Upgrade from 2gb -> 4gb RAM?

[RedXIII]

Hello,

I was wondering if an upgrade to 4gb of RAM would be worth while. I normally wouldn't bother with it, but a $50 discount + $40 rebate is hard to resist.

Is upgrading to 4GB worth $95? (It is the same RAM as I currently have - see below)

Current System;

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, 3600 MHz (8 x 450)

Motherboard: Asus P5B Deluxe Wifi

RAM: Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 240PIN Dual Channel

GFX: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT (512 MB)

 

[accu]

yes if you are using vista64

 

[randomizer]

At that price, you might as well, but without a 64-bit OS, it will do you no good.

 

[paq7512]

I just upgraded I got a newegg deal with $20 off instantly for XMS2, and now having 4gb on XP PRO Sp2 is awesome. Although most people would not be able to take advantage, I use Adobe Suite and more ram the better. Games also load faster too.

 

[RedXIII]

I'm currently on XP x32, but I planned on getting a vista x64 dual boot sooner or later.

I read about a '/3gb' switch for the boot.ini. Should I expect much of a performance boost, if I could gain that extra 1gb on XP?

Are there any possible downsides? Instability, harder to OC, etc.

Thanks

 

[RetiredChief]

I would say go for it. You should get between 3 and 3.5 Gigs usable with Win XP pro ( 32 bit). I got an extra 2 gigs because of current prices, which could cycle back up. I got 3.6 in my XP pro. And when you get 64 bit you get to use the left over 1/2 gig.

 

[aevm]

At that price, you might as well, but without a 64-bit OS, it will do you no good.

True. That's exactly how I thought when I got my own PC last month.

I got Media Center 32-bit, and I see 3.25 GB in Task Manager. I guess 768 MB has been hidden to map the video card's RAM instead. So far most I've seen used in Task Manager is 400 lousy MB, but it still feels good to have 4 GB

 

[RedXIII]

When you guys say that you have 3.x GB in XP, is that when you are using the /3gb switch, or without? Anyways, I decided to place my order

Thanks for the advice.

 

[dengamle]

/3gb has no influence on how much RAM you see. The switch can increase the virtual memory space for some applications

 

[RedXIII]

I suppose I read something wrong in that case. From what I read, I came to believe that XP 32x can only recognize 2gb, unless the switch is used.

In any case, would using the /3gb switch with 4gb of RAM create a positive, negative, or neutral effect?

Thanks

 

[aevm]

I think I got 3.25 GB, as in I could run program 1 with 2 GB and program 2 with 1.25 GB. The /3gb switch would allow program 1 to run with 3.25 GB, I didn't do that. I don't even have any programs that could support that. I suggest you leave the switch alone, don't do it. You won't need it for any game currently on the market. The only program I know that does use the switch is SQL Server Enterprise.

 

[paq7512]

I currently see 3.5GB of ram available for use in Windows XP Pro Sp2 32bit.

 

[Hatman]

I belive it can see up to 4gb, but it cant actually make suse of that much, open up a TON of programs n stuff and see how much it uses, I would since I got 4gb of ram, but I got vista 64 😀