m15x - 4GB RAM - Vista 32bit or 64bit

I just ordered my m15x with 4GB of RAM.

Now I am wondering will they provide me with Vista 32bit or will they ship the 64bit version?

As far as I know, the 32bit Version has some troubles with addressing 4GB, right?

Rambler

 

If you didn't select Windows Vista Ultimate they won't provide you with a 64-bit OS as far as I know. The 32-bit OS will only read 3GB from the 4GB of RAM.

 

I did select Vista Ultimate. So I get the 64bit Version?

Rambler

 

Sorry, you are out of luck....Alienware only supports 32bit. If you want you can pick up the OEM 64bit version off of Ebay for about $189

 

Also AW will not give 64-bit drivers you would have to find them on ur own.

 

I installed the Vista Home Premium edition 32-bit edition Service PAck 1, and now it recognizes my 4GB RAM... whereas before it only saw 3GB...

 

WOW!!! i hope that works for all of us (that is when i finally get my computer)

 

the SP1 Update only shows that 4GB installed, but u can use only 3GB like before. for 64bit there are no drivers vom AW for Command Centre etc-.

 

Uh... wow. I guess most of you haven't encountered this one yet.

If you already have a Vista license, but only a 32-bit installation disc, you can request a 64-bit installation disc from Microsoft for the cost of S&H. Just go here, fill out the form, and wait for a little while.

But yes, as has been pointed out, although your system will be able to mostly able to run under 64-bit Vista, you'll be missing the Alienware Command Center and the Alienware/Quanta OSD. This post will give you an idea of where to pick up most of the drivers if you decide to take that direction.

Alternately, you can turn on PAE, take a slight hit on memory access, but be able to access all 4 GB of RAM. I haven't decided whether or not I want to do that yet (I have 4 GB of RAM, but haven't found that lack of memory's been an issue... yet).

 

Thanks Sogarth, I didn't know that I could request a 64-bit install disc from Microsoft.

 

What advantage does 64 Bit over 32 Bit in Vista good for anyways?

 

to use 4GB ram and 64bit

 

Does it speed up games? Programs run any smoother? I know the ram will aid in that essentially, but the fact that its 64 Bit as well?

 

32-bit programs won't run any better in Vista 64. If anything, there's a slight chance that (depending on how poorly it's coded or how hardware dependent it is) it won't run at all.

It's true that most people don't have much reason to go to Vista 64 - it's primarily for those few programs that require 4+ GB of RAM. One example of this is that going forward, Microsoft's SQL Server will need to run on a 64-bit OS because of the sheer amount of memory it consumes. I'd imagine that other memory-hungry programs will start migrating over to 64-bit versions as time moves on.

PS I wonder when MMOs that leak memory like sieves leak water will start migrating over to Vista 64 so that they have more space to leak memory?

 

I thought that it was a chipset hardware limitation for Vista to be unable to use all 4 gigs or RAM. Well, that's what one fellow member here told me anyways...I'm confused now.

 

Basically Vista or XP can both use 4 gigs of RAM. The only issue is that 32 bit versions of either OS can't. Only the 64 bit versions of each OS can.

And nice link Sogarth. I've been telling people it's possible to upgrade to 64bit from a 32bit OS by contacting Microsoft but I never bothered with locating the link.

 

Rock on..good to know.

 

thanks +rep I just wanted to get it cleared because I was pretty sure that it wasn't a hardware limitation.

 

ive been told there is still a lot of hardware and software that wont run on 64bit

 

64-bit OSes do have some compatibility problems with programs. Drivers can be an issue as well.

 

and so the trouble continues...
im just gonna wait till AW offers 64bit vista ultimate on the m15x, so i dont have to worry about driver incompatibility...etc.
its just a matter of time till they do i hope, i know sager offers the diff OS's and their 32/64 bit versions as options.
then i cant wait for 4gb and 64bit power on the m15x

 

Hurrayyy.... finally today I got success in running my m15x with its full power.
I am running Windows Vista Ultimate x64 with all the drivers except Alienware Command Centre

Windows rating is 5.1 and my system can utilize full 4GB RAM....

I am building a package for all the softwares and drivers you need to run m15x in 64Bit and soon will upload them to Rapidshare

 

Also I am working a windows driver+service for x64 which can simulate the same operations that AlienFX can. I don't see it coming from Alienware. Will post it here once I have a working one.

 

Here is the HOWTO guide... hope you find it useful
http://alienware-m15x.blogspot.com/2008/08/alienware-m15x-drivers-for-windows.html

 

is it possible to put 8gb or RAM in the m15x assuming i did the 64bit switch?

 

yes, it is possible.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=330092

 

so, would the bios restrict it? or would it beable to use all 4gb or RAM?

 

nope, it'll definitely be able to use 4Gb, probably even 8Gb (with a 64bit OS, of course).

 

Did you know that 64 bit will actually run worse than 32 bit despite having the extra 0.5GB of RAM? The memory footprint with 64 bit is larger than 32 bit because all apps coded for 64 bit use 64 bit data variables instead of 32 bit.

 

ah, but is it really 500mb larger? i think not... ergo, 64bit is the better choice.

 

Here's some proof:

source

 

I deny this fact, it's not always true. Specially if you have 1gb dedicated graphics card effectively you get around 2gb space for user applications on 32bit OS. While in 64bit you get over 3gb for user applications.

just utilizing the 4gb is not the only benefit you get, as I repeatedly said.. you get the overall system performance boost. You feel it more if most of your applications are 64bit aware... but since atleast OS is you get the basic OS operations faster. File copying, data transfer b/w RAM & processor, and other OS functions perform a lot faster due to the double the size of data bus.

I would say, if you can try Vista without worrying. It's worth trying 64bit of it. You will not regret it. If you are worried you will not be able to perform normal operation and affect your work. Get a dual boot to try the 64bit.

 

basically vista 32bit will only use 4gbs of ram max, but that includes motherboard, and graphics card ram, aswell as your RAM itsself

so if you had a 128mb gfx card, the max windows will use for ram is 3872 because the 128 is removed from the total

 

would it even be worth it to have 8gigs in the m15x, assuming it works properly?




why does it work that way? Where it subtracts the gfx ram from the total?

 

This is a limitation of 32bit platform for any OS. 32bit means 2^32 = 4294967296 that is a maximum value a 32bit register can hold (registers are temporary storage under processors to hold temporary data and a pointer to next instruction to execute in memory) Saying all that it means a 32bit architecture cannot address more than 4294967296 memory locations

4294967296 = 4GB

OS could have address entire 4GB if it does not have to load its own data into memory. so some space is allocated for system (kernel) itself to load its drivers and other data. Now every hardware is mapped to a memory address.

If you have 512mb dedicated memory card, it would take 512mb from your system's available memory.

Hope I was able to clear your doubts?

Edit: while a 64bit register can hold a max value of upto , 18446744073709551616 (ie. 16777216 TB or 16 exabytes).. may be aliens need that much RAM

 

Oh, I apologize, I meant after I upgrade to Ultimate 64bit, will the board or Bios limit the 8gb RAM or would it be able to support 8gb??

otherwise I know for price reasons, it would probably be smarter to just use 4gb?

 

I dont know if this is significant but I ordered with 1gig of RAM and upgraded to 4gigs with the stuff in my sig. When i go to system properties it says RAM = 4 gigs. Is this what people mean when they say windows doesn't recognize 4gigs?

 

If you are on Vista Sp1 (even 32bit) will display 4GB Physical ram but will utilize only 4GB - memory reserved by system resources

 

We have to try this out, I would probably try to get a pair of 4GB sticks just for testing. If everything works out then I will buy them for sure. I really need them for my multiple VPCs.

Santa Rosa supports 8GB for sure, but this has to be supported by BIOS as well. Dell has provided latest BIOS for almost all its santa rosa platforms and can use 8gb with no problems at all. AW is ahhhh little tricky to deal with such things. If you could use RMA over newegg.com then you can order 2x4gb sticks and return them if they do not work.

 

yeah...
today I have 4gb coming in the mail right now...but in the future, would definantly not mind upgrading to 8gb, what kind of motherboards are in our m15x's???

 

Intel GM965 board.. I guess... ASUS board ???