Vista Workshop: More RAM, More Speed

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Supported Memory Size - Windows Vista And Windows XP

Regardless of which version of Windows you are using, all 32 bit systems are limited to a maximum of 4 GB of RAM. The only exceptions to this rule are the Starter Editions, which are primarily targeted at developing nations.

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Memory Limit
Windows Vista32 bit64 bit
Ultimate4 GB128 GB
Enterprise4 GB128 GB
Business4 GB128 GB
Home Premium4 GB16 GB
Home Basic4 GB8 GB
Starter1 GB-

There is only a single 64 bit version of Windows XP, which is identical in feature set with Windows XP Professional. From a technical perspective, it is built around the Windows 2003 Server kernel (Version 5.2).

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Memory Limit
Windows XP32 bit64 bit
Professional4 GB128 GB
Home4 GB-
Starter Edition512 MB-
Daniel Schuhmann
23 Comments Comment from the forums
  • anonymous x
    Crazy
    Nice article!
    Reply
  • trifler
    We need to see benchmarks comparing Vista with 2MB, 4MB, and 8MB. I can't tell my boss that the new high-end computers should have 8MB without some numbers.
    Reply
  • I think meant GB not MB there Trifler... 8MB of ram is not very much... and a "high-end computer" should have at least 2GB of RAM for a 32-bit system, and is OS dependant for 64-bit systems... vista depends on the ver you use as to how much ram is max.
    I have 1 GB of RAM and am using 80% after a normal boot (plus a few non-essential apps... but they make doing things easier
    Reply
  • SkyPRZ
    There is a "test setup" but not followed by any test but directly by the conclusion.
    Did I miss something?
    Nevertheless I've already built a system with Vista 64 & 8GB ram few weeks ago and wanted the test to comfort decisions I made.
    Reply
  • trifler
    Bleh I meant GB not MB in my earlier comment...
    Reply
  • master9716
    with 2 gigs of ram my 64bit runs ultra fast compared to 32bit , I have 3 hdds quad 6600. it should be the otherway around though . On my laptop with 1.5 gigs vista basic runs prety bad I will reinstall see what happens . We need to see some load time benchmarks !!! eventhough this is an old article
    Reply
  • Darthb0b0
    on page 7, how are you changing the amount of ram a particular app is using? is this only applicable to 64-bit windows, or could you also change this with 32-bit?
    Reply
  • Darthb0b0
    One other thing. on page 5 you say that w/4gb of ram it has no benefit to go to 64 bit due to the larger memory foot print required - essentially eating up the extra memory. The extra system memory used is 757 - 549 = 208. Yet the extra addressable memory gained is 4096 - 3581 = 515. The difference is still a net gain of 307mb of ram. Or am I missing something?

    Also, is the reason that only 3.5GB is available in the 32-bit environment due to the 512mb video card and MMIO? If so, what will happen in a 32 or 64 bit system if you have a video setup with 2gb of video ram? Will you only have 2GB of main memory available?
    Reply
  • Darthb0b0
    One answer found:

    Significant chunks of address space below 4GB (the highest address accessible via 32-bit) get reserved for use by system hardware:

    • BIOS – including ACPI and legacy video support

    • PCI bus including bridges etc.

    • PCI Express support will reserve at least 256MB, up to 768MB depending on graphics card installed memory

    Reply
  • Darthb0b0
    Reply