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Windows XP and RAM?
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:03 pm
by Nixie
I was just wondering, how can you figure out how much ram Windows XP supports? I've read that any version of XP will support from 3,2GB to 3,5GB except for the 64 bit version, which supports up to 4GB ram.
Anyway, if somebody can find a table or something I'd be thankful. Have to buy more ram, 2GB is just to little.

Code: Select all
Field Value
Operating System Properties
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Code Name Whistler
OS Language English (United States)
OS Kernel Type Multiprocessor Free (32-bit)
OS Version 5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail)
OS Service Pack Service Pack 3
OS Installation Date 27.11.2007
Edit: after a little more searching I found
this.
So WinXP 32 bit version supports 4GB ram, while WinXP 64 bit version supports up to 128GB ram? o.O
Re: Windows XP and RAM?
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:10 pm
by MiKe 51-50
IF you have 4gb ram on 32bit windows xp, it shows you will have around 3.5gb ram(the rest is unusable). On any windows 64bit, you can put up to 128gb of ram.
Re: Windows XP and RAM?
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:11 pm
by CrimsonNuker
MiKe 51-50 wrote:IF you have 4gb ram on 32bit windows xp, it shows you will have around 3.5gb ram(the rest is unusable). On any windows 64bit, you can put up to 128gb of ram.
Thats a massive fu
cking gap.
32bit -> 3.5gb RAM
64bit -> 128gb RAM
Re: Windows XP and RAM?
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:16 pm
by Lempi
MiKe 51-50 wrote:IF you have 4gb ram on 32bit windows xp, it shows you will have around 3.5gb ram(the rest is unusable). On any windows 64bit, you can put up to 128gb of ram.
Correct.
Re: Windows XP and RAM?
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:23 pm
by MiKe 51-50
CrimsonNuker wrote:MiKe 51-50 wrote:IF you have 4gb ram on 32bit windows xp, it shows you will have around 3.5gb ram(the rest is unusable). On any windows 64bit, you can put up to 128gb of ram.
Thats a massive fu
cking gap.
32bit -> 3.5gb RAM
64bit -> 128gb RAM
Yea, 64bit is great for servers that need tons of ram.
Re: Windows XP and RAM?
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:29 pm
by zShared
Just get 4GB with 32bit windows, it'll read most of it.
If you're planning to "upgrade" to 64bit, 4GB of ram will be too little. You'll need 6-8GB. I forget why, but I've heard it from different sources so it's most likely true.
Re: Windows XP and RAM?
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:29 pm
by Nixie
3.5GB is still good.

Re: Windows XP and RAM?
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 7:38 pm
by Starrie
CrimsonNuker wrote:MiKe 51-50 wrote:IF you have 4gb ram on 32bit windows xp, it shows you will have around 3.5gb ram(the rest is unusable). On any windows 64bit, you can put up to 128gb of ram.
Thats a massive fu
cking gap.
32bit -> 3.5gb RAM
64bit -> 128gb RAM
I thought it was something with the bits.
Every bit is a factor 2
1 bit = 1 / 0 (2 options) (2^1)
2 bits = 11 / 10 / 01 / 00 (4 options) (2^2)
3 bits = 111 / 110 / 101 / 011 / 100 / 010 / 001 / 000 (8 options) (2^3)
you see, it is going up faster.
so even though 32 SEEMS like it is the half of 64, it is far far more.
2^32 vs 2^64. that is why 64 bits can handle far, far more GB and even TB of ram
Re: Windows XP and RAM?
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 9:43 pm
by marjin_boo
How about vista? I've got the DDR3 RAMs, 3 gig. Running on i7. I know the DDR3 has more mkh or whatever it calls. Wanting to upgrade it so.
Re: Windows XP and RAM?
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 9:55 pm
by EvGa
marjin_boo wrote:How about vista? I've got the DDR3 RAMs, 3 gig. Running on i7. I know the DDR3 has more mkh or whatever it calls. Wanting to upgrade it so.
Same as XP. If it's 32-bit up to 4GB is supported, although only 3.2-3.5GB will be usable. 64-bit vista supports the following:
Home Basic - 8 GB
Home Premium - 16 GB
Ultimate - 128 GB
Business - 128 GB
Enterprise - 128 GB
The i7 uses triple channel memory, hence the multiplies of 3. 3GB, 6GB, 9GB, etc.
I run Vista Home Premium and 8GB of ram

Re: Windows XP and RAM?
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 10:17 pm
by sirs1ayer
i run ultimate with 8gb it's ddr2 though.
i usually only use like 20-30% lol
Re: Windows XP and RAM?
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:08 pm
by zShared
EvGa wrote:marjin_boo wrote:How about vista? I've got the DDR3 RAMs, 3 gig. Running on i7. I know the DDR3 has more mkh or whatever it calls. Wanting to upgrade it so.
Same as XP. If it's 32-bit up to 4GB is supported, although only 3.2-3.5GB will be usable. 64-bit vista supports the following:
Home Basic - 8 GB
Home Premium - 16 GB
Ultimate - 128 GB
Business - 128 GB
Enterprise - 128 GB
The i7 uses triple channel memory, hence the multiplies of 3. 3GB, 6GB, 9GB, etc.
I run Vista Home Premium and 8GB of ram

As soon as I get the money I'm buying a core i7, then sticking in 6-12gb of ram. =D
But vista.. ugh. I'll never use it. Either ganna run xp pro 64 or windows 7 if it turns out to be any good.
Re: Windows XP and RAM?
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:00 pm
by PR0METHEUS
I've been kind of wondering about memory requirements myself. I know 64-bit will support a lot more RAM (128GB?) than 32-bit (4GB). I'd definitely want to have a lot of RAM for Vista 64-bit, but what about Ubuntu 64-bit? Linux generally seems to require a bit less RAM than Windows, but what about Ubuntu 64-bit Linux on 2 GB of DDR2 PC6400 800MHz RAM?
Re: Windows XP and RAM?
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 4:32 pm
by Nixie
http://www.asus.com/Product.aspx?P_ID=KyHOsOKWujC2QguJIn the manual at the memory party it says under one part.
* If you install Windows(r) XP 32-bit OS, a total memory of less than 3GB is recommended.
* If you install four 1GB memory modules, the system may only recognize less than 3GB because the address space is reserved for other critical functions. This limitation if effective on Windows(r) Xp 32-bit edition.
Note: I had to retype it, because I couldn't copy. But that's what's in the manual. It's struggling me now. With WinXP x64 it supports up to 8GB.