4gb memory question

R

run4it

New Member
I am running XP 32-bit edition. I want to upgrade to 2 x 2gb memory sticks for the increased bandwidth. But from what I've read XP 32bit does not support the full 4gb of memory. So would it still be worth the $42 for another stick of memory? Also, how much of that 2nd stick of memory would windows use? and is there anything i could do to allow it to use more?
 
With the 4 Gigs in a 32-bit environment, after all the Windows processes are prioritized, you should see around 3.25 Gigs of usable memory, so in your case, over half of the second stick. There are ways to edit the way Windows reads RAM in a 32-bit environment, but they get somewhat detailed. Honestly, you shouldn't need more than 2 GB for most systems, and rarely over 3GB.
 
to address anything over 3.25 gigs of RAM you need to be able to do 64bit memory addressing, which must be supported by your hardware, your OS, and your application as well.

So, really you only benefit from 64 bit if everything is compliant, because if your application you are running on your system does not support 64bit memory addressing then it doesn't take advantage of it.

What exactly are you going to use this system for? If you are running nothing that supports 64 bit memory addressing it isn't really totally worth it, yet.
 
Windows 64bit also supports 32bit applications. Where they get access to 2 or 4 GB address space depending on the largeaddressaware bit. And if you're running more than one hungry application, you can easily use a lot of ram
 
i plan on using it for gaming mostly. my thought was that i should get the 2nd stick so i can use it in dual channel mode and have the additional bandwidth and speed. Right now i have only one 2gb stick of ram. so i realize that i won't get to fully use the 2nd stick but would the speed boost be worth the extra money? and how much of a difference would it make.
 
so i realize that i won't get to fully use the 2nd stick but would the speed boost be worth the extra money? and how much of a difference would it make.
Click to expand...

As far as worth it, it all depends on your priorities. If you're a hardcore gamer, then yes; if not, then no.
 
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