Do i need 4 gigs?

I was looking at the configs for the NP5792 and 9262... do i need 4 gigs? wat are the advantages and disadvantages? I noticed it says i need to run on vista 64? what does that mean?

Also which processor would you recommend? for gaming..

 

It says you need to run on Vista 64 because only 64-bit operating systems can detect 4GB of RAM. A 32-bit can only detect approx. 3.2 GB or RAM.

Most current processors will do just fine. It's the GPU that is most important for gaming.

 

i noticed on some benchmarks that playing games on 64 bit will get you less FPS than running on 32... is that correct?

i dont know which is the most current processor.. i see the duo extreme on the 9262 and the penryn on the 5792... is there a big difference? (i am debating on which series i should buy.. obviously rather spend less but if the 9262 is worth it ill spend more)

 

64 bit is not ready yet. going for it will just lead you to worse performance and more troubles than the 32 bit versions.

 

IMO Win XP is still faster even with 1gb less of momery. Vista a super greedy and it requires 2gb really to even run at a decent speed, where as 1gb on XP is plently (unless your really pushing it). If you have seen vista std using 1gb of memory only then you will know what i'm taking about, you generally go into Pagefiles after 30 mins of use when only really browsing and using office.

I have added up to 4gb in my spec but that was really because it was cheap, when i'm running XP i'll only detect 3.2gig which is plently i expect to never go over 2gb and also the 1gb Turbo ram wont be enabled. Once Vista has SP1 out maybe SP2 then i'll switch over to that hence the Dual Boot, that will in turn detect the extra 1gb and the Turbo Ram (Should have some benifit by then also).

 

For the price of 4 gigs, id just buy 1 or watever the minimum is and buy memory aftermarket from newegg.com i paid like $70 in total with shipping for 2x2gb sticks.

 

im on XP32 and it see only 3gig... but its doesnt matter... i have better performance in xp than vista

 

Everyone has better performance in XP the only reason I will use 32 Vista Ultimate is caused I am bored after using XP for like 6 years, and playing around with different custom versions and stuff.

 

Use WSR 2008 32bit with Sp1, u will see the full 4096MB, maybe Vista32 + Sp1,too

 

Yeah, I also want to use Vista for the full DX10.

 

kaltmond, yes, you'll see you have 4GB installed, but woun't be able to use more than 3.2 or 3.5.
If you have an x64 compatible laptop (Core 2 Duo) then use an x64 operating system.

 

^ yeah, that seems to make logical sense.

 

How can i determine the total ram available?

 

get a side gadget or look at the computer specs in my computer.

 

There's not much reason not to get 4 gigs. The difference in price is small and there's no downside to having it.

I think 4 gigs is pretty much a no brainer.

Many years ago when Taiwan got hit by earthquake and RAM prices tripled, that would present a problem.

 

yeah, xotic has it for like 4 bucks.

 

100$ upgrade if I remember correctly.

 

^wrong on the config page for the 9262 its like 50 bucks

 

what is WRS 2008?

 

It's a stupid idea anyway what he's suggesting.
He was referring to Windows Server 2008.
If you want to really use 4GB of RAM x64 is the ONLY solution. And it will work and it will not cause you problems, like some "experts" here say. Software that doesn't work include 16 bit applications.

 

I think that even with a 64-bit OS, there will always be a "hole" between 3GB and 4GB. This is due to the PC's architecture using this memory address space for communicating with hardware, such as the video card. A 512MB graphics card, for example, "hides" 512MB from the memory available for kernel and user processes - somewhere between 3GB and 4GB.

A good explanation is at dansdata.com.

Even with an OS which can "see" over 4GB, you need to install more than 4GB, in order to have 4GB as memory available to OS processes.

I have installed 4GB, although only 3GB are visible, because with two paired modules, the memory works in dual channel mode and it is a bit faster. This is the only advantage I can see to having the extra 1GB.

 

There is no hole. You can use up to 4GB of RAM, while with x86 you can use less than 3.25 or whatever.

 

There still is a "hole" unfortunately. The only way around it, is to have a very new motherboard which, in cooperation with new graphics cards and other devices, can relocate this 3-4GB "hole" to higher 64-bit memory addresses.

From the link I quoted above:

By default, an all-64-bit PC will still have the standard big holes in its memory from three to four gigabytes. This is the lowest-hassle way to deal with the problem - just install more than 4Gb of memory, and live with the fact that your 8Gb PC with a 768Mb graphics card only actually has seven-point-not-much gigabytes of visible RAM.

One advantage of this is that you can still boot a 32-bit OS, if you want to. Another is that this vanilla configuration is most likely to actually work. Cleverer memory configurations aren't necessarily properly supported by hardware, operating systems and device drivers yet.

If you don't care about these factors, though, there are two ways to get the lost memory back.

Some 64-bit motherboards these days give you an option for "memory hole remapping". That moves the fourth-gigabyte MMIO memory holes higher into the 64-bit address space, probably way above the maximum RAM you can physically install.

Many other 64-bit boards, though, are even smarter, and can leave the memory holes where they are and remap (at least some of) the physical RAM out from under the holes and up past 4Gb. This process is often entertainingly referred to as "memory hoisting", and it used to be the preserve of server motherboards. It's been showing up in more and more desktop mobos, though. And on some of them, the memory-hoisting BIOS setting even works, and doesn't horribly crash the system as soon as something tries to use the remapped RAM.

You may only be able to "hoist" the last 512Mb of the 4Gb address space, but that's better than nothing. If it works.​