System & Graphics RAM Combined = 5gb on 32bit Vista System

Hello out there,

I'm in the market for a laptop, my 1st actually... and with it, I'll start using Vista for the 1st time too. I've been catching up on all the tech-side of things that I've not been paying attention to since I bought my last desktop several years ago.

The laptop I'm favouring is Asus' N80v... which, among other things, comes with 4 gb of RAM (ddr2), the GeForce 9650M GT w/ 1gb of VRAM (ddr3), and Windows Vista 32bit (no other option).

1. I keep reading that 32bit Vista can only use 4gb of RAM, but it'll sort of hide some of that for it's own system use, so you'll see less than 4gb available. I just want to confirm, that if the system is 32bit, there is NO wasted/ignored RAM if you have a system with a full 4gb installed... it's being used one way or another, whether you can see it or not, correct?

2. If somehow, 32bit Vista combines the graphics card RAM with the system RAM (4+1=5), and ignores anything over 4gb... am I essentially wasting a 1 full gb of RAM somewhere? If so... this is the default setup of the Asus n80v, why would they put a mandatory 32bit installation on a system built with a total of 5 gigs throughout? Or vice versa, why wouldn't they reduce the onboard RAM if they're gonna have make it a 32 bit system? Is there some benefit i'm misunderstanding here?

3. If with a combined 5gb of ram, 1 gb ends up being ignored, would it be beneficial to somehow tell 32bit Vista to NOT ignore the 1gb of DDR3 RAM from the graphics card, and look to ignore a gb of lesser DDR2 RAM from the system RAM? And will the ddr3 communicate well with the remaining ddr2?

I realize I can spend an additional $160 to install a 64bit Vista version myself, but that just BURNS for me to think that i'm paying for Vista twice!

Please help give me insight.

Thank you.

 

Have a ready here

Video RAM is not counted as System RAM under the 32bit limitation.

 

I wonder who told you that.
By default a 32 Bit OS can use 3GB not 4GB! (!!!!!!!!!!)

Yes, there are ways to use more than 3GB but these are based on conditions x y z - flipfire gave you a link to read.

Just to add something though:
It may be possible that your graphics card can access 2GB - 1GB DDR3 "onboard" and 1GB DDR2 from the RAM - at least my Vaio can do that with a weaker card.

 

32Bit sp1 shows 4GB but only use 3.4 (or 3.2 if I don't remember wrong)...
You can see that in Task manager

 

Odlly enough the exact value varies between 3.0 and 3.5GB depending onb the laptop...

 

32bit addressing allows for a theoretical maximum of 4GB of address (memory space) - work it out for yourself if you like.
However, this addressing space is not only for system memory - some of these addresses are need elsewhere, for the PCIe bus, for example. Different system setups require different amounts of address space outside of the system RAM depending on what components are used in the system (like what graphics card).