Desktops: max ram capacity for xp
max ram capacity for xp
by bgboss30 - 6/5/09 1:16 AMI have a pc having 6 gb of ram in it having windows xp os .but when i check the system configuration it shows only 3 gb ram .does the system uses only 3 gb ram or 6 gb ram available on pc.
Re: max rem capacity
by Kees Bakker
- 6/5/09 1:49 AM
In reply to: max ram capacity for xp by bgboss30
Depends. 32 bit versions of XP only use 3 Gb maximum. 64 bit versions can go much higher. As you don't tell what you have, we can't tell your max. But you can now.
Luckily, there's hardly any normal application that needs more than 3 Gb.
Kees
Even though the hardware recognizes 6GBs RAM, WinXP 32-bit
by VAPCMD - 6/5/09 5:46 AM In reply to: max ram capacity for xp by bgboss30only uses between 3GB and 3.5GB .... most PC hardware won't recognize more than 24GB but WinXP 64-bit can recognize/use approx 128 GBs RAM.
VAPCMD
And it gets murkier from this point on.
by R. Proffitt - 6/5/09 5:52 AM
In reply to: max ram capacity for xp by bgboss30
Someone may point out the /3GB and /PAE switches which only one has done any good here but Microsoft has tomes to read what these do.
Let's just skip all that and write you want to hang in there on XP till you decide Windows 7 is your next step.
Bob
Limitations of a 32bit system
by white-bread - 6/5/09 6:44 AM In reply to: max ram capacity for xp by bgboss30Amazingly, no one pointed this out.
What is the limit in the BIOS?
Anything above 3.7G used in PAE has about the same function as a SQL database.
Simple Answer, Simple Question
by gingaskunk - 6/5/09 7:21 PM In reply to: max ram capacity for xp by bgboss30The simple answer to your question is that no, you can't use more than 3gb of RAM.
Others here have gone into complex things, but the simple fact is that if (like >90% of XP owners) your win XP is the 32 bit flavor, it can only address (or recognize) 4gb of RAM.
Although I say 4gb, some of these "addresses" it uses to address RAM are used up just running XP itself, so in reality if you install 4gb or more, it will only see a little over 3gb total (the exact amount varies by installation).
Using any 64 bit OS will fix this problem, and allow you to use a HUGE amount more RAM.
In my perosonal opinion, keep your 6gb running at 3gb right now, and then upgrade to Windows 7 64 bit when that is released (which look slike it is going to be a lot more stable and less memory hungry that Vista).
Hope this helps.
Somebody saw you coming
by 3rdalbum - 6/6/09 3:17 AM In reply to: max ram capacity for xp by bgboss30Buyer beware: Somebody saw you coming. It's unethical to sell a PC with so much more RAM than its operating system can address. Unfortunately it's quite common. Whenever you buy a PC with more than 4 gigabytes of RAM you MUST ask the salesperson whether the operating system is 64-bit.
What on earth do you need 6 gigabytes of RAM for on Windows XP, anyway?
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