ALL 4GB is being used. But not all is available for running programs.

No it isn't. The only way to make use of that last 0.8G or so is to use the
remap facility which some BIOSs support.

If it's not remapped, it's unuseable because it occupies the same address
space as the memory-mapped I/O (such as video card, etc).

Steve

"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:31:59 -0700, "RickyBobby"
wrote:


"joeg561 via WindowsKB.com" u35168@uwe wrote in message
news:73fd1c7bdd469@uwe...
I recently increased my memory from 2 gig to 4 gig . use pc3200 ddr2 4
x
1024 sticks. flashed my bios to the newest release . mother board sees
4 -
1024 sticks, went into vista and it sees 3.0 gig.. when I do an
analysis
of
computer by vista it shows four slots filled with 1024 sticks. don't
share
memory with video card. it has its own 512mb.

why can't vista see and use entire 4gig???

--
Message posted via http://www.windowskb.com


It is your motherboard, not Vista. Some motherboard chipsets have that
unfortunate limitation when four 1GB memory sticks are used.


No, this isn't at all correct. 32-bit Vista has an address space of
4GB. However the 4GB address space has to be shared with memory used
for other devices. So Windows (not just XP but all 32-bit versions,
including 32-bit Vista) can't use that entire 4GB for itself.

How much it can use is around 3GB, but depends on what devices are
installed. It's normally a little more than 3GB. So installing more
than about 3GB of RAM is usually a waste of money.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

You are correct. The best use of a four memory slot motherboard would be
two 1GB sticks and two 512MB sticks of the same sort of memory.

The real best use would probably be two 1GM sticks because Windows can run
anything promptly with that amount of memory.

On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 15:58:11 -0700, "RickyBobby"
wrote:


"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:31:59 -0700, "RickyBobby"
wrote:


"joeg561 via WindowsKB.com" u35168@uwe wrote in message
news:73fd1c7bdd469@uwe...
I recently increased my memory from 2 gig to 4 gig . use pc3200 ddr2 4
x
1024 sticks. flashed my bios to the newest release . mother board sees
4 -
1024 sticks, went into vista and it sees 3.0 gig.. when I do an
analysis
of
computer by vista it shows four slots filled with 1024 sticks. don't
share
memory with video card. it has its own 512mb.

why can't vista see and use entire 4gig???

--
Message posted via http://www.windowskb.com


It is your motherboard, not Vista. Some motherboard chipsets have that
unfortunate limitation when four 1GB memory sticks are used.


No, this isn't at all correct. 32-bit Vista has an address space of
4GB. However the 4GB address space has to be shared with memory used
for other devices. So Windows (not just XP but all 32-bit versions,
including 32-bit Vista) can't use that entire 4GB for itself.

How much it can use is around 3GB, but depends on what devices are
installed. It's normally a little more than 3GB. So installing more
than about 3GB of RAM is usually a waste of money.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

You are correct. The best use of a four memory slot motherboard would be
two 1GB sticks and two 512MB sticks of the same sort of memory.

The real best use would probably be two 1GM sticks because Windows can run
anything promptly with that amount of memory.


Anything? No, not true. If you do significant photo or video editing,
3GB of memory will very likely provide a significant performance
improvement over 2GB.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 15:58:11 -0700, "RickyBobby"
wrote:


"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:31:59 -0700, "RickyBobby"
wrote:


"joeg561 via WindowsKB.com" u35168@uwe wrote in message
news:73fd1c7bdd469@uwe...
I recently increased my memory from 2 gig to 4 gig . use pc3200 ddr2
4
x
1024 sticks. flashed my bios to the newest release . mother board
sees
4 -
1024 sticks, went into vista and it sees 3.0 gig.. when I do an
analysis
of
computer by vista it shows four slots filled with 1024 sticks. don't
share
memory with video card. it has its own 512mb.

why can't vista see and use entire 4gig???

--
Message posted via http://www.windowskb.com


It is your motherboard, not Vista. Some motherboard chipsets have
that
unfortunate limitation when four 1GB memory sticks are used.


No, this isn't at all correct. 32-bit Vista has an address space of
4GB. However the 4GB address space has to be shared with memory used
for other devices. So Windows (not just XP but all 32-bit versions,
including 32-bit Vista) can't use that entire 4GB for itself.

How much it can use is around 3GB, but depends on what devices are
installed. It's normally a little more than 3GB. So installing more
than about 3GB of RAM is usually a waste of money.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

You are correct. The best use of a four memory slot motherboard would be
two 1GB sticks and two 512MB sticks of the same sort of memory.

The real best use would probably be two 1GM sticks because Windows can
run
anything promptly with that amount of memory.


Anything? No, not true. If you do significant photo or video editing,
3GB of memory will very likely provide a significant performance
improvement over 2GB.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

I noticed that some of the enthusiasts and pros like yourself do recommend
two 1GB and two 512MB of memory to maximize the performance without spending
for memory that will not be used.

The 3GB memory thing is an oddity and I am surprized that it has gone on
this long without a resolution.

I always see video editing being used as an example. If that many people
are really doing a lot of video editing they should be using a workstation,
not an ordinary home PC. The vast majority of people use their PC for the
internet anyhow and that does not take much horsepower.

In message "RickyBobby"
wrote:

The 3GB memory thing is an oddity and I am surprized that it has gone on
this long without a resolution.

There is a resolution, it's called 64-bit.

--
If quitters never win, and winners never quit,
what fool came up with, "Quit while you're ahead"?

"RickyBobby" wrote in message
...

"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 15:58:11 -0700, "RickyBobby"
wrote:


"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:31:59 -0700, "RickyBobby"
wrote:


"joeg561 via WindowsKB.com" u35168@uwe wrote in message
news:73fd1c7bdd469@uwe...
I recently increased my memory from 2 gig to 4 gig . use pc3200
ddr2 4
x
1024 sticks. flashed my bios to the newest release . mother board
sees
4 -
1024 sticks, went into vista and it sees 3.0 gig.. when I do an
analysis
of
computer by vista it shows four slots filled with 1024 sticks.
don't
share
memory with video card. it has its own 512mb.

why can't vista see and use entire 4gig???

--
Message posted via http://www.windowskb.com


It is your motherboard, not Vista. Some motherboard chipsets have
that
unfortunate limitation when four 1GB memory sticks are used.


No, this isn't at all correct. 32-bit Vista has an address space of
4GB. However the 4GB address space has to be shared with memory used
for other devices. So Windows (not just XP but all 32-bit versions,
including 32-bit Vista) can't use that entire 4GB for itself.

How much it can use is around 3GB, but depends on what devices are
installed. It's normally a little more than 3GB. So installing more
than about 3GB of RAM is usually a waste of money.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

You are correct. The best use of a four memory slot motherboard would
be
two 1GB sticks and two 512MB sticks of the same sort of memory.

The real best use would probably be two 1GM sticks because Windows can
run
anything promptly with that amount of memory.


Anything? No, not true. If you do significant photo or video editing,
3GB of memory will very likely provide a significant performance
improvement over 2GB.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

I noticed that some of the enthusiasts and pros like yourself do recommend
two 1GB and two 512MB of memory to maximize the performance without
spending for memory that will not be used.

The 3GB memory thing is an oddity and I am surprized that it has gone on
this long without a resolution.

I always see video editing being used as an example. If that many people
are really doing a lot of video editing they should be using a
workstation, not an ordinary home PC. The vast majority of people use
their PC for the internet anyhow and that does not take much horsepower.
*********************************************

There ain't too much to resolve. A 32bit system (running Win, Linux, etc)
only can address 4GB.

Start with your 4g limit, and them subtract the system devices that have
memory addresses, such as:
Video Card
Sound Card
NIC card
Legacy Ports (Com / LPT)
BIOS
....and so on
And then what is left is what can be seen to the OS of the RAM installed

Nope, the OS is not what is causing the limitation, it is the motherboard.
Since the motherboard still has to be compatible with 32-bit OS's (not only
Windows), it has to address 4gb of memory. It then allocates hardware
starting at the top and working down. If you have 4gb of RAM in the machine,
the top part will be blocked off by the motherboard and there is nothing in
any OS that can alleviate this. If the motherboard supports loading hardware
addresses above 4gb, you can then use 32-bit Windows with PAE enabled and
you should be fine, but only some very modern motherboards allow this.


"DevilsPGD" wrote in message
...
In message "RickyBobby"
wrote:

The 3GB memory thing is an oddity and I am surprized that it has gone on
this long without a resolution.

There is a resolution, it's called 64-bit.

--
If quitters never win, and winners never quit,
what fool came up with, "Quit while you're ahead"?

Sorry, but you are a bit confused. The limitation is not due to the 32-bit
OS that is installed, it is the motherboard that is blocking off the memory
for hardware usage. The following MS blog post describes this:

http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/arc...-s-my-ram.aspx




"Cal Bear '66" wrote in message
...
Vista 32-bit?

You won't see all 4GB with ANY 32-bit OS.

--
I Bleed Blue and Gold
GO BEARS!


"joeg561 via WindowsKB.com" u35168@uwe wrote in message
news:73fd1c7bdd469@uwe...
I recently increased my memory from 2 gig to 4 gig . use pc3200 ddr2 4 x
1024 sticks. flashed my bios to the newest release . mother board sees
4 -
1024 sticks, went into vista and it sees 3.0 gig.. when I do an analysis
of
computer by vista it shows four slots filled with 1024 sticks. don't
share
memory with video card. it has its own 512mb.

why can't vista see and use entire 4gig???

--
Message posted via http://www.windowskb.com