How much memory can a processor use?

[geowal19]

I'm getting a new comp with a Q6600 I'm hoping to overclock it to 4Ghz and get 4Gb of RAM. My freind says that at 4Ghz my processor can use 8Gb of RAM. This is becouse a quad processor can use twice the clock speed in memory, a duo half its clock speed and a single core half or a quarter (he can't remember). Is this true, can a processor use as much RAM as you give it? Thanks in advance.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

Lies. Your processor can use as much memory as it can address, either 32 bits or 64 bits worth. The theoretical maximum is huge. The practical limitation is the motherboard in a 64-bit system. Speed has NOTHING to do with it. Tell your friend to go read a book.

 

[Duff-Man]

My freind says that at 4Ghz my processor can use 8Gb of RAM. This is becouse a quad processor can use twice the clock speed in memory, a duo half its clock speed and a single core half or a quarter (he can't).

What complete and utter rubbish.

Either your friend is trying to sound knowledgable by making up complete and utter drivel, or he has been misled by someone else (who was probably taking advantage of his gullibility).

The amount of memory you can use has nothing to do with the CPU itself. The only limitation to memory in a practical sense is that a 32bit OS can't see more than 4Gb of memory at one time. No such limitation on a 64bit OS.

 

[reflux]

The memory limit is, as others have said, completely set by the OS. 32-bit Windows can only address 4GB, but 64-bit Vista Ultimate can use 128gb.

You won't need any more than 4GB on your system unless you're doing a lot of multi-tasking. Buy some PC-6400 stuff and you'll be set.

And 4GHz on a Q6600 is a bit rare...achievable yes, but you'll be lucky.

 

[geowal19]

Thanks for this.

 

[geowal19]

I want XP Pro does the 32/64 bit apply to it, I havn't seen that in the specs of the product.

 

[JRS]

You can get XP Pro x64. I used it for a couple of years. I wouldn't bother now, unless you have some peripheral hardware that just won't work with Vista.

 

[hlennie]

i can hit 4GHz with my q6600 but its not very stable , dont think the geil 6400 ram can take the higher fsb speed but do clock very well over there stated specs I'd advise getting some of these babies in your build as they are dirt cheap

think u will easly hit 3.6 GHz with those

 

[cpatain-chaos]

I'm getting a new comp with a Q6600 I'm hoping to overclock it to 4Ghz and get 4Gb of RAM. My freind says that at 4Ghz my processor can use 8Gb of RAM. This is becouse a quad processor can use twice the clock speed in memory, a duo half its clock speed and a single core half or a quarter (he can't remember). Is this true, can a processor use as much RAM as you give it? Thanks in advance.

does your friend wear a purple shirt for work ?

 

[geowal19]

My mates 14 so am I. LOL

 

[greywolf]

I'm getting a new comp with a Q6600 I'm hoping to overclock it to 4Ghz and get 4Gb of RAM. My freind says that at 4Ghz my processor can use 8Gb of RAM. This is becouse a quad processor can use twice the clock speed in memory, a duo half its clock speed and a single core half or a quarter (he can't remember). Is this true, can a processor use as much RAM as you give it? Thanks in advance.

does your friend wear a purple shirt for work ?

 

[vertica]

OP made me lol!

addressable memory = 2^(bit system) in bytes

32bit OS -> 2^32 = 4,294,967,296 bytes = 4GB

64bit OS -> 2^64 = 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 bytes = 17,179,869,184 GB
= 16 Exabytes. (due to this insane address space there is an artificial limit in the OS)