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Will windows xp run 4 gigs of ram? Is it possible?
Smilex0311
Member Posts: 207
Ok guys,
I decided to upgrade my RAM for AoC. Previously i had 4x512mb RAM = 2gigs. Currently I have windows xp home edition service pack 2. I have installed the RAM and double checked everything, slots 1&3 left-right are used correctly. All Hardware is working. BIOS is acknowledging the RAM as 4 gigs which is the exact amount i am now using. Yet when i check windows system it still says im only running 2 gigs and i have not noticed much if any performance increase.
Do i need windows vista to run more than 2 gigs of RAM? What do I do, and how do I fix this?
Comments
Being a 32 bit operating system it can only address 4gb. Since part of the address space is reserved for IO and hardware you loose some. What you should see is something like 3.2gb of ram. Definitely you should see more then just 2gb.
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Ethion
I'm not an expert, but i believe 3 gigs is max on XP, even if you have 4 gigs.
You can run w/ 4 gigs on XP. But.... I dunno, its weird. I had 4x 1gb chips and it was only recognizing 3gb. But now i have 2x 2gb chips and it's recognizing all 4gb.
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You need a 64 Bit operating system to run more than 4 gig of RAM, so I would get Vista 64 bit if you plan on lots of RAM, 4GB is plenty. 32 Bit Xp and Vista can only run 3.25gb Of RAM or something like that I forget. If you put more In I have seen it actually lower your performance,
You win our grand prize of.... nothing cause this is an internet forum where being right pretty much is all you get.
good job.
Download and install a program called CPUZ http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
It will tell you exactly what RAM you have intalled, where and how much. Out of curiosity what RAM are you using? And what DIMM slots did you plug it into?
I do know that I SHOULD be able to use up to 3 gigs. However, windows is telling me im only using 2 gigs. Anyone know how to fix this?
If you have them in all 4 slots then you should remove one. It might not register because its dual channel. Try that and see. If not make sure your BIOS is updated just in case it doesn't support over 2 GBs
Thanks for the response.
I am using Kingston DDR2 PC2 5300. 2 X 2gb sticks. I pluged it into slots 1 and three like the first and third slot from processor. which is labled 1+2 . Does that make sense?
Do what I said above and give me your system specs, most importantly motherboard and RAM and I'll try to work it out for you.
Thanks for the response.
I am using Kingston DDR2 PC2 5300. 2 X 2gb sticks. I pluged it into slots 1 and three like the first and third slot from processor. which is labled 1+2 . Does that make sense?
Yeah, try 2 and 4 I take it there the same colour ?what is the model of your Motherbaord?
Thanks for the response.
I am using Kingston DDR2 PC2 5300. 2 X 2gb sticks. I pluged it into slots 1 and three like the first and third slot from processor. which is labled 1+2 . Does that make sense?
Yeah, try 2 and 4 I take it there the same colour ?what is the model of your Motherbaord?
I tried 2 and 4 already. Same effects.Motherboard= dell ogc375 / chipset = Nforce SLI Intel edition
I did a RAM upgrade a couple of weeks ago...had 2x1 gig of Patriot Extreme Performance, and then got 2 more of the same RAM for a total of 4gb. XP PRO x64 says I have 3.5. But to me it's not that big a deal.
I can definitely see your frustration. Sorry that I can't provide helpful advice, but I figured I'd share a story.
Peace. Good luck with it.
Thanks for the response.
I am using Kingston DDR2 PC2 5300. 2 X 2gb sticks. I pluged it into slots 1 and three like the first and third slot from processor. which is labled 1+2 . Does that make sense?
Might not do it because it's running from the same stick. I'm not 100% sure because I've never done it, but I don't think it will read only 1GB of the 2GB stick.It especially won't work if you're trying to run them dual channel and XP doesn't support the extra gig.
I know what the problem is now, though you usualy get 3.25gb of RAM if youve got 4 gigs in. Some motherboard chipsets only go to 2.25gb it might because of the 2 2gb modules. But its basicly something to do with XP. Only way around it Vista 64 bit. Don't get 64 bit XP lol.
So it is XP then? Ok, seems the rumors are true ...... i guess VISTA it is..... Anyone else concur ...??
Another option would be to return 1 2 gig stick and part it for 2 sticks.
Then you could dual Boot XP and Vista.
That way your XP installation would run at 3 gigs and your Vista would run at 4.
You could only have your 1 gigs at Dual channel.
Or you could have 4 one gig sticks, whatever makes you happiest...
As long as the rest of your system is up to par for the game, then you can run Aoc on XP 32bit with 3gigs of ram. I do/did, and it runs smoothly.
I don't think that would work his 2gb sticks will be a matched pair and mixing different RAM modules together is a recipe for bluescreens. And even if he used several sticks I still think it would show up as 2.25gb regardless. For the hasstle he's just better of getting a OEM copy of Vista.
Yeah but he cant thats the point.
Couldn't you also use the 64-bit version of Windows XP?
You could use it, but its awfull hardly anything works on it. Compared to Vista 64 which is actually stable.
Those who want to stick to xp like me should use 2 x 1 gig and 2 x 512 mb sticks. This is the most secure way to have 3 gigs interleaved with xp.
Windows XP x64 can
32bit windows can't use more that ~3.25GB of memory, yes that includes your graphical card physical memory as well.
While 64bit os theoretically can use a bit more.
The emergence of the 64-bit architecture effectively increases the memory ceiling to 264 addresses, equivalent to approximately 17.2 billion gigabytes, 16.8 million terabytes, or 16 exabytes of RAM.
Any 64 bit os will be able to access the full 4gb. So vista or xp will work.
Also when you say you only see 2gb are looking at task manager and seeing how much memory it says you have available?
There is another limit which is windows xp. A single process is limited to 2gb. Normally this isn't an issue because I'm not sure anyting really uses more then 2gb. So this means that AoC for example could use upto 2gb and the remaining 1+ gb windows would use for other stuff. So this is still a win.
If you really want to have the process use more then 2gb there is a boot parameter you can setup that will enable windows to have processes that use upto 3gb.
read support.microsoft.com/kb/833721 for the boot options.
Hope that helps.
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Ethion