4gb of RAM on XP 32-bit?

I have 3.25GB of RAM shown on mine and I have 4GB. Personally I think its worth the little loss for the increased performance you get. With Vista 32bit I did see all 4GB of memory. I have yet to see a slow down with XP even though I don't see all the RAM, but XP doesn't use much for it's self like Vista does. Less eye candy.
 
ScottALot said:
All I'm gonna say is that XP runs so well on any amount of memory. Vista just uses up all that you buy.
Click to expand...

Windows XP needs at least 768 megabytes of RAM to run most programs decently. I would advise at least 1 gigabyte of memory for Windows XP to run decently.

Windows Vista needs at least 1.5 gigabytes of RAM to run well, but it has a plus over Windows XP because there are security features that aren't there in XP. Windows Vista 32-bit Basic runs well with my current hardware specifications:

Power Supply: OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS 600 Watt
Random Access Memory: Super Talent PC2-6400 2 gigabytes
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-M78SM-S2H
Processor: Athlon 4600+ Dual-Core (2.4 gigahertz) 90 nanometer
Video Card: MSI R3650-T2D512 OC Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR3
Hard Drives: 232 gigabyte Seagate Barracuda Model ST3250310AS, 74.5 gigabyte Western Digital WD800JB-00ETA0
 
I have 4GB with vista and it runs very smooth. XP was a powerhouse with this system, I just prefer Vista because it's more customizable. Not the most popular OS by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not near as bad as people say it is, especially with SP2 out now. XP is very good after you install SP3, takes care of a lot of issues it had. XP runs like a champ with only a gig of ram, but the more the better up to like 2 gigs.
 
I found this article on XP RAM usage (it refers to 32bit Vista but apparently it works the same on XP)

http://www.vistaclues.com/reader-question-maximum-memory-in-32-bit-windows-vista/

To cut a long story short there is a maximum of 4gb allowance on 32 bit OS, however that includes all Video card RAM and other hardware, so if you have a 512mb GFX Card and 4GB of RAM it will have to allocate 512MB to the GFX card and then use whatever space is left (4GB minus 512MB = 3.5GB RAM). This is why there are so many variations on how much RAM people can see in their system.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top