Vista x64 and RAM debacle...

AstaLaVista

Lost in Cyberspace
Vista Pro
Coming from XP, I was under the understanding that the more memory your system had the faster it would run until someone showed me the light and told me that XP was only capable of working well with 2GB of Ram... 3GB if you know what you're doing and could tweak something.

Later I learn that Vista needed 4GB to run and since I now have 4GB's and it feels like Vista is very stable and perhpas slightly faster than my XP, I think that people were correct.

Being said that, I have heard people getting into having 8GB's or even more and since DDR2 memory is at its lowest I was thinking on jumping on that band wagon but then, it hit me... what if Vista is only capable of using 4GB and the rest would just be a waste or even worse, it could very well hinder the OS performance?

What is the scoop? If my motherboard is capable of accepting say 8GB's of Ram, would I be helping my Vista x64 OS by adding 4 more GB's to it or would I just be wasting my money? Also, seeing as to I also dual boot with XP, would my XP OS suffer from that as well?

I know someone will ask if I really need all that Memory and the answer would be, I don't really know, all I know is that I want to game as smooth as possible and if adding more memory will help me do that w/o having to overclock my CPU or GPU... I am all for it, aside from the fact that I also want to know whether Vista is capable of accepting more than 4GB and still use it at its maximum.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel Q9650 w/CM V8 Cooler...
    Motherboard
    EVGA 780i SLI FTW... Latest Bios & Drivers
    Memory
    Corsair Dominator 8GB (4 x 2GB) PC2-8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX260
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Def Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 22" LCD Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    WD Velociraptor 160GB
    Samsung Sata 750GB
    Maxtor External 160GB
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750w Silencer
    Case
    Thermaltake Speedo Advance
    Cooling
    Air Cooled... See CPU
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
    Internet Speed
    Comcast 6MB Broadband
    Other Info
    Linksys WRT54G router
Hello AstaLaVista.

I 'borrowed' this somewhere ... :o

The 32-bit editions of Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise and Ultimate, all support a maximum of 4 GB of RAM. The real variations come when we start looking at the 64-bit versions. On a system running x64 Vista Home Basic, you can add as much as 8 GB of RAM. x64 Vista Home Premium supports as far as 16 GB of RAM.

But it will take no less than 128 GB of RAM in order to satiate x64 Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate. 128 GB of RAM is the maximum supported physical limit in the case of these three operating systems.

However, with Windows Vista, there is a clear distinction between the maximum supported physical memory and the virtual addresses that the operating system will use. The x86 editions of Vista will not deliver full support for all the RAM installed in the case that this amounts to 4GB. And there are also some limitations involving x64 platforms.

Later :shock: Ted
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    * BFK Customs *
    CPU
    Intel C2Q 9550 Yorkfield
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5Q Pro
    Memory
    8GB Dominator 8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX ATI 1GB 4870 XXX
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD 7-1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1x 47" LCD HDMI & 2x 26" LCD HDMI
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080P & 1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    2x 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Cache WD Caviar Black
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX
    Case
    CM Cosmos RC-1000
    Cooling
    Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
    Keyboard
    HP Enhansed Multimedia
    Mouse
    Razer Diamondback 3G
    Internet Speed
    18.6Mb/s
    Other Info
    My First Build ;)
But it will take no less than 128 GB of RAM in order to satiate x64 Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate.

Hmmm, I find this a little hard to swallow!

Even at the cheap prices we have seen the DDR2's go for, who can afford 128 GB of Ram and what Mobo supports this for the regular and casual home user? :eek: :shock:

If that is the case, I have to go rob a bank... see you later! :D
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel Q9650 w/CM V8 Cooler...
    Motherboard
    EVGA 780i SLI FTW... Latest Bios & Drivers
    Memory
    Corsair Dominator 8GB (4 x 2GB) PC2-8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX260
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Def Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 22" LCD Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    WD Velociraptor 160GB
    Samsung Sata 750GB
    Maxtor External 160GB
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750w Silencer
    Case
    Thermaltake Speedo Advance
    Cooling
    Air Cooled... See CPU
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
    Internet Speed
    Comcast 6MB Broadband
    Other Info
    Linksys WRT54G router
Stick with 4GB and you should be okay. If you have apps that use a lot of RAM, then upgrade to 8GB. It should not hinder x64 OS performance at all.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brew
    CPU
    Intel E7200
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
    Memory
    Kingston 4GB DDR2-800
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATi Radeon HD3870 PCIe
    Sound Card
    Creative Labs Audigy 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 940BW
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 7200.10 SATAII 250GB x2 RAID 0
    Western Digital 640AAKS
    PSU
    Antec Neo550
    Case
    Antec P180
    Cooling
    Zalman 9500
    Keyboard
    Logitech S510 Combo
    Mouse
    Logitech S510 Combo
    Internet Speed
    Comcast @ 10Mb
I know someone will ask if I really need all that Memory and the answer would be, I don't really know, all I know is that I want to game as smooth as possible and if adding more memory will help me do that w/o having to overclock my CPU or GPU... I am all for it, aside from the fact that I also want to know whether Vista is capable of accepting more than 4GB and still use it at its maximum.

Yes.

MoreRAM.JPG
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q9450 SLAWR
    Motherboard
    XFX 780i
    Memory
    8GB OCZ SLI 5-4-4-12@800
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX 8800 GTX 768MB (2)
    Sound Card
    Auzen X-Fi Prelude / Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Syncmaster 214T
    Screen Resolution
    1600 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    300GB VelociRaptor / 750GB / 500GB / 750GB
    PSU
    Antec 1000W TPQ
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    4 x 120mm, 1 x 200mm
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Entertainment Desktop 8000
    Mouse
    Logitech G7, Razer Lachesis
    Internet Speed
    3Mb
I know someone will ask if I really need all that Memory and the answer would be, I don't really know, all I know is that I want to game as smooth as possible and if adding more memory will help me do that w/o having to overclock my CPU or GPU... I am all for it, aside from the fact that I also want to know whether Vista is capable of accepting more than 4GB and still use it at its maximum.

Yes.

View attachment 7079

129 processes :eek: Damn.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brew
    CPU
    Intel E7200
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
    Memory
    Kingston 4GB DDR2-800
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATi Radeon HD3870 PCIe
    Sound Card
    Creative Labs Audigy 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 940BW
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 7200.10 SATAII 250GB x2 RAID 0
    Western Digital 640AAKS
    PSU
    Antec Neo550
    Case
    Antec P180
    Cooling
    Zalman 9500
    Keyboard
    Logitech S510 Combo
    Mouse
    Logitech S510 Combo
    Internet Speed
    Comcast @ 10Mb
But it will take no less than 128 GB of RAM in order to satiate x64 Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate.
Hmmm, I find this a little hard to swallow!

Even at the cheap prices we have seen the DDR2's go for, who can afford 128 GB of Ram and what Mobo supports this for the regular and casual home user? :eek: :shock:

If that is the case, I have to go rob a bank... see you later! :D

MOST applications and games that the everyday user would use, will not be able to make use of more than 4 Gigs.

I run 4 Gigs with a Quad Core processor and have never had a bottle necking issue when it involves memory.

If your big into 3D graphics rendering, AutoCAD, or running a web server or the like, then it becomes important to have more than 4Gb.

If your running Crysis, COD4, Word, Firefox, Blu-Ray watching, etc, you really won't need more than 4Gb. At least under Vista. New applications or new OS's may change this but for now 4 is plenty.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Q9550 @ 3.2Ghz (OC)
    Memory
    4 GIG DDR2-6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon 3750
    Sound Card
    Creative X-Fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    (2) 500 Gig SATAII 32mb Cache in RAID 0 array
    PSU
    Antec TruPower 650W
    Internet Speed
    10Mbps Cable
Only 64-bit applications can use more than 2GB ram. 32-Bit apps, by their very nature and by design, can only use 2GB, even if that app is run on a 64-bit OS.

The advantage of having more than 4GB installed is that when you run many applications, the ram would be available to them. Vista x64 uses some very crafty memory management procedures to allow 32-bit apps to run in the higher address spaces.

It just comes down to the more the merrier. You can never have enough...
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9600 Quad
    Motherboard
    ASUS MB-M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi
    Memory
    2 x A-Data 2GB DDR2-800
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ATI Radeon HD 2400PRO
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SAHARA 21"
    Screen Resolution
    1600x1200
    Hard Drives
    2 x 80GB Seagate (I)
    2 x 120GB Seagate (I/S)
    2 x 200GB Seagate (I/S)
    2 x 250GB Seagate (I/S)
    PSU
    800W
    Case
    Thermaltake Tai-Chi
    Cooling
    Tai-Chi Water Cooler
    Keyboard
    Genius
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Internet Speed
    384kbps
    Other Info
    Currently dual booting between Vista x64 Ultimate Windows 7 BETA x64
I know someone will ask if I really need all that Memory and the answer would be, I don't really know, all I know is that I want to game as smooth as possible and if adding more memory will help me do that w/o having to overclock my CPU or GPU... I am all for it, aside from the fact that I also want to know whether Vista is capable of accepting more than 4GB and still use it at its maximum.

Yes.

View attachment 7079

woot...... 129 processes
what are you running........server?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q6600
    Motherboard
    MSI P36 NEO2
    Memory
    4GB 5-5-5-12
    Graphics Card(s)
    8800GTS 512Mb Overclocked
    Sound Card
    5.1 surround sound
    Hard Drives
    500Gb Samsung SATAII XP
    500GB Samsung SATAII
    PSU
    1000W CoolerMaster power supply
    Case
    CoolerMaster Cosmos 1000 case
    Cooling
    120mm ThermalTake Big Typhoon CPU cooler, 3 x 120mm exhaust
    Keyboard
    Wireless Keyboard and mouse 3000
    Other Info
    1TB WD My Book Office edition external drive x 2, Dual layer LG DVD-Rom burner,
    15 in 1 card reader
    Triple boot: XP, Vista Ultimate 64 and Windows 7 Ultimate 64
I know someone will ask if I really need all that Memory and the answer would be, I don't really know, all I know is that I want to game as smooth as possible and if adding more memory will help me do that w/o having to overclock my CPU or GPU... I am all for it, aside from the fact that I also want to know whether Vista is capable of accepting more than 4GB and still use it at its maximum.

Yes.

View attachment 7079

woot...... 129 processes
what are you running........server?

I was running 3 virtual machines through VMWare Workstation (all using 1GB), SQL Server 2005 Management studio, VS 2005, InstallShield 2008 and a couple of XML and hex editors and burning a backup DVD. I had a couple of Word docs and an Excel spreadsheet open as well. And the Vista forums up as well. I was taking a break :).
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q9450 SLAWR
    Motherboard
    XFX 780i
    Memory
    8GB OCZ SLI 5-4-4-12@800
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX 8800 GTX 768MB (2)
    Sound Card
    Auzen X-Fi Prelude / Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Syncmaster 214T
    Screen Resolution
    1600 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    300GB VelociRaptor / 750GB / 500GB / 750GB
    PSU
    Antec 1000W TPQ
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    4 x 120mm, 1 x 200mm
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Entertainment Desktop 8000
    Mouse
    Logitech G7, Razer Lachesis
    Internet Speed
    3Mb
I have 16GB of RAM. My workstation also has a pair of E5430 Xeons (8 x 2.66 GHz cores) and SAS RAID. You would need 64-bit Vista to get more than 4GB of RAM. The benefit is in how many programs can run at one time. I also have a 16GB paging file that is used. I moved it to its own drive. Most applications don't use more than 200MB of RAM. Games can use 500MB-1GB of RAM. A few of my A/V apps can hit 1-2GB of RAM. Adobe Photoshop CS2 can use 6GB of RAM and CS4 can use 8GB of RAM. Adding ram is based on your applications and usage.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    pair of Intel E5430 quad core 2.66 GHz Xeons
    Motherboard
    Supermicro X7DWA-N server board
    Memory
    16GB DDR667
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS 640 MB video card
    Hard Drives
    SAS RAID
4gb is a stable amount for most systems including games. Only go above this is you are using it for servers apps and also the bit of photo editing/photoshop or equivelent.
Or wait until the triple channel memory comes out:D.
It is expensive and they come in threes but will be worth it when they come down in price.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    I5 3570K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77-DS3H
    Memory
    4 x 4GB corsair ballistix sport DDR3 1600 Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Geforce GTX 660 TI
    Sound Card
    creative x-fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Primary CiBox 22" Widescreen LCD ,Secondary Dell 22" Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    Both 1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500G HD (SATA) 1 x 2TB USB
    PSU
    Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Complient PSU
    Case
    Antec 900 Ultimate Gaming Case
    Cooling
    3 x 80mm tri led front, 120mm side 120mm back, 200mm top
    Keyboard
    Logik
    Mouse
    Technika TKOPTM2
    Internet Speed
    288 / 4000
    Other Info
    Creative Inspire 7.1 T7900 Speakers
    Trust Graphics Tablet
Thanks for setting me straight guys, I guess I will invest my money elsewhere (newer CPU or adding another GPU) when the time comes.

As stated, I only game on my rig and right now I am passing by with my E6300 + ECS8800GT 512mb, I will be looking into updating one or both of those soon as I can not get higher than 1280x768 right now in Crysis even if I OC my GPU (which I have) and up my CPU to about 2.6Ghz and my monitor's native res is 1680x1050.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel Q9650 w/CM V8 Cooler...
    Motherboard
    EVGA 780i SLI FTW... Latest Bios & Drivers
    Memory
    Corsair Dominator 8GB (4 x 2GB) PC2-8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX260
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Def Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 22" LCD Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    WD Velociraptor 160GB
    Samsung Sata 750GB
    Maxtor External 160GB
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750w Silencer
    Case
    Thermaltake Speedo Advance
    Cooling
    Air Cooled... See CPU
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
    Internet Speed
    Comcast 6MB Broadband
    Other Info
    Linksys WRT54G router
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