4GB ram worth it?

[markish]

buying new computer but not until new dx10 ATI cards come out and i was wondering if 4gb ram even worth it considering you need a 64bit os to gain the effect of it and even then will a 64bit windows not work properly with games or applications? what if i dont get a 64bit windows and only get a 32bit windows? from what i understand i will only get 3.5gb? anyone have any experience with 4gb and windows???

 

[SciFiMan]

You should investigate your hardware choices and 64bit first, for driver problems and lack of drivers, and of course application support. IMO it doesn't buy you anything for a home system. Just go 32.

Vista will handle 4GB. Do you need it? Probably not. Most people run just one or two app's at a time anyway. I'd start with 2GB, and then add more in the future as your budget allows, or you feel the need.

 

[markish]

no real budget problem here but will vista 32 let me get 4gb or what?

 

[darkstar782]

Vista x86 has the same issues with 4GB as XP x86, in that some address space will be mapped elsewhere.

The "3.5GB" figure people quote is an average. Depending on the system it can be way more or way less.

Vista x64 will run any software that x86 will run without loss in performance (or at least, without measureable loss, while WOW64 theoretically introduces another abstraction layer it does not need to actually do any work on x64, unlike IA64)

It DOES however require 64 bit drivers. If you are building a new PC this should not be an issue however.

It DOES require ALL drivers to be SIGNED. This means if you want to install any.... umm... illegal device drivers for the purposes of defeating various copy protection systems, x64 is not the way forward atm.


If you buy Vista Retail or Upgrade, then just buy 32bit now and be safe in the knowledge you can switch to the other for just the media shipping costs from MS. If you buy Vista Ultimate Retail or Upgrade, you get both on the DVD.

If you buy Vista OEM, then not only do you need to buy another copy if you ever change your motherboard, but you only get EITHER x86 or x64 and CANNOT switch.

 

[bydesign]

The short answer is no.

While gaming in Vista 64 with 4Gb or ram I rarely exceed 45% memory usage. Also you will likely see less than 3.5Gb of ram in XP x86 or Vista 32. 2.8-3.2Gb is more like the norm.

64 bit is mostly hype today, it allows you to access more memory but offers little in performance with today's apps. Even in the future aside from memory utilization I wouldn't expect much. You could split hairs about x86 being a true 64bit processor or one with built in hardware emulations.

Drivers with 64bit OS's are and aren't issues. The only driver I had a tough time with was PC monitoring, free anti-virus product choices are limited as well.

 

[markish]

i actually read once that having 4gb installed with windows can actually run slower then just having the 2gb. any truth to this or just bs?

 

[Mondoman]

Essentially bs.