Memory help please.

[Trash Man]

I'm looking to upgrade the memory in my laptop. Am I right in thinking that a 32bit OS will not work with more than 3gb of memory?

I have a Dell XPS M1710 with 2gb of ram. I was looking at getting a 4gb, 2x2gb set from Crucial for it, will this be ok? I've read in some cases that it will still work but only be able to use 3gb of the ram. I'm running Vista 32bit, which came with the laptop. Is it worth getting the 64bit version?

Is it the same with XP? I'd like to upgrade the ram in my desktop as well.

Thanks for any help.

[aidanjt]

It'll work, only Windows will hide the last 800mb or so of the full 4GB that's preallocated to the hardware stuff. It really should have come with the 64bit version of Vista anyway, 32bit Vista is like a car with no wheels. :/

[Flewis]

What sort of things do you do on your laptop? 4GB imho is too much for XP, 2GB is probably fine. The problem with XP is that it doenst use its ram efficiently and does not clear stuff that isnt needed. You could try something like Free Ram XP pro to clear the stuff thats not being used.

[Trash Man]

I have Vista on my laptop. It's mainly used for gaming, Conan's out today and I think it's going to need more ram to run it smoothly.

[Trash Man]

I've just upgraded to 4gb and it's showing in windows as 3gb, well 2.93gb, like I read it would. Only thing is, it's showing in the bios as 3gb as well, is this right?

Thanks.

[fatbears]

Ah yeah mine does that but i have never looked into it! shows as 3Gb in bios but i have 4Gb!!

[Noxvayl]

It is right... its because your system cannot allocate all 4Gb, it is beyond the OS capability.

If you are wanting to use 4Gb of memory then purchasing a 64bit OS is paramount. Specially in your case because you want it for gaming. Vista Home Premium 64bit is only £70

[Trash Man]

I've heard a lot of bad things about Vista 64bit, mainly to do with drivers. I'm happy with the 32bit version on my laptop but I've upgraded the ram in my desktop as well now and would like to get the full use out of it.

I'm just about to upgrade my GFX card to a 3870 X2, do you know if there are any issues with this card and Vista 64?

[Thorsson]

Vista64 is generaly OK for drivers unless you have something out of the ordinary. The one group who would have problems are serious musos - many of the top programs don't run properly in 64-bit.

I would suggest getting Upgrade rather than OEM version, and I've had several successful purchases on EBay.

[Trash Man]

What's the difference between the upgrade and the OEM version? Apart from the upgrade version costing nearly twice as much.

[shaithis]

So much scaremongering over 64bit. People have ragged on about it since XP64 came out a few years ago. There were some unsupported hardware with XP64 but Microsoft ensured that the same would not happen with Vista, unfortunately, people still bang on about 64 bit drivers.

What Microsoft did with Vista (that they never did with XP) was to not let manufacturers state Vista compatibility without their support covering both 32 and 64 bit Vista.

I have run Vista64 on 2 different machines since release and there are NO "driver issues" beyond the exact same ones you get on 32bit.

As for a laptop running AoC, I know a few people playing it and from what they are telling me, I would never entertain the thought of playing it on a laptop!

[Thorsson]

What's the difference between the upgrade and the OEM version? Apart from the upgrade version costing nearly twice as much.

Well Upgrade can be moved from machine to machine. OEM effectively only has a license for the motherboard you install it on. And the price is why I suggested EBay. I've bought 3 HP upgrades for £60 apiece.

[Trash Man]

So much scaremongering over 64bit. People have ragged on about it since XP64 came out a few years ago. There were some unsupported hardware with XP64 but Microsoft ensured that the same would not happen with Vista, unfortunately, people still bang on about 64 bit drivers.

As for a laptop running AoC, I know a few people playing it and from what they are telling me, I would never entertain the thought of playing it on a laptop!

I've heard there are still problems with the 64bit version and Nvida cards, is this true? I was thinking of getting an 9800 GTX or an 3870 X2 shortly.

As for playing AoC on a laptop, it runs fine on low settings. Good enough to give me a fix when I'm away

[shaithis]

Well Upgrade can be moved from machine to machine. OEM effectively only has a license for the motherboard you install it on. And the price is why I suggested EBay. I've bought 3 HP upgrades for £60 apiece.

That's not correct AFAIK

Upgrade: Requires a compatible OS to be installed first and the upgrade makes your Vista install the same as the OS you upgraded from.

I.e. Retail upgrades to retail, OEM to OEM etc.

I do not think you can upgrade a corporate edition (might be wrong). Also, if you ever need to reinstall, you have to install the old OS first and then the vista upgrade again.

[shaithis]

Well, I am running Vista Home Premium x64 on a 8800GTS 640MB @ 1920x1200 and Vista Ultimate x64 on a 8800GTX @ 2560x1600.........neither have any issues that I am aware of and play all my games at max framerate.

[fatbears]

I run Vista Ultimate x64 on a 512Mb 8800 GTS, no problems as i know!!