit edition of Windows Vista, is the extra 4 GB of RAM going
to go completely unused?

Yes, the extra *5* GB (approximately) will go completely unused.

However, once again, it is highly unlikely that you would see any
performance difference between 3GB and 8GB, even if all 8GB were
usable. Despite what many people mindlessly repeat, more RAM is *not*
always better. That's only true up to a point, and that point is below
3GB for almost everyone, even those running Vista.

Or will the operating system still be able to
utilize some of this extra memory?

Get a new computer with a 64-bit CPU, and then you have the following
two choices:

1. Get your new computer with 32-bit Vista and 3GB of RAM

2. Put Windows XP (if yours is a retail version, not OEM, you can
transfer it from your old computer) on your new computer (also with
3GB), and upgrade to more RAM, 64-bit Vista and the new version of
Dragon NaturallySpeaking when it comes out.

Unless you are one of the rare people who really need more than 3GB, I
recommend choice 1.