XP 4GB Ram but crashes when I goes over 2GB usage?

[ashleylist]

Hi all,

Have recently upgraded to a more up to date machine; E8400 with 4GB ram.

However when running Photo shop, the whole computer crashes when it reaches 2 GB of ram use and re sets its self?

Any ideas on the cause and the solution?

 

[russki]

You need to be clearer. What is the usage you are referring to? In XP (and I think Vista, too) applications get only 2 GB of addressable space (user space). So if the application use exceeds the 2 GB threshold it may crash. There are ways to combat that and I thought Photoshop was smarter than that but can't say I have enough experience with it.

On the other hand, if you're referring to the total system memory usage than the cause is probably faulty RAM and you should run some tests.

 

[rayzor]

Yeah, see if some other ram works. It could be that your current ram is being 'filled' past a point at which there is some sort of memory based defect, causing instability.

 

[XMSYellowbeard]

Complete system specifications and the OS you are using would help also. And, are you OCing at all and you have the latest bios installed?

 

[Can Not]

Switch the RAM sticks around and see what that does.

 

[evongugg]

Run memtest86+ and check for errors. You may have some bad memory.

 

[uguv]

As russki mentioned, 32-bit applications have a maximum of 2gb of RAM they will use. When they try to go over that amount they crash. I'll try to find a link. I think anand had an article about this a few months ago.

You can edit the header of the exe file to allow it to use more than 2gb of RAM.

 

[uguv]

This article should help. It discusses the 2gb barrier and ways to try to get around it.

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3034

An artifact of the design of 32bit processors and the 32bit API for Windows, the 2GB barrier is a cap on how much addressing space (related to but not equivalent to memory usage) a single application can use. This isn't a bug but rather the result of how hardware and software was created so many years ago, and while everyone has known this barrier will inevitably be hit, as we'll see there are several reasons why it can't simply be moved or bypassed. Meanwhile hitting it involves affected applications crashing for what can appear to be no good reason, and understanding why the 2GB barrier exists and what can be done will be important for resolving those crashes.

 

[piratepast40]

Interesting issue but seems to be more prevelant with MACs. Uguv posted a most fascinating link to the issue that suggests memory management might help as does this link: http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=008Lyg

 

[Anela]

This exact same thing happened to me this weekend. I spent the majority of the day trying out the different sticks of RAM in different slots, running Memtest (which showed no problems), and trying various other things but would still crash. Updating my bios did the trick. It runs like a dream now.

 

[ashleylist]

My system,

It should be noted that i am haveing problems with my cooler, i am running at 45-50+ degress while i idle!. already onto the people who built it.

MB: ASUS P5K SE Bios Version 0704 Dated 11/30/2007
CPU: E8400 (3Ghz) Model 7 REV C0
Ram : DD2 4GB (P6400) Corsair 2 x 2GB
Grap: Nvidia GF 8600 GT
Windows XP with Service pack 2
Direct X 9

Anela, as best as i can tell my MB drivers are upto date? Do you need anything else?

Just updating non esental window files and will work on my graphics next

 

[evongugg]

Make sure you have the latest bios with that processor. It should fix some false temperature reporting by the bios.
Reapply thermal paste and reinstall the heatsink.

 

[jitpublisher]

Yeah, the 8400's have a problem with the way they report the temperature to some motherboards. The core temperature will show way higher than what it actually is. A e8400 should be very easy to cool, they don't run that hot to start with.