3GB or 4GB Ram - What's the Limit?

[manhunter2826]

Can someone please tell me what the memory (Ram) cap is for Vista. Is it 3 or 4 Gigs? I've been reading increasingly a couple of reviews of laptops/Pcs in which the author(s) say something akin to: 'Vista only sees 3GB Ram...but we feel the manufacturer could easily have added another Gig for oomph' [something along those lines]. How much Ram does Vista actually 'see' and work with: 3 or 4 Gig? Thanks as always.

 

[Lemon13]

32bit vista 3gb
64bit vista home basic up to 8gb, premium 16gb

M. Knorr

MCSE, MCTS, MCSA, CCNA

 

[BadBigBen]

To add to Lemon13's response, the 32bit memory cap depends on the mainboard...

I have one mainboard that reports 3.5gb and another at 2.75 gb, both have 4gb installed... the gap is due to difference in the hardware components installed on each mainboard, e.g. graphic cards, PCI&PCIe devices, which all take away from the mainmem...

Q. What are the memory limitations for the 32-bit vs 64-bit version?

32-Bit 64-Bit
Microsoft Vista Version[tab]Min Memory[tab]Max Memory[tab]Min Memory[tab]Max Memory
Home Basic[tab][tab][tab][tab]512MB/1GB*[tab]4GB**[tab][tab][tab]512MB/1GB*[tab]8GB
Home Premium[tab][tab]512MB/1GB*[tab]4GB**[tab][tab]512MB/1GB*[tab]16GB
Business[tab][tab][tab][tab][tab] 512MB/1GB*[tab]4GB**[tab][tab][tab]512MB/1GB*[tab]128GB
Ultimate[tab][tab][tab][tab][tab]512MB/1GB*[tab]4GB**[tab][tab][tab]512MB/1GB*[tab]128GB
Enterprise Edition[tab][tab]512MB/1GB*[tab]4GB**[tab][tab][tab]512MB/1GB*[tab]128GB
Footnotes:
* 512MB required for Vista Capable. 1GB required for Vista Premium Ready systems.
** Approximately 3.3GB addressable memory. Vista reserves upper memory space for hardware usage.

Source: Kingston Windows Vista - Memory FAQ

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.

 

[manhunter2826]

Thanks both. BigBB, this is what I'm confused by: If 32-bit Vista only sees 3GB, why do you have 4GB installed (either by yourself or manufacturer I mean).

 

[manhunter2826]

Sorry, I think I've got it now: Obviously memory sometimes comes in categories of, say, 2GB and you have two DIMM slots to occupy?? Makes sense now. Thanks.

 

[cdogg]

mh2826,
Yes that's exactly it. Usually you're talking about laptops that only have two memory slots or in dual-channel configurations. Users wanting dual-channel opt for two identical 2GB sticks instead of mixing 1GB and 2GB.

Here are some recent discussions on the subject:

thread602-1457391

thread602-1452884

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[SimonDavies]

To add more confusion, with the release of Vista SP1 all OS's report the actual amount that's installed (so for instance 32bit Vista would report 4gb but still only use the 3.x gb limit).

Simon

The real world is not about exam scores, it's about ability.

 

[manhunter2826]

Thanks also cdogg and SimonD.