Max amount of memory for XP?

ferret face · 3 Oct 2008 at 08:53

Hi guys,

Coes anyone know what the max amount of memory is viable for XP home edition(32bit)?

I currently have 2gb running in dual channel and was thinking of buying another stick or 2.

Cheers Ferret

AtaRo · 3 Oct 2008 at 11:31

It will see around 3GB.

ferret face · 3 Oct 2008 at 12:26

Thanks Ataro,

I have 2gb at the mo, running in dual channel so if i get another 1gb that will stop it running in dual channel.

Do you know if this is a major drop in performance?

Thanks

Ferret

Kelt · 3 Oct 2008 at 12:42

ferret face said:
Thanks Ataro,

I have 2gb at the mo, running in dual channel so if i get another 1gb that will stop it running in dual channel.

Do you know if this is a major drop in performance?

Thanks

Ferret

Nope, no major drop.

AtaRo · 3 Oct 2008 at 13:31

memory right now is so cheap you can get a 2GB pc6400 stick for less than £18 and 2 stick of 1GB for around that price so even if it only see 3GB it will really speed up multitasking a lot.

Stabhappy · 3 Oct 2008 at 13:33

32bit OS will read 4GB, subtracting your amount of graphical memory from that. So, if you have a 512mb graphics card, you'll get 3.5gigs in Windows.

64bit is a few petabytes IIRC, something silly that no one is going to use for atleast a few years.

Yellowbeard · 3 Oct 2008 at 15:33

As long as you add another matched pair of memory (2 x 512mb or 2 x 1GB, etc) you won't lose dual channel. I'd suggest adding another pair of EXACTLY what you have now for best performance and stability.

Amnesia · 3 Oct 2008 at 15:51

Stabhappy said:
32bit OS will read 4GB, subtracting your amount of graphical memory from that. So, if you have a 512mb graphics card, you'll get 3.5gigs in Windows.

64bit is a few petabytes IIRC, something silly that no one is going to use for atleast a few years.

i thought it gets to see 3.5gb and then u minus your video memory from that?

i dont have 4gb so not 100% sure

Yellowbeard · 3 Oct 2008 at 17:09

XP does initially address 4GB. However, you are automatically going to lose approximately 512mb on pretty much any modern board due to PCI addressing. Then, the rest of the system components that have memory will be allocated virtual address space.

AN806 is a good read and has some info on this.