4 GB of RAM on 32Bit?

K

KiD [720]

New Member
If i get a 32Bit Vista and have 4gb RAM is ther any way to get the full 4 not 3.5?
Ive heard it says that there only 3.5 but really its working with the whole 4gigs??
 
K

KiD [720]

New Member
so the RAM isnt really reserved its just says it is, and does 32 bit decrease my performance of computer would 64 bit be better?
 
S

sshaggy

Member
Well because the graphics uses some amount of RAM, vista shows as 3.5 - 3.75 RAM.

A hot discussion is going out here. check this out.
 
Bodaggit23

Bodaggit23

Active Member
KiD [720];1232609 said:
so the RAM isnt really reserved its just says it is, and does 32 bit decrease my performance of computer would 64 bit be better?
Click to expand...
It's all there. It's being used. You just won't see it because
it's "reserved".

Meaning, cannot be used by you and your apps.
 
D

DirtyD86

banned
I have 4 gigs of ram, and 32 bit vista. i recently gave xp 64 a shot, and noticed it was a great deal faster. i am sure being XP had something to do with this, but the extra RAM was definitely making some difference. games and applications were much, much faster
 
Motoxrdude

Motoxrdude

Active Member
It's because with 32bits, you can't address all that ram. It's like having a 3 digit address, and then having 1000 houses. You can't assign a location to that 1000th house because you simply don't have the capabilities to number all 1000 using only 3 digits. Make sense?
 
T

tyttebøvs

New Member
Bodaggit23 said:
Your system is using it.

Research it a bit.
Click to expand...

I have researched it. The RAM located out on the DIMM modules is not being used. The CPU's addresss space is used, but that is someting else.

If you are in doubt: an address can go two ways: RAM or IO. The upper region of the first 4GB (address space) is reserved to IO (memory mapped IO). RAM in this same area is therefore hidden and not being used.

Remapping can make hidden ram usable, but then you need an OS that can go beyond 4GB.
 
Last edited:
StrangleHold

StrangleHold

Moderator
Staff member
XP and Vista 32 bit can see up to 4gbs. But, Physical space is more than just the boards memory installed. Video Cards, PCI cards, onboard PCI devices, ROM and so on. When you boot the bios sees the devices that need address space. Then calculates the amount of reserved space thats needed. Then it subtracts it from the 4gbs. that you have installed.

So the amount that is subtracted is unavailable for use by the operating system. .
 
bomberboysk

bomberboysk

Active Member
sshaggy said:
Well because the graphics uses some amount of RAM, vista shows as 3.5 - 3.75 RAM.

A hot discussion is going out here. check this out.
Click to expand...

I use 64bit, not 32bit.. and i dont have any idea why that thread kept going to 3 pages when i figured it out on the first page....But the problem with vista 32bit is that 32bit can only use 4gb of address space. This counts towards everything in the system, video card memory, hard drive cache(i think), etc. PAE is enabled on intel cpu's, but vista doesnt support it as it interferes with the os for some reason. To use a full 4gb of RAM you need a 64bit OS, plain and simple.
 
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