2gig or 4

[claytonr1973]

I just bought a Dell XPS M1710 and it came with 2gig of ram. I am running XP and was wondering if going to 4gig would get any noticable increase. THX

 

[spl00g]

not sure if you are aware but XP is a 32 bit system and as a 32 bit system the max memory it can utilize is 3gb

not saying the upgrade wouldn't be useful a year down the road when you switch to vista 64bit. but for right now i'd say you wouldn't notice much difference between 2 and 3 gb memory on XP. I would think other parts of your computer would be lacking before the ram starts to e.g. graphics card or processor.

hope that helps

 

[Emperor_nero]

It would really depend on what you're doing.

not sure if you are aware but XP is a 32 bit system and as a 32 bit system the max memory it can utilize is 3gb

not saying the upgrade wouldn't be useful a year down the road when you switch to vista 64bit. but for right now i'd say you wouldn't notice much difference between 2 and 3 gb memory on XP. I would think other parts of your computer would be lacking before the ram starts to e.g. graphics card or processor.

hope that helps

There's a 64bit XP version.

 

[Bulzeye11]

It would really depend on what you're doing.



There's a 64bit XP version.

ya there is a 64bit XP

I haven't seen alot of places that have it though

 

[voyagerfan99]

I'd go with 3 GB actually.

Find yourself a 2GB module and a 1 GB module.

 

[jw214]

if it was me id buy 4gigs 2x2gb, then you have xp 32bit maxed out and you already have the memory when you upgrade to vista. check the speed of your hdd. if it is 5300rpm, upgrade to 7200rpm

 

[diduknowthat]

4 gigs of ram is pretty useless for XP, even 64-bit edition. I'll get the other 2 gigs when you (if you'll) upgrade to Vista.

 

[spl00g]

o wow i was unaware that theres a 64 bit xp now hmm thanks for the headsup

 

[voyagerfan99]

o wow i was unaware that theres a 64 bit xp now hmm thanks for the headsup

 

[Emperor_nero]

Read all the posts if you really care.

 

[Cleric7x9]

not sure if you are aware but XP is a 32 bit system and as a 32 bit system the max memory it can utilize is 3gb

not saying the upgrade wouldn't be useful a year down the road when you switch to vista 64bit. but for right now i'd say you wouldn't notice much difference between 2 and 3 gb memory on XP. I would think other parts of your computer would be lacking before the ram starts to e.g. graphics card or processor.

hope that helps

not sure if you are aware but a 32 but OS has a maximum memory of 4gb. sorry, but im having this same argument with tlarking in another thread.

the reason you see less than 4gb is bc the OS has to address everything else that needs memory first, then it gives whats left of the 4GB addressable space to the RAM.

 

[Emperor_nero]

not sure if you are aware but a 32 but OS has a maximum memory of 4gb. sorry, but im having this same argument with tlarking in another thread.

the reason you see less than 4gb is bc the OS has to address everything else that needs memory first, then it gives whats left of the 4GB addressable space to the RAM.

Read his.

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000811.html

 

[Cleric7x9]

Read his.

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000811.html

yes im well aware of that article, tlarkin provided it as well lol. im not sure why people are misinterpreting that. the author is explaining WHY you cant actually reach the 4gb limit of a 32 bit operating system.

 

[tyttebøvs]

That article from codinghorror is actually pretty horrible. There are better sources that this

 

[lovely?]

if what you are saying was true, wouldnt all 4gb still be in use even though you cant see all of it?

 

[Emperor_nero]

if what you are saying was true, wouldnt all 4gb still be in use even though you cant see all of it?

That's my understanding of it.

To be more specific, it would be there even though you can't see it and it would be being used by the hardware.

 

[tyttebøvs]

That is a no. The missing ram will not be used.

 

[Emperor_nero]

That is a no. The missing ram will not be used.

Alright, for whatever reason you seem to have a better understanding then I so I will respect what you say as, and that you know what you're talking about.

Could you provide some other links then?

 

[tyttebøvs]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888137
"the kernel memory manager ignores any physical address that is more than 4 GB"

To make use of 4GB RAM you need an address space that is bigger than 4GB, because the same address space needs to hold various IO devices.

 

[CPTMuller]

Still, in benchmarks there is no difference big enough change in the performance of the system that would warrant spending money to upgrade your computer. (Assuming 32bit XP)