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    If you buy the m1530 with 4GB RAM, will it recognize?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by StuntDragon, Apr 24, 2008.

  1. StuntDragon

    StuntDragon Notebook Consultant

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    If you buy the XPS m1530 w/ 4GB RAM from Dell, with Vista Home Premium, will all 4 gigs of ram be recognized?

    If not, why would Dell give us the option to buy 4GB RAM, and not let us be able to use it? Is there a way to solve this problem? I heard somewhere that you can download Intel's ACHI?

    Thanks in advance
     
    StuntDragon, Apr 24, 2008
    #1
  2. Sa*ad159

    Sa*ad159 Notebook Consultant

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    Yeah, I heard that the official way for it to recgonize would be for one to use XP 64bit - but that causes "problems" since not every program is compatible.

    Is there anyway though unofficial, to force the 32bit XP OS to use 4gb?

    Thanks
     
    Sa*ad159, Apr 24, 2008
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  3. StuntDragon

    StuntDragon Notebook Consultant

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    WOW, Dell didn't even give us the option to upgrade to 64-bit...man...
     
    StuntDragon, Apr 24, 2008
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  4. nobscot6

    nobscot6 Wise One

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    32bit will now recognize 4gb of ram, thanks to sp1, but still cannot utilize more than ~3.2.

    64bit will recognize and use all 4GB. In fact, newer mobos can accept up to 8GB of ram w/ Vista 64bit.




    You have to specifically request it via phone order, or request it directly thru XPS support and return your original disk after you receive your xps...... and probably any model....... :rolleyes:
     
    nobscot6, Apr 24, 2008
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  5. Sa*ad159

    Sa*ad159 Notebook Consultant

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    Yes, but if I am not mistaken 64bit XP OS does have compatibility issues, is this correct?

    I think compatibility outways another gig of RAM.
     
    Sa*ad159, Apr 24, 2008
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  6. StuntDragon

    StuntDragon Notebook Consultant

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    Yeah, that's what i read about sp1. It's also great to know that you can get 64-bit, but i think it's kinda silly to send back your 32-bit...

    Thanks a lot for the input, it was helpful

    EDIT: i thought it could recognize AT LEAST 3. 5 gigs of ram...
     
    StuntDragon, Apr 24, 2008
    #6
  7. Amsterdamned

    Amsterdamned Notebook Enthusiast

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    I was curious about this myself. I was kind of disappointed when i checked the ram when I first booted it up and saw 3582 MB of ram.
     
    Amsterdamned, Apr 24, 2008
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  8. hehe299792458

    hehe299792458 Notebook Deity

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    Yes, your hardware supports 4GB. What OS are you using? 32bit OS's (XP32, VHP32, etc) only recognizes ~3.2GB max because it's a limitation with 32bit OS. 64bit OS (Vista 64, 2008 Server 64, etc) will recognize 2^64 bytes of Ram, which is way more than 4GB
     
    hehe299792458, Apr 24, 2008
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  9. Amsterdamned

    Amsterdamned Notebook Enthusiast

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    yeah, bummer... VHP32 Can't wait to get the bloatware off this also.
     
    Amsterdamned, Apr 24, 2008
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  10. Hahutzy

    Hahutzy Notebook Deity

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    I thought the remaining memory could be used by your GPU? So it's not all wasted?
     
    Hahutzy, Apr 24, 2008
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  11. dufog

    dufog Notebook Enthusiast

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    Ok, I'm a noob when it comes to the 32 vs 64 bit. I have a 1530 on the way for my son with 4mb ram but just the VHP. Is it just a matter of the OS software to make it 64 bit? What are the advantages of the 64 bit? Faster? Better graphics? I'm lost. Finally, how much does MS charge for the upgrade to Vista 64 bit. I really have tried to look through these threads but can't seem to find the right answers.

    Thanks
     
    dufog, Apr 25, 2008
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  12. nobscot6

    nobscot6 Wise One

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    lol

    i did a quick search...........................

    http://www.notebookreview.com/searc...F;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:11&hl=en&btnAction=SEARCH

    click on the link and read some of the threads on 64bit

    or this could highjack our original topic here.......
     
    nobscot6, Apr 25, 2008
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  13. fiveo

    fiveo Notebook Consultant

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    I installed 4 GB a month ago after SP1 and it shows it as such, but not sure if it's able to use all of it or not. I did see a slight perfomance increase in PCMark05 as well as SuperPi.
     
    fiveo, Apr 25, 2008
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  14. Signal2Noise

    Signal2Noise Über-geek.

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    No, the o/s still won't use all of the 4GB. It's Microsoft's way of putting a bandaid on the issue so computer neophytes don't go "Hey! I paid for 4GB and Windows says I only have 3.xGB!! WTF?"
     
    Signal2Noise, Apr 25, 2008
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  15. Sa*ad159

    Sa*ad159 Notebook Consultant

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    I guess one could think about it like:

    When you buy a hard drive such as 500gb, and you can only use around ~450gb. Therefore you never get to use all the 500gb even though you paid for it.
     
    Sa*ad159, Apr 25, 2008
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  16. Samuel613

    Samuel613 Notebook Evangelist

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    A 32-bit OS on Santa-R0sa laptops with 128 MB (or 256 MB?) graphics cards will be able to address 3.5 GB of RAM.

    Vista 64-bit is awesome and I have no problems with it.

    The only things missing are 16-bit support (rarely seen these days, but to use DOS 16-bit apps, I use the free DosBox, a 32-bit app, to do so), and fingerprint authentication in firefox, which I can do without.
     
    Samuel613, Apr 25, 2008
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  17. Samuel613

    Samuel613 Notebook Evangelist

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    It seems that with a licensed copy of Windows Vista xyz 32-bit, you are entitled to install, in its stead, Windows Vista xyz 64-bit edition. Neither Microsoft nor Dell are required to give you the media to do so, though, so you need to obtain the media somehow.
     
    Samuel613, Apr 25, 2008
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  18. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    1 - SP1 will show 4GB, but you can't use it all.
    2 - RAM that does not have an address (aka cannot use it) can NOT be used by ANYTHING. If someone tells you the GPU is using it, the person doesn't understand.
    3 - The only official way to support more than 4GB of RAM in a 32bit OS requires specialized hardware, specialized software, and specialized drivers...which is far more difficult than just getting a 64bit OS to start with.
    4 - Please use the search features from NBR and Google, as this has been asked many many times and you'll find your answer there as well.

    No.
     
    Greg, Apr 25, 2008
    #18