32 Bit Vista 3GB not 4GB?

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orangewrath

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I have the HP DV4-1257tx laptop.

It comes with 4 GB RAM and a 32- Bit Vista Home Premium.

I have heard that 32 Bit Vista does not fully use the 4 GB RAM, Is this true?

My Laptop has a Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T6400 2.0 GHz

Will it support the 64- Bit Vista if I want to install it?
 
You heard right. Approx .75 to 1 GB gets reserved by the OS for device address space and it's the remaining 3 to 3.25GB that is available for software.
 
WickedTA said:
You heard right. Approx .75 to 1 GB gets reserved by the OS for device address space and it's the remaining 3 to 3.25GB that is available for software.
Click to expand...

So If I install the 64- Bit Vista, will I be able to utilize the full 4 GB?

Will this not happen if I had a 3 GB laptop?
 
@orange, 32 bit OS only can support to a max of 3 GB RAM, even though you have 4GB installed. I had the same issue too. Go get a 64 bit OS and you can utilize full 4GB!
 
Windows 32 Bit maxes out on 4 GB. That inclused all type of memory from BIOS to GPU. So you would be left with 3.3 GB on average. With 64 Bit you can utilise the full RAM. But since you have a laptop, I wonder whether you will use the Full 4 GB or even 3.3 GB.

I have tried to upgrade to Vista 64 Bit, but got stuck as some of he drivers were not available. But I doubt that the boot times etc. were significantly faster. Or atleast I thought that they should have been.

Incase you have 3 GB, the total with the other memory becomes about 4GB, which is in the capacity of 32 Bit. Thats why most OEM's offer 3GB laptops with vista 32 bit.
 
32 bit XP as physical address extension to take range from 3GB to 4GB
i guess vista should also have same.
never tried it thou.
 
Its the limitation of any 32 bit OS. It cannot addres more than 3.5GB address spaces in real mode. It can address much more, but only in virtual protected mode, that is via virtual memory, which is implemented in windows based OS as page file.

Actuall it shud be able to address 2^32 address locations. But many of the upper end spaces are reserved for addressing device IDs and their address spaces, and cannot be used even if those devices arent connected. SO the first 3.5GB [varies according to certain OS evvironments] of physical memory is addressed while the remaining sits idle which cant be allocated address space by OS.

Though Vista Sp1 shows 4GB memory or more, its just a gimmick. It still uses onlt around ~3.5GB, but fools the user by displaying 4GB and the likes.

And with a 64bit OS, the limitation is around 64TB, which shud be a safe limit for another 10 years i guess :-)
 
Version ::::Maximum Physical Memory

Windows 2000 Professional, Server 4 GB

Windows 2000 Advanced 8 GB

Windows 2000 Datacenter 32 GB

Windows XP Starter 512 MB

Windows XP Home & Professional 4 GB

Windows Server 2003 Web 2 GB

Windows Server 2003 Standard, Small Business/Home, Storage 4 GB

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Storage 8 GB

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise 32 GB

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise R2/SP1, Datacenter 64 GB

Windows Server 2003 Datacenter R2 128 GB

Windows Vista Starter 1 GB

Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, Enterprise 4 GB

Windows Server 2008 Standard, Web 4 GB

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, Datacenter 64 GB

Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit 4 GB

More Info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Address_Extension
 
dOm1naTOr said:
Its the limitation of any 32 bit OS. It cannot addres more than 3.5GB address spaces in real mode. It can address much more, but only in virtual protected mode, that is via virtual memory, which is implemented in windows based OS as page file.

Actuall it shud be able to address 2^32 address locations. But many of the upper end spaces are reserved for addressing device IDs and their address spaces, and cannot be used even if those devices arent connected. SO the first 3.5GB [varies according to certain OS evvironments] of physical memory is addressed while the remaining sits idle which cant be allocated address space by OS.

Though Vista Sp1 shows 4GB memory or more, its just a gimmick. It still uses onlt around ~3.5GB, but fools the user by displaying 4GB and the likes.
And with a 64bit OS, the limitation is around 64TB, which shud be a safe limit for another 10 years i guess :-)
Click to expand...

Thank you for this info. I was aware that Vista can not use full 4GB of RAM, so I had gone for x64 version of Vista. But it feels good to know the exact reason. Thanks. :)
 
Well, 3.5 or 4, my laptop runs super smooth with most new games (albeit on mid graphic settings) :hap2:

But, why would the laptop makers sell a laptop with 4 GB RAM and a 32 Bit OS?
 
blackperl said:
Version ::::Maximum Physical Memory
Windows 2000 Professional, Server 4 GB
Windows 2000 Advanced 8 GB
Windows 2000 Datacenter 32 GB
Windows XP Starter 512 MB
Windows XP Home & Professional 4 GB
Windows Server 2003 Web 2 GB
Windows Server 2003 Standard, Small Business/Home, Storage 4 GB
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Storage 8 GB
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise 32 GB
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise R2/SP1, Datacenter 64 GB
Windows Server 2003 Datacenter R2 128 GB
Windows Vista Starter 1 GB
Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, Enterprise 4 GB
Windows Server 2008 Standard, Web 4 GB
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, Datacenter 64 GB
Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit 4 GB

More Info Physical Address Extension - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Click to expand...

Great:ohyeah:
 
orangewrath said:
Well, 3.5 or 4, my laptop runs super smooth with most new games (albeit on mid graphic settings) :hap2:

But, why would the laptop makers sell a laptop with 4 GB RAM and a 32 Bit OS?
Click to expand...

Marketing Purpose:bleh:

4GB sounds better than 3GB isn't it?
 
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