So is Your PC built or bought?

[taks]

yes, i'll be limited from what i understand. i just wasn't going to buy 2 GB and be restricted later on.

 

taks

[metadigital]

Is Vista (32 bit) able to see more than 2GB? Like 4GB?

[Deraldin]

Is Vista (32 bit) able to see more than 2GB? Like 4GB?

 

No. You need the 64 bit version of Vista in order to see all 4GB.

[taks]

i can always upgrade to 64-bit XP, too, right? it seems i had an option to do that for free once...

 

taks

[metadigital]

I believe the support for 32-bit applications (read: games!) is less than acceptable, though.

[taks]

from XP-64 or Vista-64? my biggest concern is MATLAB. i run out of memory regularly here at the office during simulations. i'll need to do vista/XP-64 update since i just ordered 2 GB of extra RAM to help that problem. total memory isn't actually the issue with MATLAB. it requires _contiguous_ memory for each data vector, and with only 2 GB, it's hard to get 250 MB of contiguous memory sometimes (i'm dealing with very large data sets).

 

taks

[metadigital]

Both. 64-bit seems to be hit-and-miss with 32-bit applications. I would expect this to improve when the critical mass of consumers have (Vista-or-whatever's-next)-64, though I doubt that will be for a while.

[Bokishi]

Just received my 64-bit copy of Vista Home Premium, however nothing is being installed until most of the kinks are worked out

[taks]

that sucks... oh well, 3 GB in the mean time.

 

taks

[metadigital]

The primary benefit of moving to 64-bit is the increase in the maximum allocatable system memory (RAM). Windows XP 32-bit is limited to a total of 4 GB, which is, by default, equally divided between Kernel and application usage. Using the /3GB switch in the boot.ini file forces Windows to limit the kernel to the upper 1GB and provides up to 3GB for applications. Windows XP x64 can support much more memory; although the theoretical memory limit a 64-bit computer can address is about 16 exabytes (16 billion gigabytes), Windows XP x64 is currently limited to 128 GB (237 bytes) of physical memory and 16 TB (244 bytes) of virtual memory. Microsoft claims this limit will be increased as hardware capabilities improve. In practice, most motherboards compatible with 64-bit processors do not support anywhere close to the maximum limit, and often retain the 4 GB limit.

clickie!

Although 32-bit applications can be run transparently, the mixing of the two types of code within the same process is not allowed. A 64-bit application cannot link against a 32-bit library (DLL) and similarly a 32-bit application cannot link against a 64-bit library. This may lead to the need for library developers to provide both 32- and 64-bit binary versions of their libraries. Windows XP x64 Edition includes both 32- and 64-bit versions of Internet Explorer, in order to allow for the possibility that some third-party browser plugins or ActiveX controls may not yet be available in 64-bit versions.

 

Older 32-bit drivers and services are not supported by 64-bit Windows ... The modding website xtremesystems.org users have compiled (and continuously update) a thread on their forums verifying games / applications that run on x64 here ...

[taks]

Using the /3GB switch in the boot.ini file forces Windows to limit the kernel to the upper 1GB and provides up to 3GB for applications.

that's not so bad. i mean, winders is already hogging much of the 2 GB i have anyway.

 

taks