Tech Support Forum - View Single Post - Is 3 or 4 gigs of RAM on XP 32bit useful?

CactusJack · 07-10-2009, 07:03 AM

A few questions. .

After reading countless threads and articles about how a 32 bit os can only read somewhere between 3 and 3.5 gigs of ram, my question is if you have 3 or 4 gigs, is it putting the RAM to any good use if it reads lower than the amount you have? I am deciding whether or not to buy more RAM, but if i decide to stick with 32bit XP then from what I've read more than 2 gigs would be pointless.

Can you install Vista over XP without formatting? Not to have dual partitions or whatever its called but so that it's the only OS on the computer.

I have read that while Vista with DX10 offers fantastic in game visual quality it sacrifices fps. Is this true only for DX10 games or all games that are being played on it?

My rig is

GeForce 8600 GTS
Mobo - Microstar MS-7379
Intel Core 2 Duo
2 Gigs DDR2 RAM

Answers to any of the questions appreciated

07-10-2009, 07:03 AM	#1 (permalink)
CactusJack Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 25 OS: xp	Is 3 or 4 gigs of RAM on XP 32bit useful? A few questions. . After reading countless threads and articles about how a 32 bit os can only read somewhere between 3 and 3.5 gigs of ram, my question is if you have 3 or 4 gigs, is it putting the RAM to any good use if it reads lower than the amount you have? I am deciding whether or not to buy more RAM, but if i decide to stick with 32bit XP then from what I've read more than 2 gigs would be pointless. Can you install Vista over XP without formatting? Not to have dual partitions or whatever its called but so that it's the only OS on the computer. I have read that while Vista with DX10 offers fantastic in game visual quality it sacrifices fps. Is this true only for DX10 games or all games that are being played on it? My rig is GeForce 8600 GTS Mobo - Microstar MS-7379 Intel Core 2 Duo 2 Gigs DDR2 RAM Answers to any of the questions appreciated