RAM upgrade

[wika_woo]

Aparently i've been told you cant upgrade up to 4GB on XP, it will only allow 3GB and vista only supports 4GB of RAM.


is this true?..

I wanted to upgrade to 4GB :(

Im using corshair ddr 2 ram.


some advice would be nice (i'm not as 1337 as you guys).

thanks.

[Gunfire[USA]]

For XP to properly use and "see" 4gigs you must have 64-bit OS

[Burnouts]

32bit - 3/3.5gb

64bit - 128GB

[DesolatorDan]

I have 4Gb of RAM in WinXP. Only ~3.5Gb of it is available because it has to give memory addresses to all the integrated hardware and video card with only 32bits to work with. It will still work, and if you're getting a good deal on it (I spent about $65 for 4Gb of DDR2 'ocz platinum' and 'corsair xms2') I say go for it.

While I can't compare it to 3Gb of ram, I can say it is noticably faster than having 2Gb of RAM. My computer shuts down completely in about 8-10 seconds no matter what, and even after playing games like Crysis, there is ZERO delay when returning to the OS.

[Sir. Shpox]

The main difference between RAM Upgrades is noticeable for XP running on 512Mb of Ram. Doing so, it dumps a lot of load onto the HD causing major performance loss.

Ultimately, 2GB is perfect for gaming, however, since ram is so cheap these days, you may aswell go for the whole 4GB. As DD pointed out, it pends on how much memory your GFX card has (e.g a 512mb = 3.5 GB of recognised ram). Many people will recommend using a 64bit OS to recognize all your RAM, but I personally don't think it's necessary unless the program is specifically designed to make use of your 4GB of Ram. There was a segment on tomshardware at one point indicating this here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/vista-workshop,1775-5.html

The upshot is that it doesn't make sense to install a 64 bit version of Vista in order to better utilize 4 GB of memory simply because the 32 bit version would only recognize 3.5 GB. The problem is that while it is true that you would "gain" the missing memory, you would also immediately lose it to the system due to the 64 bit version's larger memory footprint. Thus, using a 64 bit version really only makes sense with larger memory sizes.

So essentially, it will depends on how much video card RAM you have that how much memory if recognized by your Windows XP 32bit OS. Summing things up, go buy 4GB of cheap generic ram, unless you plan on overclocking. 2x2GB Apacer kits at 800mhz can be had for $48 here. Much of that 4GB won't be used, however, if running in a 2x2GB Dual channel mode, it will work better, than say 4x1GB sticks.

[wika_woo]

well thanks guys for clearin out the facts for me :)

That sorta sums out on mostly everything, because main reason why ill need more ram is for when i get my new 8800GT (512MB) prolly this summer..

Need to upgrade for vegas 2 and assassins creed, although both games sorta run on medium settings...