Built new rig, and have a few questions

Pc_Pimp

New Member
I just finished building my new rig and have a few questions.
Here are the specs
-Intel Pentium D 805 2.66GHz dual core
-Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3
-Corsair XMS2 1gb (2x512mb) DDR2 800
-Antec smartpower 2.0 450watt
-Western Digital 320gb sata 3.0gb/s 16mb cache hard drive
-Aspire blue/black x-plorer case

My questions are...
1. Will the processor run in 64 bit automatically or do you have to turn it on somewhere so it will run in 64 bit?

2. How do i tell if my ram is running in dual channel?

3. I have DDR2 800 ram but it says its only running at like 399mhz, why is this?

4. I have a 320GB sata hard drive and it says its total size is 298GB, i know its not supposed to be the full amount, but should it only be 298GB?

5. When i go to system properties under the general tab where it says computer:
when it lists the ram it says "0.99GB of RAM Physical Address Extension"
Why does it say 0.99GB of ram when i have 1024mb? What does Physical Address Extension mean?

sorry about all the questions guys.
 
Last edited:
i can only answer number 2 and 4 (i think four):

2) That speed is right; its multiplied by two to get 800 (think why called DDR2)
4)22GB isnt that much for an XP install i think, but not positive
 
i can only answer number 2 and 4 (i think four):

2) That speed is right; its multiplied by two to get 800 (think why called DDR2)
4)22GB isnt that much for an XP install i think, but not positive

So even though it says its 800 its really only 400mhz?
 
no its 800, but its 400 times two for DDR2 (each stick is 800), i dont know thats how it is, another other help?
 
ddr2 runs a higher clock than the memory itself

the stick of ram itself is 800mhz, the memory is 400mhz

that's all i know about it, but it's enough to answer the question

i know this discrepancy is why ddr2 latency seems so high compared to typical ram that's usually 2-3ms compared to ddr2's 5-6ms
 
In answer to number one, unless you have a 64Bit version of Windows, programs that can can support 64Bit instructions won't. They will instead run at 32Bit, however, 64Bot OS's will run at 64Bit applications at 64Bit.
 
My questions are...
1. Will the processor run in 64 bit automatically or do you have to turn it on somewhere so it will run in 64 bit?
You'll need a 64 bit operating system

2. How do i tell if my ram is running in dual channel?

Just put the 2 identical sticks of ram in 2 slots of the same color and it should run in dual channel.

3. I have DDR2 800 ram but it says its only running at like 399mhz, why is this?

the ram runs at 400mhz, and since it's DDR, double it and you get 800mhz

4. I have a 320GB sata hard drive and it says its total size is 298GB, i know its not supposed to be the full amount, but should it only be 298GB?

That happens to all harddrive, probably the partition or something, but yeah, it's normal. Also, some of the space could be used for system restore and stuff like that.
 
Copying a calculation done recently:

320,000,000,000/1024/1024/1024 = 298.023223876953125

This is because a 'Gigabyte' from HDD producers is 1000mb, not 1024mb.
 
1. Will the processor run in 64 bit automatically or do you have to turn it on somewhere so it will run in 64 bit?
It's automatically set to 64-Bit, but you need a 64-Bit OS in order to take advantage of it.

2. How do i tell if my ram is running in dual channel?
Either look on the POST screen, or run CPU-z and look under the memory tab.

3. I have DDR2 800 ram but it says its only running at like 399mhz, why is this?
It says it's running at 400Mhz because thats the actual speed, but effectively it's 800Mhz (similar to the memory speed on video cards)

4. I have a 320GB sata hard drive and it says its total size is 298GB, i know its not supposed to be the full amount, but should it only be 298GB?
It's because Windows addresses 1GB as 1,024MB, while the mfg's specify 1GB at 1,000MB. Some of the space is also taking up by the file system and such.

5. When i go to system properties under the general tab where it says computer:
when it lists the ram it says "0.99GB of RAM Physical Address Extension"
Why does it say 0.99GB of ram when i have 1024mb?
0.99GB is pretty much the same exact thing as 1.00GB. What does it say under the performance tab on the task manager?
 
Windows also gets stats wrong occasionally, on my Laptop, it's actually 894mb whereas Windows thinks there's 896mb. (128mb is taken for the Graphics)
 
[QUOTE='[-0MEGA-]
0.99GB is pretty much the same exact thing as 1.00GB. What does it say under the performance tab on the task manager?[/QUOTE]
Under the performance tab for physical memory (K) it says Total 1039852
 
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