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    Is there a RAM limit?

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Leesus, Jun 18, 2008.

  1. Leesus

    Leesus Notebook Enthusiast

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    Since I'm running the 64 bit version of Vista, could I theoretically put an unlimitied amount of RAM in my machine? Assuming I have no physical barriers that is...
     
    Leesus, Jun 18, 2008
    #1
  2. x64

    x64 Notebook Geek

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    x64, Jun 18, 2008
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  3. laptop4life

    laptop4life Notebook Consultant

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    Yep hes right 128GB, Who needs that haha.
     
    laptop4life, Jun 18, 2008
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  4. pukemon

    pukemon are you unplugged?

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    i do. gotta emulate pac man on my pc.
     
    pukemon, Jun 18, 2008
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  5. Schmi Daniel the Man

    Schmi Daniel the Man Notebook Consultant

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    I deleted the post - the pae tweak is mad obsolete by the service pack 1 for vista as is stated further down the thread
     
    Schmi Daniel the Man, Jun 18, 2008
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  6. jooooeee

    jooooeee Stealth in disguise

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    I like to have a lot of applications open at once
     
    jooooeee, Jun 18, 2008
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  7. Lithus

    Lithus NBR Janitor

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    He's talking about a 64-bit OS, so no, no you don't.

    Plus PAE doesn't give any speed improvements in Vista 32 either.
     
    Lithus, Jun 18, 2008
    #7
  8. Schmi Daniel the Man

    Schmi Daniel the Man Notebook Consultant

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    This is to have vista show more than the 3 or so GB of RAM that it typically would.
     
    Schmi Daniel the Man, Jun 18, 2008
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  9. flipfire

    flipfire Moderately Boss

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    Yes you can utilize alot more with x64 bit

    but keep in mind, your BIOS and chipset also need to support it. Most notebook BIOS is limited to 4gb.
     
    flipfire, Jun 18, 2008
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  10. swarmer

    swarmer beep beep

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    The PAE thing is not needed in any 64-bit OS, and that includes 64-bit Vista.
     
    swarmer, Jun 18, 2008
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  11. Schmi Daniel the Man

    Schmi Daniel the Man Notebook Consultant

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    i never knew that the 64 bit system didn't need this tweak. I did know that it slowed you system a little.
     
    Schmi Daniel the Man, Jun 18, 2008
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  12. laptop4life

    laptop4life Notebook Consultant

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    128GB RAM, Lets play 20 games at once :p
     
    laptop4life, Jun 18, 2008
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  13. Schmi Daniel the Man

    Schmi Daniel the Man Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks for the heads up guys - I'll edit the post so no other 64 bit users try to use this.
     
    Schmi Daniel the Man, Jun 18, 2008
    #13
  14. Wirelessman

    Wirelessman Monkeymod

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    Just get SP1 and Vista will tell you that you have 4GB, but who really cares, Vista 32 won't be able to use the 4GB anyway.
     
    Wirelessman, Jun 18, 2008
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  15. PhoenixFx

    PhoenixFx Notebook Virtuoso

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    64bit windows has a very large address space, but you are limited by the hardware (i.e. chipset) way before you reach even a fraction of that limit. According to Intel 965 Express Chipset Family datasheet the maximum supported system memory is only 4GB (page 12). But I thought the limit was higher with the 965 series... :confused:

    Anyways... what I wanted to tell you is that Windows is not the only limitation.
     
    PhoenixFx, Jun 18, 2008
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  16. x64

    x64 Notebook Geek

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    its not even needed in 32bit anymore. Vista Service Pack 1 now displays the total amount of ram you have. it will say "4.00 GB RAM" even though it can only use 3.5GB.

    in other words, your instruction are obsolete. :D
     
    x64, Jun 18, 2008
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  17. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Yup thats rite....forget the OS....have a look at ur hardware first....the i945 and i965 can support upto a max of 4gig 667Mhz ram....and the lower ones like the i940 and the i943 only 2gig 533Mhz....!!
    128GB ram makes more sense in desktops and servers.... :p
     
    Andy, Jun 18, 2008
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  18. atbnet

    atbnet Notebook Prophet

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    Most likely you'll hit the hardware barrier before you reach the OS limit. The most in a consumer motherboard I have seen is 32 GB for desktops, but most 8 or 16 GB. Laptops right now seem to be holding steady at 4 GB.
     
    atbnet, Jun 18, 2008
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  19. Wirelessman

    Wirelessman Monkeymod

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    Even when you get x64 Vista ultimate, why would you need 8GB? I think 4GB is more than enough, especially when you can use it.
     
    Wirelessman, Jun 18, 2008
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  20. makaveli72

    makaveli72 Eat.My.Shorts

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    "atbnet", are u seeing the full 8GB on that powerful desktop u have there? :)
     
    makaveli72, Jun 18, 2008
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  21. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    PAE does not enable you to use 4+GB of RAM!
     
    Greg, Jun 18, 2008
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  22. Wirelessman

    Wirelessman Monkeymod

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    Good question, if not, the remaining RAM is collecting dust :D
     
    Wirelessman, Jun 18, 2008
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  23. x64

    x64 Notebook Geek

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    i have 128GB of ram on my notebook and vista is still slow! :D
     
    x64, Jun 18, 2008
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  24. Cleaner05

    Cleaner05 Notebook Guru

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    I noticed on the current Lenovo R61 specs online that the 32 bit OS takes a max of 3GB.
     
    Cleaner05, Jun 18, 2008
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  25. Wirelessman

    Wirelessman Monkeymod

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    What do you do with such much memory? (besides bragging :D)
     
    Wirelessman, Jun 18, 2008
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  26. atbnet

    atbnet Notebook Prophet

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    The most I have used outside of gaming has been 6 GB with quite a few programs running. Gaming is a great though :cool:
     
    atbnet, Jun 18, 2008
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  27. Iceman0124

    Iceman0124 More news from nowhere

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    As affordable as quality DDR2 is right now, why not get 8? I remember not that long ago thinking I'd never need more than 1gb of DDR400 in my old rig, and paying through the nose to upgrade to 2gb.
     
    Iceman0124, Jun 18, 2008
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  28. atbnet

    atbnet Notebook Prophet

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    RAM is crazy cheap right now. I paid around $200 for 2GB in the summer of 2006 and I got my 8 GB in February for around $176.
     
    atbnet, Jun 18, 2008
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  29. x64

    x64 Notebook Geek

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    i play 4 games at one time and watch hi-def porn :D
     
    x64, Jun 18, 2008
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  30. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    is there any notebook which supports more than 4gig ram..??
    never heard of one.. :p
     
    Andy, Jun 18, 2008
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  31. S.SubZero

    S.SubZero Notebook Deity

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    All 32-bit workstation Windows OS's are software coded to a maximum of 4GB. This is with PAE enabled or not. To use more than 4GB with PAE would require a server grade OS.

    There is no "more than 4GB" with Vista x32.
     
    S.SubZero, Jun 18, 2008
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  32. Wirelessman

    Wirelessman Monkeymod

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    Does your mum knows? :D
     
    Wirelessman, Jun 18, 2008
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  33. PhoenixFx

    PhoenixFx Notebook Virtuoso

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    I recently upgraded to 4GB from 2GB, hardly noticed any difference :( … Did it because I could get rid of my previous RAM for a decent price. Oh well,…. at least only spent like $30 on the upgrade :) .
    There is no reason to go beyond 4, unless you are ruining some sort of a large server (i.e database, application, web)

    Wonder what kind of games you play while watching hi-def porn :rolleyes:
     
    PhoenixFx, Jun 18, 2008
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  34. x64

    x64 Notebook Geek

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    touche! :)
     
    x64, Jun 19, 2008
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  35. talin

    talin Notebook Prophet

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    Don't laugh. One day we will need that. Of course, Vista will be long gone by then.
    Stupid they put artificial limits on basic and home premium though. :rolleyes:
     
    talin, Jun 19, 2008
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  36. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    oops....MANNERS :eek:
     
    Andy, Jun 19, 2008
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  37. Nocturnal310

    Nocturnal310 Notebook Virtuoso

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    my HDD is 120 GB...

    my RAM is 2 GB....i find 2 GB just fine..but sometimes i run out of 2 GB also.

    planning to upgrade to 3 GB. hmmmm....
     
    Nocturnal310, Jun 19, 2008
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  38. Wirelessman

    Wirelessman Monkeymod

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    What is your OS and how is your computer running since it came back from repair?
     
    Wirelessman, Jun 19, 2008
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  39. ThunderCat69

    ThunderCat69 Notebook Evangelist

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    I want to upgrade to 4gb and I found 2 sticks on newegg.com for 84.99, good deal?
     
    ThunderCat69, Jun 20, 2008
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  40. Wirelessman

    Wirelessman Monkeymod

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    Great deal!
     
    Wirelessman, Jun 20, 2008
    #40