going from 2 gigs to 4 gigs of ram worth it? will it still run in dual channel mode?

jonesad

Limp Gawd
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Jul 23, 2004
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185
Hello,
I am using Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit edition. My primary use is gaming and web application development (so I have to run IIS, coldfusion server, sql server, etc).

I have 2 questions:
1) Is going to 4 megs from 2 worth it?
2) If i do this, it will take all my memory slots on the motherboard, so will they still operate in dual channel?

Thanks
 
If you're going from 2MB to 4MB, TOTALLY worth it. If you're going from 2GB to 4GB, probably not so much.

Although fl1p gave you the short answer, the full answer is that Windows 32-bit will not use the full size of memory due to limitations in the 32-bit environment. Your system would still operate in dual channel, but if you checked your system it would be about 3.5 GB or thereabouts, maybe even 3GB. Even though the 32-bit environment CAN address 4GB of memory, the reality is that large chunks are blocked off for things like video addressing and other miscellaneous things, so those addresses are not available.

I think I've gone too far now. So the short answer is, stick to 2GB for now.
 
windows limits it to 3.5

i would now, crazy SOB sysadmin at my work specced out my work lappy with 4 GB :D
 
Yeah you technically can add 4GB but 32 bit versions of windows use the upper memory space to shadow out the video card RAM along with other system / bios / hardware - you won't be able to access a big chunk of the last gigabyte. If you consistently use more than 2GB then you can consider it - in the future you can always upgrade to a 64bit OS to get back the lost RAM.
 
Yeah you technically can add 4GB but 32 bit versions of windows use the upper memory space to shadow out the video card RAM along with other system / bios / hardware - you won't be able to access a big chunk of the last gigabyte. If you consistently use more than 2GB then you can consider it - in the future you can always upgrade to a 64bit OS to get back the lost RAM.

i tend to agree, saying that 4gb isnt worth it on 32bit is a bit of an overstatement, since there are deffinatly legit uses for more then 2gb, just so long as you dont mind losing ~512 mb to adress shadowing
 
I upgraded from 2GB to 4GB but i'm running 64bit. When I was running 32bit, the OS would only see 3.25 of my 4GB.
 
Yeha, I went ahead and ordered another 2 sticks...I think in the long run having the 4 gigs will be worth it, even if I "loose" 512 megs. I am a web developer, so I have IIS, Coldfusion Server, SQL Server and generally 1 IDE (like eclipse) all running, so I'm pushing 2.

One question - anything special I can do in the BIOS or Vista to make sure its registering as much of the memory as possible? Or is that last 512 taken by Vista automatically?
 
It isn't taken up by vista, it is taken up by other hardware that needs memory space, like video cards for example. On 32bit, I lost 768MB. If I had a SLI or Crossfire setup, I would have lost even more. 32bits is limited to 4GB of maximum addressable memory space, so everything that needs memory space has to fall within 4GB.
 
If I did move to Ultimate 64bit (which I have - i bought a version that has both 32 and 64) would i have more trouble running games tho?

I've heard that a lot of apps won't work on 64 bit at all. Anyone using it?
 
If I did move to Ultimate 64bit (which I have - i bought a version that has both 32 and 64) would i have more trouble running games tho?

I've heard that a lot of apps won't work on 64 bit at all. Anyone using it?

In a word, NO! Vista runs most games very well. My 3D Mark went down from my XP64 scores but nothing that I could notice FPS wise. You will see a few wierd things occur from time to time, but those are driver related. The newer games run fine under Vista, of course it does depend on the games you play. I can tell you that COD2, COH and MW2TW work great and I have no issues with my old App's. I will not turn back. Just my 2 cents.
 
If I did move to Ultimate 64bit (which I have - i bought a version that has both 32 and 64) would i have more trouble running games tho?

I've heard that a lot of apps won't work on 64 bit at all. Anyone using it?

I'm running Vista x64 and have not run into a game that does not work, and I have quite a few. The only things I had that didn't work were a scanner and a tv tuner I had. Everything else, including apps have worked fine, some needed patches, but that's about it.
 
I worked fine for me. I went from 2 sticks of corsiar DDR2 - 6400 (clocked at 465MHz) to 4 sticks. It still runs in dual channel mode.

I would say you will be fine.
 
In a word, NO! Vista runs most games very well. My 3D Mark went down from my XP64 scores but nothing that I could notice FPS wise. You will see a few wierd things occur from time to time, but those are driver related. The newer games run fine under Vista, of course it does depend on the games you play. I can tell you that COD2, COH and MW2TW work great and I have no issues with my old App's. I will not turn back. Just my 2 cents.

What OS are you using for the system in your signature?
 
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