Windows upgrade to increase max RAM usable

Hairyhel

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Jan 2, 2013
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I have Windows 7 home premium 64 bit and 32GB of RAM installed in my system but windows 7 home premium only allows up to 16GB of RAM to be used making my other 16GB obsolete, i have a code for an upgrade to Windows 8, would you recommend i upgrade my OS so i can use the other 16GB of RAM or stick with Windows 7?

Thanks
 
Absolutely! If you have an upgrade key already, go for it! If you run into any issues trying to run the upgrade, or after the upgrade, create a thread for it (run a quick search of the forum first though, to make sure your question hasn't already been answered), and we will try to help as best we can.
 
Don't put that much RAM in your system. Unless you are rendering special effects in 3d programs like maya or 3d studio max 32 gb of ram is totally pointless. 16 is the maximum you should even consider for hard core pc gaming let alone standard pc usage. Anything more is just redundant and wont effect your PC performance at all.
 
Considering the OP already stated (3 months ago remember) that he/she already has this RAM, I wouldn't worry about it. And there are uses for extra RAM in a system. For example, I have 64GB in my main desktop, and utilize around half of it in a RAM drive (sometimes more depending on what I'm doing). Many of the games I play get copied to this RAM drive so that they load considerably quicker.

Of course, I'm not advocating that one should buy extra RAM specifically for this purpose. The potential benefits in this case are more limited than other parts like an SSD, but if one already has the RAM anyway, or already purchased a given quantity before posting here, try suggesting ways to best utilize what they have. Lets try not to scold or outright mock them for something that may actually turn out to be beneficial if we think outside the box a bit.

Also, as I alluded to earlier, please remember to check the dates of recent posts in a thread so that aging threads like this one don't become zombies. Necro posting is frowned upon.