How much ram can XP reconigze?

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How much ram can XP recognize? up to 4GB or is it less I was thinking of upgrading to 4GB and how much ram can Vista 32 bit and Vista 64 bit recognize.?
 
A 32 bit OS will only recognize up to about 3-3.5 gb of memory, however, a 64 bit OS will recognize 4gb or more of memory. Just make sure that your motherboard supports that much memory.
 
Even with a 64bit version of XP or even Vista there have been problems seen with what's called the 3gb barrier. One article that explains this can be seen at http://www.dansdata.com/askdan00015.htm

The 32bit versions that will actually see far more ram then even the 16gb now offered on many new boards in the Windows server editions. But that's a different operating environment being network orientated where 32gb+ can be used.
 
That article that PC eye linked is actually quite good at explaining what's going on. Don't worry about the stuff about 32bit versions of windows using 16+GB of RAM, if you really want to know we can get into it a little but I doubt you will ever use a version of windows that uses the extensions.
 
The server editions run on a slightly different platform there. That's mainly a reference when some say that "no" 32bit willl see over ? The 64bit OSs whether Vista or some Linux distros are still rather in their infancy at this point. While a few are out OSs in general have fallen behind the rapid turnover of hardwares.

A quick look at what new boards offer now compared to when XP first came out shows that. Perhaps the Vienna 64bit version will offer more true support for 16gb and more but who but an engineer needs that much memory? For Call of Duty, CS:S, or Fear no way!
 
Video always demands memory with any type of capture process. I've been waiting to go with a little more memory here along with leaving the single core cpu behind once and for all. I wouldn't mind dropping 4gb on a new AM2 board for multitasking even if some memory remains unseen by Windows. One case here is running 24/7 hooked upto security cameras with motion sensors for the instant live feed.
 
johnb35 said:
A 32 bit OS will only recognize up to about 3-3.5 gb of memory, however, a 64 bit OS will recognize 4gb or more of memory. Just make sure that your motherboard supports that much memory.
Click to expand...

How do I know whether my Windows XP OS is a 32bit or 64bit?
 
If you dont know if your XP is 32 or 64, its probably 32bit. XP 64bit took different drivers and not all programs would run on it so I say you would have found that out by now if you had the XP 64
 
The way to find out is to right click on "MY Computer", and click properties. It should tell you what OS you're running.

As for RAM, you can have up to 4GB, but the OS limits it to around 3-3.5GB. As for server OS's supporting around 16GB, I believe it's because they support multiple processes, so each one can support around 4GB.
 
[-0MEGA-];688290 said:
The way to find out is to right click on "MY Computer", and click properties. It should tell you what OS you're running.

As for RAM, you can have up to 4GB, but the OS limits it to around 3-3.5GB. As for server OS's supporting around 16GB, I believe it's because they support multiple processes, so each one can support around 4GB.
Click to expand...

Yeah agreed. But it does not tells u how many bits you are running. But anyway I supposed mostly is 32bit.
 
[-0MEGA-];688290 said:
As for RAM, you can have up to 4GB, but the OS limits it to around 3-3.5GB. As for server OS's supporting around 16GB, I believe it's because they support multiple processes, so each one can support around 4GB.
Click to expand...

The CPU has 36 (not 32) address lines. So each CPU can address up to 64GB when switching to PAE mode.
 
The virtual memory space is still confined to 4GB, though. But by using special API calls (AWE), an application can use all the RAM it needs
 
tyttebøvs is correct, 32bit Intel processors (pentium pro and later, and I assume AMD's as well but I don't know) you can address up to 64GB with PAE, the OSs that allow for more use more than 1 CPU.
However Omega is also correct in saying XP is limited to 4GB of addressable space and most of the upper end of that 4GB (usually around the 3GB mark) is taken up for device addressing so really the whole discussion of the other OSs that none of us are ever going to have in our homes and are even unlikely to see when working for a large corporation is pointless.
 
Some are going for multiple cpu boards with the new AMD quad core spus out. That's taking what would be a server type board now seeing SLI capability for desktop use and running Vista most likely. On the next board here 4gb will be seen with two 2gb dimms of DDR2 memory. So that will have to work for both XP and Vista not Server 2007 or whatever. A board that runs a quad core cpu would be better for multitasking with the desktop versions however.
 
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