The Real 32-bit Vista Sweet Spot.

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Deth

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I recently purchased a new computer designed to allow me to have the highest quality settings and best performance in any game I play. I used to dislike Vista on my old computer because of the hardware requirements for it to run smoothly while being aesthetically pleasing. Now I love Vista mainly because it was free for me (IST major at PSU) and because of DirectX 10. (love my GeForce 8800 GTX)

I love 32-bit Vista because I have experienced no issues with drivers and everything seems to be running perfectly so far. And now, we're coming to my main question. I currently have 2GB of DDR2 memory, but I am thinking about getting another 2GB. I have read enough articles on the subject of the current situation to fill a library so let's not make another entire thread dedicated to the reason 4GB might be a bad idea. (I don't want to hear about the limit of 4MB of virtual address space in 32-bit Vista and that my Video card and other hardware will take some of the virtual address space thereby only showing me ~3GB of memory in Vista.)

Actually, my first question is. Is anyone using 32-bit Vista, have 4GB+ RAM, and Vista actually shows 4GB+? And if you're one of the many people who have doubts or problems with this, read this:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929580

I am dying to know if enabling PAE mode will fix this and allow 32-bit Vista to actually see the entire 4GB of physical memory like BIOS would.

I have heard no reports that enabling PAE mode actually worked for anyone, yet Microsoft claims this is the fix if you meet the specified requirements.

Because, if enabling PAE mode would actually work for me and allow me to use the entire 4GB of RAM that I am about to buy (without getting 64-bit Vista which is a waste of money and has its own share of problems, ie. lack of driver support).

4GB of DDR2 RAM would be the sweet spot if enabling PAE mode would work for me.

3GB of DDR2 RAM would be the best choice if I choose to stick with 32-bit Vista and wish to save myself $100 and some grief.


What did you choose?
 

pkellmey

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I have not heard anyone who has gotten a full 4G reading (which they really shouldn't if only 4G is supported in 32b). However, your particular hardware combination determines how close you can get.
 

srgess

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Why do you need 4GB of ram ? Because i have 2GB and at idle it take 772mo and i opened CS:S and BF2:SF and it was at 1GB that the half used ram and im on Vista x64, i dunno maybe you playing 5 games at the time or you using heavy apps that required lots of ram but i dont think so you need that much ram.
 

srgess

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Why do you need 4GB of ram ?

Super Fetch.

With 4GB of RAM, it would be even more SUPER!

I am not sure about that, but more ram you have more latency you will have and your ram speed wont increase if you have more, only if you speed up the fsb. If you are not using fully your ram i don't see the reason to get more !
 

Deth

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The memory Command Rate on my DDR2 Memory is set at 2T because that is what is recommended for mine and its stable. I tried changing it, but it crashes my system.

I hear when people go from 2GB of RAM to 4GB of RAM, usually they have to change their Command Rate to 2T, which is when they notice a decrease in latency. Since I'm already set at 2T, and will remain at 2T when I add another 2GB of RAM, the performance should be basically the same as I see it now.

I hear the more memory you add to Vista, the more Super Fetch caches thus programs load faster.

My only question was if anyone ever enabled PAE and Vista showed that they had 4GB of physical ram. If 1 person in the world could prove this to be true, I would be head over heels buying another 2GB because I'm sure my system would allow me to enable PAE mode.
 
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