Virtual Systems & Ram?

[frostbyte5014]

I am getting to the point where I need to run multiple virtual systems and I need more memory. My system has 4Gb now but I'm thinking of bumping it to 8Gb. My question is should I stay at 32bit for my primary O.S. or should I switch to 64bit? What is the best option for best performance?

[Jory]

My understanding is that most Windows 32 bit operating systems natively support 4GB of memory address space. I think Server 2003 supports more, and with PAE you can have more on XP. Without knowing the exact details of how all that works my gut reaction would be to use a 64 bit operating system.

Assuming the hardware you have is already compatible I'd say go with 64 bit Vista, or maybe even a linux distro depending on what VM software you use.

[rtrahan]

Check out your system information page, if its 32-bit does it show as 3.0GB instead of 4GB? I read in a book recently that 32-bit can't use more than 3GB for threading, anything above is not used as RAM but as Virtual..but if I understand your question that's what you are looking for right? I would like to know more about the 4GB ceiling though, I came upon it when I put 4GB in my Dell 1525 and it showed up as 3GB, that's when I discovered the ceiling cap...anyone hear of this before? Kinda misleading for the average joe.

[angry_geek]

As much as I dislike using vista for myself, my office machine has vista 64 with 8 gb ram, e7400 core 2. It can easily handle 3 vm's at a time. Haven't had a need to run more than that, but it would be fun to try.

[angry_geek]

. . I came upon it when I put 4GB in my Dell 1525 and it showed up as 3GB, that's when I discovered the ceiling cap...anyone hear of this before? Kinda misleading for the average joe.

What chipset do you have in your Dell. Some of the intel chipsets can't use 2 double-sided sticks. It will only show as 3 gb, or, as in the case of my dad's sony, not boot at all.

[Methical]

Check out your system information page, if its 32-bit does it show as 3.0GB instead of 4GB? I read in a book recently that 32-bit can't use more than 3GB for threading, anything above is not used as RAM but as Virtual..but if I understand your question that's what you are looking for right? I would like to know more about the 4GB ceiling though, I came upon it when I put 4GB in my Dell 1525 and it showed up as 3GB, that's when I discovered the ceiling cap...anyone hear of this before? Kinda misleading for the average joe.

Yes mine shows up as 3GB even though there is 4GB installed. I'll post a screenshot if you want. I'm running Vista Home Basic SP1 32-bit.

If I go to system info via start menu > all programs > accessories etc and it shows as 4GB.

Go to start and right click on 'computer' go to properties and it states 4GB.

Run up an elevated cmd prompt, and do a systeminfo and it shows as 3,002 MB

[Daifne]

4GB is the max for 32b versions of Windows, but 16GB is the max RAM for Vista 64 Premium.

http://compreviews.about.com/od/memory/a/Vista4GB.htm

The 64-Bit version of Windows Vista does not have this same 4GB memory limit. Instead, each 64-bit version has a limit to the amount of addressable memory. The different 64-bit versions and their maximum memory are as follows:

•Vista Basic: 8 GB
•Vista Home Premium: 16 GB
•Vista Business/Enterprise/Ultimate: 128+ GB

[MrUnknown]

32bit OSes can not address more than 4GB of RAM. Windows doesn't get 4GB of RAM because some of the RAM is reserved for system components. Not really sure how system components can take up 500MB-1GB of RAM, but that is why. It's like having onboard video, Windows will report Total Memory - Memory for the video card.

Vista SP1 added the ability to display 4GB+ of RAM installed, but the 32Bit version of it still can't use it.