32-bit Windows see 3GB or 3.5GB or ram?

liljone

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May 11, 2008
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Hey everyone,

I just ordered 4GBs of ram. I know my 32-bit OS (Vista Home Premium) system will not see/use all 4GB of ram but I do know it can see up to 3GBs. On the other hand I also herd 32-bit windows will see 3.5GBs. Which one is it? Would suck to waste a GB of ram just so the dual channel on the board will work. My mobo can only take up to 1GB stick max per ram bank and there are 4 ram banks. Got to use all 4 banks if I want 3GB+ of ram.
 

Mondoman

Splendid
Depends on the specifics of your graphics card and other hardware. Somewhere in the 3-3.5GB range is what you should expect. The more RAM in your graphics card(s), the more addresses are taken up. The more cards or built-in devices on your MB, the more addresses are taken up. Just get 4GB and don't worry about it.
 

dechy

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Mar 7, 2008
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My P5K-E sees 3.25GB in XP32.

Seems it depends a lot on the BIOS/MOBO/Hardware, because I've seen 3.00 from a 4GB setup at work using 2x 2GB (clone) and 3.4GB from another work PC (Optiplex of some kind) with 4 banks using 1GB.
 

liljone

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May 11, 2008
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thx man will do :p Guess I find out when it gets here from newegg.