Windows Vista 32-bit and Gaming

erjako

Member
I have HP Notebook with Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit and 4Gb ram. When i Watch my system I only see 3 gb ram. I read that all the 4gb is still there, but the 1gb what is not shown is used by OS. When i play games, does my computer uses all 4gb or only the 3gb that is shown? Does 32-bit windows take down my gaming performance?
 

My Computer

See if the following article helps explain why you are not seeing the full 4GB RAM in a 32-bit Vista system: The system memory that is reported in the System Information dialog box in Windows Vista is less than you expect if 4 GB of RAM is installed. Seeing 3.2-3.3 GB is common and not indicative of a problem with your system (nor is there much you can do to change this).

I don't know if gaming performance is better with 64-bit systems or 32-bit systems if both have the same amount of RAM installed and the same video cards (with the same RAM on the cards) and the same other hardware performance characteristics (like the speed of the hard drive, the refresh rate limits of the monitor, and other such things). I suspect the 64-bit system may be a little faster all other things equal on some games and no different on others but that's just an educated guess (assuming you have a 64-bit processor and motherboard). Of course, if you add more RAM to the 64-bit system (something you can't do with a 32-bit system) and increase RAM on your video card, you will probably see some improvement - if the rest of your system can handle it and all the other devices are "enhanced" so nothing is causing a bottleneck (like maybe a slow monitor or something like that).

I hope this helps.

Good luck!
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inc. MP061 Inspiron E1705
    CPU
    2.00 gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo 64 kilobyte primary memory
    Motherboard
    Board: Dell Inc. 0YD479 Bus Clock: 166 megahertz
    Memory
    2046 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM) [Di
    Sound Card
    SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor (17.2"vis)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi HTS541616J9SA00 [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 0, s/n SB2411SJGLLRMB, rev SB4OC74P, SMART Status: Healthy
    Case
    Chassis Serial Number: 5YK95C1
    Keyboard
    Standard PS/2 Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech HID-compliant Cordless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    1958 Kbps download ; 754.8 Kbps upload
    Other Info
    Optiarc DVD+-RW AD-5540A ATA Device [CD-ROM drive]

    Dell AIO Printer A940

    Conexant HDA D110 MDC V.92 Modem

    6TO4 Adapter
    Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
    Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter
    Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
    Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface

    Router Linksys / WRT54G -01
Short version..... No

As its a laptop, it shouldn't matter, but if i run my desktop with XP partion, my ram goes from 4Gig in 64bit, to under 3Gig in 32bit due to my 2 786meg gpus.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Dual L5639 // i7 950 @ 4.0Ghz
    Motherboard
    Evga SR-2 // Gigabyte x58a-ud3r
    Memory
    12Gig Corsair XMS3 // 6Gig OCZ Gold
    Graphics Card(s)
    gtx 560 ti // gtx 260-216
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual 22" // Headless
    Hard Drives
    OCZ aGILITY 3, 120Gig + Seagate 500Gig x 2
    PSU
    Silverstone da700 // Corsair 520hx
    Case
    Rosewill BlackHawk Ultra // Antec 900v1
    Cooling
    Twin CM Hyper 212+ // Noctua NH-u12
    Other Info
    Acer 8930 laptop with x9100...
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