Ram upgrade

[Robert]

i want to upgrade my Ram, from 3Gb to 6Gb: i have Vista.

How do i find out what type of Memory Ram do i have on my pc?

Thanks

 

[Dave]

If you have Vista 32 bit, there's no point in adding any more.
Crucial has a tool to scan & determine what you have...
http://crucial.com/

 

[Robert]

If you have Vista 32 bit, there's no point in adding any more.

Why? You'r saying that if i add more memory i see no results?

 

[Dave]

Dunno, do you have 32 bit?

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000811.html

 

[Gordon]

Why? You'r saying that if i add more memory i see no results?

If you have 32 bit, yes. 32 bit won't utilise more than about 3.5 GB.....

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Why? You'r saying that if i add more memory i see no results?

I'm not Dave, but yes, that's what he's saying, and he's correct.

Note several points:

1. All 32-bit versions of Windows (not just XP) have a 4GB address
space. That's the theoretical upper limit beyond which you can not go.
2. But you can't even use the entire 4GB of address space. Even though
you have a 4GB address space, you 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.

Note that the hardware is using the address *space*, not the actual
RAM itself. The rest of the RAM goes unused because there is no
address space to map it too.

3. To use more than 3.something GB, you have to use 64-bit Windows.

4. If you were running 64-bit Windows, and went to 6GB of RAM, Windows
would be able to see and use it. But that's still not the same as
saying that you would see any performance benefit from it. Despite the
many people who continually repeat "the more memory the better,"
that's true only up to a point. Once you have enough RAM so that the
system is no longer paging, any additional RAM does next to nothing
for you. At what point that happens depends on what apps you run, but
for most people running Vista that point is somewhere between 2-3GB,
and except for those doing something like editing videos or large
photographic images, is almost always no greater than 3GB.

 

[Northwoodian]

I'm not Dave, but yes, that's what he's saying, and he's correct.

Note several points:

1. All 32-bit versions of Windows (not just XP) have a 4GB address
space. That's the theoretical upper limit beyond which you can not go.
2. But you can't even use the entire 4GB of address space. Even though
you have a 4GB address space, you 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.

Note that the hardware is using the address *space*, not the actual
RAM itself. The rest of the RAM goes unused because there is no
address space to map it too.

3. To use more than 3.something GB, you have to use 64-bit Windows.

4. If you were running 64-bit Windows, and went to 6GB of RAM, Windows
would be able to see and use it. But that's still not the same as
saying that you would see any performance benefit from it. Despite the
many people who continually repeat "the more memory the better,"
that's true only up to a point. Once you have enough RAM so that the
system is no longer paging, any additional RAM does next to nothing
for you. At what point that happens depends on what apps you run, but
for most people running Vista that point is somewhere between 2-3GB,
and except for those doing something like editing videos or large
photographic images, is almost always no greater than 3GB.

Thank you Ken for a simple explanation of this perennial question; Keep then
coming to help broaden the community knowledge.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thank you Ken for a simple explanation of this perennial question; Keep then
coming to help broaden the community knowledge.

You're welcome. Glad to help.