Question about XP32 Ram Cap and video memory

[mimregi]

I have Win XP32 (MCE), I just upgraded to 4gb RAM (too cheap to just go to 3gb) and I was gifted with a 4870x2 by an associate(!). Currently, windows is showing 3.25gb of memory in system properties and dxdiag, and showing 1gb video memory (the card has two gb).

Now, I understand XP32 is limited in the amount of memory it can address, but is that system RAM only, or is that combined system and video RAM? Also, do I understand correctly that since the video card is effectively two cards in one, it only needs to address the memory on the first card?

That all said, I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing a few tweaks or setting to make this setup run optimally. I'm considering springing for Vista http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista , but I would prefer not to if at all possible. And this is by all accounts more graphics horsepower than I strictly need, so I'm not looking for fine tweaks to get an extra frame or two, I just want to make sure i don't need to set something in my Bios or anything that I am missing to get the whole setup to work optimally. Do I need to (or should I) make any changes to make sure the right amount of RAM is being allocated to the right things?

By the by, my 3dmark score, which I am not obsessed with, I was just playing, was surprisingly low. I want to make sure that I am not missing a switch I can flip to get things working better. I suspect that my little Pentium D 820 has officially become the bottleneck here.

Heck, while I am asking, does anyone want to advise what kind of performance increase I might see from dropping a pentium D 9xx in there? Will the smaller chip and the extra cache make much of a difference,let alone a bit extra core speed? (I know that it is simply way too much video card for the mobo, but I'm not ready to build a whole new system around it just yet, but I have seen the higher pentium D's for around $100, and if it will make a notable difference, I am willing to do that.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[RetiredChief]

NICE Gift
But Don't be penny wise and pound (or Dollar) foolish.

You would probably be better off save that $100 (stick in your sock) until you can upgrade your system.

Not enough info to really advise.
At a Min you should list your current MB, Ram and PSU

Ie, does your motherboard support core 2 Duo, If so much better than D 9xx

Memory - What is your current memory, is it DDR2 and what speed. But then 2 Gigs of DDR2 - 800 (PC6400) is very cheap right now.

PSU - if you are not having a problem running that x2 card, You may have when you go to a D 9xxx. Not sure but would think that you should have a min of 500 to 550 W GOOD Psu.

Back to my first statment - I don't think you will be happy with the D9xxx compared to the current low end C2d's (or q's) or a current AMD (I prefer the C2's) and you may find you need a new PSU. So 6 mon from the day you "buy that D9xxx" You will have $100 less for a MUCH better system

A new MB, Low end C2D, and 2 gigs of DDR2-800 can be had for around $300. That $100 = 33% of that

 

[mimregi]

Thanks for the reply -- that's kind of what I had figured, which is why I hadn't pulled the trigger on it yet.

For the record, I have 4g of ram in there running at 533. My chipset (945) supports better processors, but I don't believe my bios will (still trying to 100% confirm this). I just bought a 650w EarthWatts PSU, so I think I am ok there.

But yeah, I figured I would probably wait until I am ready for a whole system upgrade rather than getting a minor incremental CPU upgrade now.

 

[RetiredChief]

Good luck
I think for the newer Proc (@1333) DDR2-667 is the min. Would recommend getting DDR2-800 which is good upto FSB 1600 (Bus = 400)
This is what I am running my system @ with DDR2-800.

Depending on the proc Multiplier, this is good to 3.2 Gigs with an 8X, and 3.6 Gigs with 9X. (I'm using 8X on a E6400 for 3.2 GHz. Been stable with no issues for about a Yr and a half.

Take care, good luck. Have to catch a flight back home.