computer geeks- some assistance, please?

Landshark · #1 08-20-2007, 09:48 AM

looking to add some RAM to my confuzer .....

comes stock with 2Gb PC2-5300, DDR2-667 SDRAM.....

will using 2GB PC2-6400 Dual Channel DDR2 cause me any trouble. will BIOS will just downclock the PC2-6400?

thanks for any help.

SVXdc · #2 08-20-2007, 10:10 AM

Yes, the motherboard will run all of the memory at the speed of the slowest, which should work fine.

But what OS are you running? If it's a 32-bit version of XP or Vista, you won't get all 4GB. You'll max out somewhere between 2.5 and 3.75GB, depending on your video card and other portions of the memory address space reserved for hardware.

If you already have, or will soon be upgrading to a 64-bit OS, then the purchase will be more worthwhile.

Otherwise, you may only want to add 1GB for now.

RSVX · #3 08-20-2007, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Landshark

looking to add some RAM to my confuzer .....

comes stock with 2Gb PC2-5300, DDR2-667 SDRAM.....

will using 2GB PC2-6400 Dual Channel DDR2 cause me any trouble. will BIOS will just downclock the PC2-6400?

thanks for any help.

Are you adding an additional 2GB, or are you replacing your orignal 2GB with Dual Channel? If the latter, you wont see that big of a difference for the money...

Landshark · #4 08-20-2007, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SVXdc

Yes, the motherboard will run all of the memory at the speed of the slowest, which should work fine.

But what OS are you running? If it's a 32-bit version of XP or Vista, you won't get all 4GB. You'll max out somewhere between 2.5 and 3.75GB, depending on your video card and other portions of the memory address space reserved for hardware.

If you already have, or will soon be upgrading to a 64-bit OS, then the purchase will be more worthwhile.

Otherwise, you may only want to add 1GB for now.

thanks. Vista Ultimate 32, semi-crappy GeForce 7500LE vid card.

i'm asking because i can get the 2Gb 6400 mem for $56.

RSVX · #5 08-20-2007, 10:21 AM

Also...

It is true that you'll need a 64 bit version of windows to use more than 4 gigs of physical memory, but 32 bit versions will still be able to take advantage of 4 gigs. They can't take advantage of it for a single process, however, as the operating system reserves the top 2 gigs of virtual address space for it's own use, hence the 2 gig process limit. These two are completely separate issues: physical memory support versus virtual address space.

Does the operating system keep a portion of itself resident in memory? Undoubtedly. How much clearly depends on your machine and what software you have loaded, but having more physical memory to avoid having your programs crippled by OS overhead seems like a good idea to me.

SVXdc · #6 08-20-2007, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSVX

It is true that you'll need a 64 bit version of windows to use more than 4 gigs of physical memory, but 32 bit versions will still be able to take advantage of 4 gigs. ...

I don't think that is correct. A 32-bit version of Vista flat out cannot address larger than a 32-bit memory address space (which is exactly 4GB).

See this Microsoft knowledge base article 929605.

The "Workaround" about a page down begins, "For Windows Vista to use all 4 GB of memory on a computer that has 4 GB of memory installed..."

The last requirement of the workaround is that you must use a 64-bit version of Vista.

Since part of the memory address space will always be taken up by the video card and other hardware, a portion of the 4GB RAM is unaccessible using a 32-bit Vista.

RSVX · #7 08-20-2007, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SVXdc

I don't think that is correct. A 32-bit version of Vista flat out cannot address larger than a 32-bit memory address space (which is exactly 4GB).

See this Microsoft knowledge base article 929605.

The "Workaround" about a page down begins, "For Windows Vista to use all 4 GB of memory on a computer that has 4 GB of memory installed..."

The last requirement of the workaround is that you must use a 64-bit version of Vista.

Since part of the memory address space will always be taken up by the video card and other hardware, a portion of the 4GB RAM is unaccessible using a 32-bit Vista.

I have read that article, and many others that contradict it, some from MS, some not. This is one *gray* area that has always frustrated me with Windows.

JaySVX · #8 08-20-2007, 01:31 PM

Windows 32bit will read 4gb as 3.5gb
Windows 64bit can handle up to 32gb of memory

Reason: Windows 32bit can address 4,000,000,000 bytes of memory. 4gb evaluates to 5,368,709,12 bytes, since 1 kbyte = 1024 bytes, 1mb = 1024 kbytes, 1gb = 1024mb, thus not all of it can be addressed. Old 68k apple's could only handle 4,000,000,000 bytes of hard drive space, and i bought a 4gb hard drive. It didn't work, 3.2gb was the biggest i could get it to handle. This was the reasoning.

Noir · #9 08-20-2007, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Landshark

i'm asking because i can get the 2Gb 6400 mem for $56.

Hope the memory wasn't damage from 'falling off the truck' Mr. 5 finger discount muleface sk8terboi.

Landshark · #10 08-20-2007, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noir

Hope the memory wasn't damage from 'falling off the truck' Mr. 5 finger discount muleface sk8terboi.

a nice man of the Nigerian royal family offered me the deal, along with a portion of his inheritance.

shelfy · #11 08-20-2007, 11:00 PM

i thought harry was the sk8erboi!

must listen to avril lavigne now.

Landshark · #12 08-21-2007, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shelfy

must listen to avril lavigne now.

crazy tone deaf kids.

JaySVX · #13 08-21-2007, 04:53 AM

Fortuantly DDR2 memory is dirt cheap, but i'd still be quite aware with the brands you get, for the take of reliability. Typically i try to stick with gskill, corsair, mushkin, or other similar brand names, and never the "value" ram, as it has high probability of failure in my experience, as well as reliability concerns.

Speedklix · #14 08-21-2007, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaySVX

never the "value" ram, as it has high probability of failure in my experience, as well as reliability concerns.

...or even just meeting the specs!
and be sure the memory configuration is exactly the same, not just total size and speed... or you might not be as impressed. To keep it simple I just try to install uniform ram with the same part number in every slot, and just ebay off whatever it came with... maybe as an "upgrade"