4 Gig Ram question

[DarkNemesis]

Hi All,

Sorry for posting this in the wrong section if it is the wrong section.

I am running XP pro 64 bit.
I want to Run XP Pro 32 bit instead.

I am a Gamer and a scared Over clocker....LOL....bad combination.

my specs.
Core 2 Quad 6600 Go stepping.
Asus P5K-E wifi app MB
2 x 2 gig OCZ Ram.
Evga 8800 GTS 512.
Raptor 74 gig as primary
a whole bunch of storage drives.
OCZ 700 Watt PS.
Cooler Master 690 case.

OK...If I run XP 32 bit, I know I will only see 3gig max.
But will it cause issues at all.
also...for Air Cool OCing - any issues there also?

I want to go back to XP 32 bit, because I am having some issues on XP 64 bit in a few highly sought Games.

besides I am due for another format anyways...LOL

Look forward to your input.
DN

[Bootsy]

why not Vista64 bit since you already bought the 4gig of ram?

[drizzt5]

Ya, all going to 32bit is going to do is make that ram useless. And what problems are you having with 64 bit xp?

[Loser777]

Using a 32bit OS when you have 4GB of memory will not cause any problems.

[Flip_Lx]

you'll have ~3.5 avaliable to the system since your card will take 512 of the 4gb limit up but you wont have any compatiablity issues or anything like that, currently testing out my 2x2 sets in 32bit vista with no issues, honestly though i'd suggest vista 64 to make use of the ram and well vista really isn't that bad, just lots of people whole hated it at launch and even more who still hate it and/or have never used it but continue to bash

[Mordorr]

Man....what a waste...

I only have 2G, so i go for XP...

But with 4G, definily, i would go Vista 64...

Even with only 2G, its very good and better than Vista 32...

Its my opinion..:D

[drbhatti]

i have just upgraded to 4gb of OCZ when my ballistix packed up, and im using XP32.

It causes no problems, just means you wont see all of that extra RAM ( i get around 3.2gb as the rest is addressed by the gfx card / other things).

and ive noticed my pc is quicker......may not actually be the case, but feels it.

[DarkNemesis]

OK, Let me get this Streight.

~3.2 for OS 32 bit...and the video card will take up the rest?....how is that?
Video card has 512 of it's own....

also...one of you stated, that the remaining wil be taken by al other components......
If I read correctly, you telling me, even though I don't see it, it is being used by possbly everything anyways...just the OS does not see it but the all other hardware does.

I hope I didn't ready wrong...and what overclocking on a 32 bit OS with 4 gigs of RAM....any issues i should be forwarned about.

The Idea of Vista 64 is appealing, but i didn't want to purchase another OS untill Windows Se7en comes out possibly in late 09.

Thanks again to all of your input.
DN

[spinejam]

4gb runs fine on xp 32bit! don't worry about it! :)

[Kondik]

256 MB is automatic on PCI lines , you can;t do anything about it , then it's + MB amount of VGA + another RAM device [ like X - Fis with 64 MB Ram ]
So you will end on 3.25 GB th best if your VGA is 512 MB.

But like why the heck something as old and useless as 32 bit XP ? C'mon , a semi Skilled user can tweak Vista X64 ... turn off a couple of procesess and Voila beauthifull fast secure system is born

[mach82]

So you will end on 3.25 GB th best if your VGA is 512 MB.
It's not true. I've got a 512MB VGA and 3.5 GB RAM available for Win 32bit. All users of Gigabyte mobos should have 3.5 GB RAM available in such cases. For mobos of other vendors it's 3-3.25GB. I don't really know why, but it's true.

[Zigosity]

It's memory mapping. The 32-bit archetecture doesn't support anything greater than 4gigs in size, so your total memory -allocation- is 4gigs. Unfortunately, this doesn't only include ram; peripherals such as VGA cards, sound cards and other devices (usually the PCI-E ones) are also allocated this 4 gig space for I\O operations. So, in the end, your peripherals end up taking around 700-900mb from the allocation, leaving you aproximately 3.1-3.3gigs left to be allocated to your RAM. The 64-bit limit for this is really, REALLY high (in the terrabytes- I don't remember the number), so you can run lots of ram and other devices without maxing out your memory allocation.

I hope you understood that, heh. By the way, there's no real rule for how much memory it'll take; I have 2 512MB VGA cards and several other things mapped, and still have access to 3.15ish gigs of my RAM out of 4 physical on a 32-bit OS.

I agree with waiting for seven to come out before switching to 64-bit, that's what I'm doing. Just isn't worth spending that much on a copy of vista now just for the little extra RAM I could get out of it. Oh, and as for overclocking, there shouldn't be anything different between 64 and 32 bit systems with 4gigs of RAM, so you should be good there, too.

-Zigosity

[DarkNemesis]

OK, Thank you all for your replies.
I am going for a downloaded a NICE copy of Vista 64 to try before I buy.

If all 4 games work...which I asume they will, then I will buy the OS.

also...

Kondik - what services do you recommend shutting down per your reply.
I am really intereted in this.
PS: here is what i primarily Load.

1) OS...ofcource.
2) NOD32 anti-virus ONLY.
3) Office 2007 and Project 2007
4) Divx codecs, intervideo DVD player
5) a few burning programs - dvd decrypter, clonedvd, nero.
6) Daemon Tools, winrar.
7) Any and all drivers.
8) Games - Halo2, UT3, Bioshock, Crysis, and Gears of War...also Most any FPS new or old games.
LOL

Thanks again for all your inputs.