4GB with XP 32bit

titaniumx3 · 16 Dec 2008 at 20:24

I want to get 4gb of ram to future proof my computer, but I don't want to move to Vista 64bit quite yet, so for the time being I want to stick with XP 32bit.

I know that I will be limited to something like 3.5gb of usable memory (because of the 32bit OS limitation), but apart from that, is there any other issues with using 4gb of Ram in XP 32bit?

For example, are there any bandwidth issues? Does the dual-channel memory feature still work? Do I need to run the ram at lower speeds? Will overclocking be affected by this?

This is with an Asus P5Q PRO P45 motherboard and an Intel Q9550.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance!

ConTRo13R · 16 Dec 2008 at 20:26

Im also interested in this too!

Would there be a noticable worthwhile perfomance increase in doing so?

Cob · 16 Dec 2008 at 20:35

is there any other issues with using 4gb of Ram in XP 32bit

No there's not. Dual-channel works fine, and the memory will run at the same speeds as it would if you were using a x64 OS.

The only difference between running 4gb on a x86 and a x64 system is the amount of memory available to use (~3.25gb vs 4gb).

titaniumx3 · 16 Dec 2008 at 20:39

^^ Thanks a lot mate!

I think I'll push the button then.

SinaiSound · 17 Dec 2008 at 08:10

Cob said:
No there's not. Dual-channel works fine, and the memory will run at the same speeds as it would if you were using a x64 OS.

The only difference between running 4gb on a x86 and a x64 system is the amount of memory available to use (~3.25gb vs 4gb).

There's also the issue that with a x86 OS, a single process is limited to 2GB RAM.

On a x64 OS you are limited to about 8TB RAM per process

RaV · 17 Dec 2008 at 19:20

Ive just installed a new 4GB set today to replace the old 2GB one. on XP home. XP used hardly any ram so no difference in that, but it is very noticeable in games. cysis, fallout and farcry2 were all a lot smoother. minimum fps have shot up. even though like Hefner said, each process. ie a game is limited to only 2GB

I tried the adding "/3gb" to the boot.ini to give a process access to 3GB's but i get a blue screen as soon as i try to load up a game. Seems it doesnt work on XP home.

For the price of ram at the moment theres no harm getting more

- and there arent any negative effects to worry about.

SinaiSound · 17 Dec 2008 at 21:03

RaV said:
...
For the price of ram at the moment theres no harm getting more - and there arent any negative effects to worry about.

Agreed. Even with that issue, for the sake of about £40 (or less), 4GB of DDR2 should be an upgrade for everyone (well those on DDR2 anyhow)

I have seen one of my company of heroes games go above 2GB before now (1920x1200 DX10 Max settings)