There isn't enough info here for any specific help. I'm not sure if you are talking about GPU memory or system memory...
For windows at least, 32 bit windows apps can only reference 4gb of ram no matter how much you actually have; thats the 32 bit limit. {Windows reduces this further.}
The windows version also play a role in this, for example in no way could win95 allocate 4gb to a program when it itself could only address 2gb (but usually crashed with anything over 512mb). XP & newer 32bit windows limited apps to 2GB natively.
64bit windows is a bit more difficult as there are overlapping restrictions but the max is up around the 8gb mark for 64bit apps iirc. 32bit apps still enjoy the 2gb limit afaik.