Hi, i have recently read the article about the 8gb ram upgrade for vista. But this article didn't talk much about XP. First the specs of my PC are:
AMD 6000+ , 4GB OCZ 800MHz platinum (4*1GB), MSI K9A Platinum Motherboard, 500gb HD seagate, x1950xt ati 256mb. Windows XP Pro 32bit.
anyhow, my bios says 4gb physical memory and only 3 gb usable???? Also, windows only recognizes 3gb. I have tried to find the Memory remapping feature in the bios but can't find it!
In 32 bit Windows operating systems, the total addressable space available is 4GB. If you installed total 4GB memory, the system will detect less than 4GB of total memory because of address space allocation for other critical functions, such as:
- System BIOS (including motherboard, add-on cards, etc..)
- Motherboards resources
- Memory mapped I/O
- Configuration for AGP/PCI-Ex/PCI
- Other memory allocations for PCI devices
Different onboard devices and different add-on cards (devices) will result of different total memory size. e.g. more PCI cards installed will require more memory resources, resulting of less memory free for other uses.
This limitation applies to most chipsets & Windows XP/Vista 32-bit version operating systems.
If you install a Windows operating system, if more than 3GB memory is required for your system, then the below conditions should be met:
1. The memory controller which supports memory swap functionality is used. The latest chipsets like Intel 975X, 955X, Nvidia NF4 SLI Intel Edition, Nvidia NF4 SLI X16, AMD K8 and newer architectures can support the memory swap function.
2. Windows XP Pro X64 Ed. (64-bit), Windows Vista 64, or other OS which can address more than 4GB memory.
Note: According to the latest Change Log published my Microsoft, Windows Vista 32bit SP1 will display the installed amount of RAM. This is a display change only.
--------------- The more I read the forums, the more I feel that a number of individuals would be well served by skipping their next GPU purchase in favor of a little "Stress relief" from the local 'Working Girls'"
32bit OS's have a 4gb physical memory addressing limit
physical memory includes video ram, sound card, network, and any other resourse in your machine. All these add up and slowly eat into the 4gb addressing limit.
In your case 3gb is actually fairly normal for a 256mb video card. Talk to the poor people that use 8800GTX in SLI at 768mb a piece with 32bit OS.
You will notice in that article that they are using the 64bit variant which theoretically allows 16exabytes or something crazy.
So to use your 4gb youll need at 64bit OS... also discussed in that article i believe was the difference between 32bit and 64bit in memory allocation sizes for programs, it comes out and says that the difference between 3gb on 32bit and 4gb on 64bit is negated by the increase in size of the programs loaded in the 64bit environment
---------------
"The MB is 31 C and the CPU is 109 C. I think it's the CPU overheating."
In 32 bit Windows operating systems, the total addressable space available is 4GB. If you installed total 4GB memory, the system will detect less than 4GB of total memory because of address space allocation for other critical functions, such as:
- System BIOS (including motherboard, add-on cards, etc..)
- Motherboards resources
- Memory mapped I/O
- Configuration for AGP/PCI-Ex/PCI
- Other memory allocations for PCI devices
Different onboard devices and different add-on cards (devices) will result of different total memory size. e.g. more PCI cards installed will require more memory resources, resulting of less memory free for other uses.
This limitation applies to most chipsets & Windows XP/Vista 32-bit version operating systems.
If you install a Windows operating system, if more than 3GB memory is required for your system, then the below conditions should be met:
1. The memory controller which supports memory swap functionality is used. The latest chipsets like Intel 975X, 955X, Nvidia NF4 SLI Intel Edition, Nvidia NF4 SLI X16, AMD K8 and newer architectures can support the memory swap function.
2. Windows XP Pro X64 Ed. (64-bit), Windows Vista 64, or other OS which can address more than 4GB memory.
Note: According to the latest Change Log published my Microsoft, Windows Vista 32bit SP1 will display the installed amount of RAM. This is a display change only.
Damn my slow typing fingers
---------------
"The MB is 31 C and the CPU is 109 C. I think it's the CPU overheating."
I swear this forum needs a sticky about this topic.
Actually i have this feeling that one of the previous times this was answered someone with a correct and well written answer actually admitted to having pre-written it in a text document so they could copy and paste, instant answer!
Actually i have this feeling that one of the previous times this was answered someone with a correct and well written answer actually admitted to having pre-written it in a text document so they could copy and paste, instant answer!
You know when I am looking for an answer to a problem that I am having, I first do a search about the question that I want to ask.
If I find not answer then ask the question.
As this question has been answered a bunch of times, I would be inclined to just say look for the answer by searching.
--------------- The more I read the forums, the more I feel that a number of individuals would be well served by skipping their next GPU purchase in favor of a little "Stress relief" from the local 'Working Girls'"
You know when I am looking for an answer to a problem that I am having, I first do a search about the question that I want to ask.
If I find not answer then ask the question.
As this question has been answered a bunch of times, I would be inclined to just say look for the answer by searching.
What... Google? Nah, I Googled "4GB 32bit" and I only got about 2,900 hits. Where would I find the answer?
So that's the secret ... 
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