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3.25gb =! 4.0gb

Iceman.USAFIceman.USAF MajorEast CoastRegistered User regular
edited December 2007 in Games and Technology
So, I built a new PC recently and it's wonderful. There is a slight problem, however, in that windows is only recognizing 3.25 gb of my 4gb of ram. I have 2x 2gb corsair XMS2 memory...windows vista (unactivated, for now, as I was using it on my laptop at school...I'll be switching my laptop back to XP pro and my desktop to vista, so I'm not trying to do anything shady here).

Any ideas? If need be I'll post the rest of my specs.

Iceman.USAF on
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Posts

  • AbsoluteZeroAbsoluteZero The new film by Quentin Koopantino Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Windows can't recognize that much ram. Sorry.

    EDIT: I should clarify. 32 bit Windows can't recognize that much ram.

    AbsoluteZero on
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  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Yeah, you need a 64 bit OS to recognize 4GB, 32 bit won't do it.

    citizen059 on
  • SenjutsuSenjutsu thot enthusiast Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Motherboard chipset limitation, in all probability.

    Edit: Not to mention the whole "4th gig is pointless in 32-bit OS" issue.

    Senjutsu on
  • Iceman.USAFIceman.USAF Major East CoastRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Well shit, I feel silly.

    Is Vista 64 more legitimate than XP Pro? I remember having a hard time finding anything that worked for XP 64.

    Iceman.USAF on
  • Iceman.USAFIceman.USAF Major East CoastRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Senjutsu wrote: »
    Motherboard chipset limitation, in all probability.

    No, supports up to 8gb. It's got 4 slots. P5N32-E SLI.

    Perhaps pointless right now, but I'll love it in a years time! lol

    Iceman.USAF on
  • citizen059citizen059 hello my name is citizen I'm from the InternetRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    I'd just take out some of the RAM.

    citizen059 on
  • SenjutsuSenjutsu thot enthusiast Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Senjutsu wrote: »
    Motherboard chipset limitation, in all probability.

    No, supports up to 8gb. It's got 4 slots. P5N32-E SLI.

    Perhaps pointless right now, but I'll love it in a years time! lol

    Ah. I only went that route because I ran into a chipset limit onetime myself. Basically just install 64bit Vista if you don't think you'll have any driver issues, then

    Senjutsu on
  • DemiurgeDemiurge Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Note that Vista 64bit doesn't support the Nforce chipset for SLI correctly so its a hit or miss at the moment until someone figures out to do it properly.

    Demiurge on
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  • TheSonicRetardTheSonicRetard Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Just popping in to say I love you for using !=. one of my personal pet peeves is seeing =\= because I'm so used to !=.

    TheSonicRetard on
  • jackaljackal Fuck Yes. That is an orderly anal warehouse. Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Everything I have read has been positive about Vista 64. It may not help though. I think I read that there will still be a gap basically the size of your video card's RAM. So if you have a 768 MB video card you will still show 3.25 GB, but if you had 8 GB of memory you would show 7.25 (instead of 3.25 on a 32 bit OS). I don't remember the details, so I could be remembering it wrong.

    jackal on
  • stringstring Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Yup, sounds like you have the 32-bit version of Windows. To use all that memory you will need the 64-bit version. Microsoft KB article about it here:

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605/

    string on
  • subediisubedii Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Well shit, I feel silly.

    Is Vista 64 more legitimate than XP Pro? I remember having a hard time finding anything that worked for XP 64.

    Realistically, if you want to do gaming, 64 bit OS's like Vista still aren't all that widely supported, and even when they are they can sometimes lead to bugs and other problems. You're better off sticking with a 32-bit OS like XP or a 32-bit version of Vista for the time being.

    It's probably going to be a few more years before 64-bit is more of an industry standard, at least for the home user software.

    Going for a 64-bit OS at the moment is a bit like riiidddiiinnn' through, the DANGER ZOOOOONNNEEE!
    I'm so sorry

    subedii on
  • LockeColeLockeCole Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Just popping in to say I love you for using !=. one of my personal pet peeves is seeing =\= because I'm so used to !=.

    != is good, <> is also acceptable. What the hell uses =\=?

    LockeCole on
  • subediisubedii Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    LockeCole wrote: »
    Just popping in to say I love you for using !=. one of my personal pet peeves is seeing =\= because I'm so used to !=.

    != is good, <> is also acceptable. What the hell uses =\=?

    I have no idea but most of the time I've seen that one.

    *also prefers !=*

    subedii on
  • DerigorDerigor Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    I run 64 bit vista on one machine and 64bit xp pro on the other. both with 4 gigs of ram... the xp pro machine out performs the vista one just slightly, in games. Both are rock solid machines though, no crashes no blue screens no problem.

    so if you want to switch to 64bit OS to take advantage of your ram it doesnt really matter all that much if you go with xp or vista... only reason why i have vista on one machine was out of curiosity... and i loathe that damn blue bar and green start button

    Derigor on
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  • scootchscootch Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    I don't blame you for getting 4 gigs even microsoft doesn't know their memory limit..
    http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778.aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_vista

    scootch on
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  • MasumeMasume Creator Caprica, FloridaRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    subedii wrote: »
    Going for a 64-bit OS at the moment is a bit like riiidddiiinnn' through, the DANGER ZOOOOONNNEEE!
    I'm so sorry

    A little off topic but shit, I remember seeing that movie in the theatres.

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  • subediisubedii Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Masume wrote: »
    subedii wrote: »
    Going for a 64-bit OS at the moment is a bit like riiidddiiinnn' through, the DANGER ZOOOOONNNEEE!
    I'm so sorry

    A little off topic but shit, I remember seeing that movie in the theatres.

    Top Gun is one of those films you think is so awesome as a kid, but once you're older you watch it and you think "How did I take this crap seriously?". Then you just laugh at how kitsch it all is. :mrgreen:

    subedii on
  • DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    scootch wrote: »
    I don't blame you for getting 4 gigs even microsoft doesn't know their memory limit..
    http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778.aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_vista

    the limit is 4gb addressable memory (or 2^32 locations) -- but this includes non-RAM memory, like VRAM and cache memory

    Dehumanized on
  • Iceman.USAFIceman.USAF Major East CoastRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    You guys are awesome.


    != comes from me being a CS major for 3 semesters. Then I went to Civil Engineering. Interesting eh? Still graduating on time!


    Anyways, I'll try and pick up Vista 64 when I return to school...if they have it.

    Is it something I can install right over normal Vista 32, or no?

    Iceman.USAF on
  • DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    you'll probably need to reformat to change to a 64 bit system architecture

    Dehumanized on
  • GarthorGarthor Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    subedii wrote: »
    LockeCole wrote: »
    Just popping in to say I love you for using !=. one of my personal pet peeves is seeing =\= because I'm so used to !=.

    != is good, <> is also acceptable. What the hell uses =\=?

    I have no idea but most of the time I've seen that one.

    *also prefers !=*

    Maths uses it. You know. Equals sign with a slash through it.

    Garthor on
  • AccualtAccualt Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Derigor wrote: »
    so if you want to switch to 64bit OS to take advantage of your ram it doesnt really matter all that much if you go with xp or vista... only reason why i have vista on one machine was out of curiosity... and i loathe that damn blue bar and green start button

    If you are using the green start button and blue bar as a symbol for Vista and your hatred towards it, carry on.
    If you just don't like that color combination may I suggest right click desktop - Personalize - Window Color and Appearance - Graphite?

    Accualt on
  • AthenorAthenor Battle Hardened Optimist The Skies of HiigaraRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Just popping in to say I love you for using !=. one of my personal pet peeves is seeing =\= because I'm so used to !=.

    =/= is the proper mathematical symbol -- it represents "does not equal."

    However, there was no way to replicate that in code without eating up another button, so they came up with != to be 2 keystrokes instead of =/='s 3.

    One is mathematically correct, one is computer language correct. The point is, both are correct.

    Athenor on
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  • gilraingilrain Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Athenor wrote: »
    Just popping in to say I love you for using !=. one of my personal pet peeves is seeing =\= because I'm so used to !=.

    =/= is the proper mathematical symbol -- it represents "does not equal."

    However, there was no way to replicate that in code without eating up another button, so they came up with != to be 2 keystrokes instead of =/='s 3.

    One is mathematically correct, one is computer language correct. The point is, both are correct.

    Well, =/= is an ASCII approximation of the correct symbol. The correct symbol is ≠. Most fonts have it, but you'd normally only see it on math-specific websites.

    Edit: the point being that =/= is correct nowhere. In programming, you use !=, or sometimes /=, and in math you use ≠. Only forum posters use =/=. :P

    gilrain on
  • LockeColeLockeCole Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    gilrain wrote: »
    Athenor wrote: »
    Just popping in to say I love you for using !=. one of my personal pet peeves is seeing =\= because I'm so used to !=.

    =/= is the proper mathematical symbol -- it represents "does not equal."

    However, there was no way to replicate that in code without eating up another button, so they came up with != to be 2 keystrokes instead of =/='s 3.

    One is mathematically correct, one is computer language correct. The point is, both are correct.

    Well, =/= is an ASCII approximation of the correct symbol. The correct symbol is ≠. Most fonts have it, but you'd normally only see it on math-specific websites.

    Edit: the point being that =/= is correct nowhere. In programming, you use !=, or sometimes /=, and in math you use ≠. Only forum posters use =/=. :P

    Ah duh, obviously I know ≠, I thought that the =/= was used in programming somewhere, hence my confusion.

    LockeCole on
  • CZroeCZroe Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Senjutsu wrote: »
    Motherboard chipset limitation, in all probability.

    No, supports up to 8gb. It's got 4 slots. P5N32-E SLI.

    Perhaps pointless right now, but I'll love it in a years time! lol

    I've got the "Plus" version of that board and I'm running 4GB on Vista Ultimate x64.

    One thing to note is that a Vista key will work with either 32 or 64bit install media, but good luck finding 64bit install media. I had to buy 32bit and 64bit flavors to get my OEM discs.
    Demiurge wrote: »
    Note that Vista 64bit doesn't support the Nforce chipset for SLI correctly so its a hit or miss at the moment until someone figures out to do it properly.

    Huh? I'm doing SLI in Vista x64.
    subedii wrote: »
    Well shit, I feel silly.

    Is Vista 64 more legitimate than XP Pro? I remember having a hard time finding anything that worked for XP 64.

    Realistically, if you want to do gaming, 64 bit OS's like Vista still aren't all that widely supported, and even when they are they can sometimes lead to bugs and other problems. You're better off sticking with a 32-bit OS like XP or a 32-bit version of Vista for the time being.

    It's probably going to be a few more years before 64-bit is more of an industry standard, at least for the home user software.

    Going for a 64-bit OS at the moment is a bit like riiidddiiinnn' through, the DANGER ZOOOOONNNEEE!
    I'm so sorry

    Actually, 32bit high-end gaming systems are already irrelevant. Games crash when they hit the 4GB addressing limit in Vista and XP.
    You guys are awesome.


    != comes from me being a CS major for 3 semesters. Then I went to Civil Engineering. Interesting eh? Still graduating on time!


    Anyways, I'll try and pick up Vista 64 when I return to school...if they have it.

    Is it something I can install right over normal Vista 32, or no?

    My teacher counted my pseudocode wrong because she had never seen != and had only ever seen .

    CZroe on
  • DemiurgeDemiurge Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Demiurge wrote: »
    Note that Vista 64bit doesn't support the Nforce chipset for SLI correctly so its a hit or miss at the moment until someone figures out to do it properly.

    Huh? I'm doing SLI in Vista x64.

    Which motherboard are you using? Most of the standard boards I see don't support SLI on vista 64bit properly , the OS runs glitchy and is unstable (graphical errors etc.)

    Demiurge on
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  • The Black HunterThe Black Hunter The key is a minimum of compromise, and a simple, unimpeachable reason to existRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    I use 64bit Vista for my 4gb


    It can be a real pain in the arse some times, and then in other times it can be the greatest thing ever.

    The Black Hunter on
  • Dr_KeenbeanDr_Keenbean Dumb as a butt Planet Express ShipRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    CZroe wrote: »
    My teacher counted my pseudocode wrong because she had never seen != and had only ever seen .

    Your teacher shouldn't be teaching anything to do with code, then.

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  • PeewiPeewi Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Just popping in to say I love you for using !=. one of my personal pet peeves is seeing =\= because I'm so used to !=.

    I prefer ≠, personally.

    Peewi on
  • EchoEcho ski-bap ba-dapModerator mod
    edited December 2007
    Athenor wrote: »
    However, there was no way to replicate that in code without eating up another button, so they came up with != to be 2 keystrokes instead of =/='s 3.

    They didn't come up with anything to represent the mathematical symbol. ! is a not operator, = is an equal operator. Thus != means "not equal".

    Echo on
  • CZroeCZroe Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Demiurge wrote: »
    Demiurge wrote: »
    Note that Vista 64bit doesn't support the Nforce chipset for SLI correctly so its a hit or miss at the moment until someone figures out to do it properly.

    Huh? I'm doing SLI in Vista x64.

    Which motherboard are you using? Most of the standard boards I see don't support SLI on vista 64bit properly , the OS runs glitchy and is unstable (graphical errors etc.)

    Mentioned earlier: Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus. Seems fine. The only instabilities I had were with my factory OC'd 7800GTs not really being able to pull off the factory OC. Now I'm on dual 8800GT cards and I'm only having a problem with Hellgate London crashing.
    CZroe wrote: »
    My teacher counted my pseudocode wrong because she had never seen != and had only ever seen .

    Your teacher shouldn't be teaching anything to do with code, then.

    Agreed, though she didn't take kindly to that suggestion.

    CZroe on
  • Iceman.USAFIceman.USAF Major East CoastRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Yeah I had to install some page that expanded the virtual memory or some garbage. It was a really odd error. Works like a charm now, though.

    Iceman.USAF on
  • MonaroMonaro Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    scootch wrote: »
    I don't blame you for getting 4 gigs even microsoft doesn't know their memory limit..
    http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778.aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_vista

    the limit is 4gb addressable memory (or 2^32 locations) -- but this includes non-RAM memory, like VRAM and cache memory

    Correct.

    For example, if you put a bigger video card in, say go from a 512MB card to a 768MB, you'll see that a further 256MB of that system ram is now no longer read. So yes, it's total memory, not just the ram sticks you put in.

    Monaro on
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  • The DeliveratorThe Deliverator Slingin Pies The California BurbclavesRegistered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Monaro wrote: »
    scootch wrote: »
    I don't blame you for getting 4 gigs even microsoft doesn't know their memory limit..
    http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778.aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_vista

    the limit is 4gb addressable memory (or 2^32 locations) -- but this includes non-RAM memory, like VRAM and cache memory

    Correct.

    For example, if you put a bigger video card in, say go from a 512MB card to a 768MB, you'll see that a further 256MB of that system ram is now no longer read. So yes, it's total memory, not just the ram sticks you put in.

    Actually iirc, that's not quite right, because the OS doesn't directly address the vram. A pci-e 16x video card will use more versus a pci-e 8x video card though, since the data buss is twice as large.

    The Deliverator on
  • CZroeCZroe Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Monaro wrote: »
    scootch wrote: »
    I don't blame you for getting 4 gigs even microsoft doesn't know their memory limit..
    http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778.aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_vista

    the limit is 4gb addressable memory (or 2^32 locations) -- but this includes non-RAM memory, like VRAM and cache memory

    Correct.

    For example, if you put a bigger video card in, say go from a 512MB card to a 768MB, you'll see that a further 256MB of that system ram is now no longer read. So yes, it's total memory, not just the ram sticks you put in.

    Actually iirc, that's not quite right, because the OS doesn't directly address the vram. A pci-e 16x video card will use more versus a pci-e 8x video card though, since the data buss is twice as large.

    Regardless, a correlation to address space and video memory is there in Vista due to the way Microsoft does things now. The direct correlation is not there in Windows XP, though more hardware still eats more address space. Now, IIRC, a 32bit system should still support more than 4GB of RAM due to address translation, but individual 32bit applications can only address 4GB of memory and hardware I/O address ranges cut deeply into that. OS limitations only allow 2GB for 32bit applications and 2GB for I/O for each application and tweaking can only change that to be 1GB for I/O and 3GB for the application. As I understand it, RAM-limited multitasking will continue to improve with memory capacities over 4GB in a 32bit OS, while individual applications will not.

    Don't even consider SLI in Vista if you aren't doing 64bit.

    CZroe on
  • DockenDocken Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    Ok can I ask a stupid question?

    So in 32 bit architecture you can't get all 4gigs due to this addressable memory problem, however as MS states you do get about 3.12 gigs being read by the system... that's still over 50% more RAM vs a system with 2gigs... but the question is, is this increase worth it? I mean I am about to build a system and RAM is really cheap right now, so despite not getting max performance it still seems like a good idea to me to put 4 gigs in.

    Am I crazy?

    Docken on
  • Deviant HandsDeviant Hands __BANNED USERS regular
    edited December 2007
    So all this conversation about != and we are casually ignoring the op wrote =! in the title which is a bastardization?

    Deviant Hands on
  • MonaroMonaro Registered User regular
    edited December 2007
    It's not really a 32-bit architecture problem - just a limitation of consumer-level versions of Windows. There's plenty of 32-Bit OS's that support far more than 4GB.


    As far as performance goes, I've seen enough reports of a drop in performance to not bother personally. Probably something to do with the uneven amount of memory, so I just have a nice pair of 1GB stick in dual channel.

    Monaro on
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