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    Just updated to Vista SP1 and wow...

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by DRTH_STi, Mar 30, 2008.

  1. DRTH_STi

    DRTH_STi can't.stop.buying.laptops

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    my 4GB's of ram is now recognized!!! (xps 1530)

    Previous version only recognized 3.5. This is great! Anybody else with the same results?
     
    DRTH_STi, Mar 30, 2008
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  2. kuncheesh

    kuncheesh Notebook Evangelist

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    infact its just recognised ....... windows cannot make use of the entire ram... it still uses less than 3.5 gb RAM ....... unless you have a x64 OS there is no workaround of the 32-bit RAM limit
     
    kuncheesh, Mar 30, 2008
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  3. Prasad

    Prasad NBR Reviewer 1337 NBR Reviewer

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    ^^^ That's right. You can't utilize 4GB RAM fully without a 64-bit OS.
    Take my extreme example. I have 1GB RAM on my desktop. With SP1, it shows up 8GB (a glitch), but nonetheless invalid!
     
    Prasad, Mar 30, 2008
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  4. kanehi

    kanehi Notebook Deity

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    At least it shows the "actual" memory you have. Wow you sure you don't have 8gb on your laptop? Now that's a real update! LOL
     
    kanehi, Mar 30, 2008
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  5. Prasad

    Prasad NBR Reviewer 1337 NBR Reviewer

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    No no. That's on my desktop. I don't have a laptop (yet). But the point is whatever it shows you (whether you have it or not) can be false / non-utilized. In my case, it's just majorly wrong! :p From 1GB DDR1 RAM.... to 8GB displayed :\
     
    Prasad, Mar 30, 2008
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  6. SteveJonesy

    SteveJonesy Notebook Evangelist

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    You have 1,448 posts on a Notebook forum and you dont own a notebook?

    ;) :D

    And yeh - it's just so when peeps who know nothing buy a machine with 4GB of RAM they dont go running back to the maker asking where the missing RAM is. It just tells you the amount of RAM installed not the amount of RAM utilised - that remains the same and is limited by the OS.
     
    SteveJonesy, Mar 30, 2008
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  7. Prasad

    Prasad NBR Reviewer 1337 NBR Reviewer

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    forums....are....a.....must.... lol :p
     
    Prasad, Mar 30, 2008
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  8. Bowlerguy92

    Bowlerguy92 Notebook Deity

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    That seems pretty lame to me that a 32 bit OS can only use 3.5 gigs of RAM..........In 3 or 4 years we are all going to be screwed.
     
    Bowlerguy92, Mar 30, 2008
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  9. kuncheesh

    kuncheesh Notebook Evangelist

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    ^^ in three or four years everyone's gonna be using a 64 bit OS. so how come we r screwed ??
     
    kuncheesh, Mar 30, 2008
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  10. Bowlerguy92

    Bowlerguy92 Notebook Deity

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    Well then that means everyone is going to have to upgrade or be left in the dust. People are going to need to buy new computers pretty much as a fact then in 3 or 4 years. Either way you slice the pie, we are going to end up getting the shaft and either buying a new computer or running REALLY old technology and be left behind.
     
    Bowlerguy92, Mar 30, 2008
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  11. Thomas

    Thomas McLovin

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    Well, atleast its recognized :rolleyes:
     
    Thomas, Mar 30, 2008
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  12. kuncheesh

    kuncheesh Notebook Evangelist

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    almost all processors today are 64 bit capable..... well those having computers older than that will have to upgrade........survival of the fittest is a valid rule in
    computer world also......
     
    kuncheesh, Mar 30, 2008
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  13. atbnet

    atbnet Notebook Prophet

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    Do you expect computer innovation to just magically stop and nothing new comes out? Of course things are going to get better in the future and if you want to stay current you are going to have to get a new machine. Nothing is forcing you to upgrade; you can still work with the same old thing, but it probably isn't going to work very well. No one is getting the shaft, this is how it works.
     
    atbnet, Mar 30, 2008
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  14. Evan42

    Evan42 Notebook Guru

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    Imagine still playing King's Quest on a 486 dx?


    good times.
     
    Evan42, Mar 30, 2008
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  15. Prasad

    Prasad NBR Reviewer 1337 NBR Reviewer

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    This is just the transition time, so it feels a little annoying. You won't complain 4 years from now. People probably said the same thing when moving from Windows 3.1 to windows 95 (16 bit to 32 bit). History repeats itself (yet again).
     
    Prasad, Mar 30, 2008
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  16. kuncheesh

    kuncheesh Notebook Evangelist

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    we may think that 64 bit is enough as it can give us about 17.2 billion gigabytes of RAM. however i can say that in predictable future itself we will have to move to 128 bit computing. some may call me a crackpot. however its the same happened when ppl thought that 16 KB was too much amount of RAM
     
    kuncheesh, Mar 30, 2008
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  17. booji

    booji Notebook Deity

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    ^^^^ I agree - once 64 bit OSes start gaining mainstream support, our qualms will no longer be an issue...
     
    booji, Mar 30, 2008
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  18. Kreeeee

    Kreeeee Notebook Evangelist

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    Same thing happened with the change from AGP to PCI-Express Graphics cards and motherboards.
     
    Kreeeee, Mar 30, 2008
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  19. Prasad

    Prasad NBR Reviewer 1337 NBR Reviewer

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    Nothing funny about it... you're right, that's the truth! :) Only 64-bit supports 128GB of RAM :D
     
    Prasad, Mar 30, 2008
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  20. timbatec

    timbatec Notebook Enthusiast

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    Anyone has experience with VMWare (VirtualMachine)? On 32bit system Vista use only 3 gig of ram memory right? Can the rest of the ram be memory used by the VMWare without tuching the actual Vista ram memory?
     
    timbatec, Mar 30, 2008
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  21. DRTH_STi

    DRTH_STi can't.stop.buying.laptops

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    so, long story short. windows fooled me good...lol... damn...lol
     
    DRTH_STi, Mar 30, 2008
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  22. kuncheesh

    kuncheesh Notebook Evangelist

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    no VMware works inside the OS vista and can allocate memory by request to OS only. so it can only recognize amount of RAM that vista recognizes. moreover if VMware (32 bit) could somehow manage to get hold of memory without consulting the OS......even then it could detect only 3.x gb of memory as rest of the allocation bits are gone for video and periferal support. so in actual practice it is not possible to utilize the theoretical max amount of RAM in any n bit configuration
     
    kuncheesh, Mar 30, 2008
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  23. Signal2Noise

    Signal2Noise Über-geek.

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    I just had a tingly moment. Those were the days! :)
     
    Signal2Noise, Mar 30, 2008
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  24. nekrosoft13

    nekrosoft13 Notebook Consultant

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    it was MS idea to fool consumers, to many people complained to OEM that they bought a computer with 4gb of ram and only about 3gb showed. this change was just to stop people complaining
     
    nekrosoft13, Mar 30, 2008
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  25. shawnhao

    shawnhao Notebook Consultant

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    hehe...this is exactly the reason why i saved almost 100 bucks from staying with my 3 gig of ram on the 1530...4 gigs...lol.....a psychological placebo...makes the owner proud....of the piece of plastic in the case...hehe...

    Really a waste of money unless you decide to upgrade to 64 in the future, but even then the price of ram would have greatly dropped and you would probably be able to get a gig for, say, 10 bucks?
     
    shawnhao, Mar 30, 2008
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  26. SoundsGood

    SoundsGood Notebook Virtuoso

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    So, then... if you have Vista Home Premium, does it make any sense to get 4 GB of RAM? Or is it smarter to max out at 3GB?
     
    SoundsGood, Mar 30, 2008
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  27. XPS1330

    XPS1330 Notebook Deity

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    Only if you need that extra .5 GB of RAM and refuse to go 64-bit.
     
    XPS1330, Mar 30, 2008
    #27
  28. Samuel613

    Samuel613 Notebook Evangelist

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    The problem is that you could have saved more than that $100 and only bought 1 GB from dell and bought 4 GB for $60 and put it in yourself.

    Other than that, you're missing out on the extra .5 GB (I've seen some Dells as high as 3.675, or something like that), and if you do end up deciding you want that extra GB, you might have to pay $60 for it since DDR3 might be common then, and DDR2 will command the same premium that DDR(1) commands now.

    Oh, and there's also the slight performance hit of the second GB on your first stick running in Single-Channel.

    So, for $75 less I might also stick with 3 GB if Dell were the only game in town, but I'd personally pay Dell an additional $100-$200 less and only get it with 1 GB and buy 4 GB myself for $60. Even with installation fees (if any) you're still ahead.
     
    Samuel613, Mar 31, 2008
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  29. SoundsGood

    SoundsGood Notebook Virtuoso

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    Where can you get 4GB for $60?

    Got a link?
     
    SoundsGood, Mar 31, 2008
    #29
  30. KidInTheHall

    KidInTheHall Notebook Consultant

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    Does the T9500 Penryn processor support 64-bit OS, I ordered my 64 bit media disk saturday.
     
    KidInTheHall, Mar 31, 2008
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  31. atbnet

    atbnet Notebook Prophet

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    Yes it does. I think all Intel chips have been 64 bit since Core 2 Duo.
     
    atbnet, Mar 31, 2008
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  32. KidInTheHall

    KidInTheHall Notebook Consultant

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    Cool, thanks for that. + Rep.

    And when I got my 1530, they only offered 3gb of ram or 4gb for $50 more, I thought I got a decent price for that.
     
    KidInTheHall, Mar 31, 2008
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  33. Thund3rball

    Thund3rball I dont know, I'm guessing

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    Sweet setup and yes... the newest mobile processor to hit the mainstream market which you just purchased does indeed support a 64 bit OS ;)
     
    Thund3rball, Mar 31, 2008
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  34. KidInTheHall

    KidInTheHall Notebook Consultant

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    Thank you, again appreciate the info.
     
    KidInTheHall, Mar 31, 2008
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  35. Samuel613

    Samuel613 Notebook Evangelist

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    Samuel613, Mar 31, 2008
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  36. SoundsGood

    SoundsGood Notebook Virtuoso

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    Simply amazing. I can't believe how cheap RAM is these days.
     
    SoundsGood, Mar 31, 2008
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  37. kanehi

    kanehi Notebook Deity

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    And they're still dropping! Competition works!
     
    kanehi, Mar 31, 2008
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  38. SoundsGood

    SoundsGood Notebook Virtuoso

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    Progress and technology don't hurt either! ;)
     
    SoundsGood, Mar 31, 2008
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  39. RacerX1

    RacerX1 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Memory addresses work like this, the number of memory locations is 2^x, where x=bit size of address buss and 2 because digital stuff is two state only (on or off, 1 or 0), so 2^32 = 4,294,967,296 (4 gig) (that's it in a 32bit address buss there are only 4 gigs of addressable memory which includes everything (video mem, sys mem, ect.). In a 64 bit system there is 2^64 = 18,446,744,073,700,000,000 (as Kuncheesh said 17.2 billion gigabytes).
     
    RacerX1, Apr 1, 2008
    #39