Windows 7 rtm 32 bit doesnt use all my ram?

Discussion in 'Windows 7' started by kaos420, Jul 30, 2009.

  1. kaos420

    kaos420 MDL Senior Member

    Jul 30, 2009
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    hello guys. thanks for off for this wonderful site. Here is my question on vista 32 bit. the os sees all my 5gb of ram. I installed a fresh copy of 7 rtm 32 bit. activated thanks to hazar. but here is my issue. under system it says installed ram 5gb (usable ram 2.97gb) in quotes just like so. Why doesnt 7 use all my ram. vista did. 3 are 1gb pyn 533 chips other is 2gb pyn 533 chip. all worked on vista. then again all should still work cause it shows 5. just says 2.97 are usable..i dont get it..please shed some light.
     
  2. lunar21

    lunar21 MDL Addicted

    Dec 14, 2008
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    32 bit windows uses a MAX of 3.5 gigs RAM no matter how much you have installed. If you wish to be able to use the whole amount of RAM you have, then you will have to install the 64 bit Windows 7. Hope this helps
     
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  3. kaos420

    kaos420 MDL Senior Member

    Jul 30, 2009
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    so ok how come vista always showed 5gb. like 7 but without the Quotes?i do have a amd 64. so if i up to a 64 bit os then it should use all then?
     
  4. Metalmayhem

    Metalmayhem MDL Novice

    Jul 23, 2009
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    In vista it showed all your memory installed but that didn't mean it was using all of it...the only way to use all 5gbs is to run x64bit
     
  5. sauronxxx

    sauronxxx MDL Member

    Jul 29, 2009
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    yes use a 64 bit os.
     
  6. Hazar

    Hazar MDL Guru

    Jul 29, 2009
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    Vista SP1 shows all the RAM but does not address it. 32bit has an address space limit of 4gb, so taking into account of everything else that is addressed, the main useable memory max in 32bit is 3.2gb. You need 64bit with memory remapping in your bios to use all your RAM

    Hazar
     
  7. kaos420

    kaos420 MDL Senior Member

    Jul 30, 2009
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    cool happy i grabbed both version.....ok ill install 64 tonight. most my program should still work.
     
  8. vengeance

    vengeance MDL Novice

    May 19, 2007
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    Simple math after all. A 32 bit processor can address upto 2^32 registers, which is roughly 4096 MB. And that including video memory, so virtually you wont get more than 3.5 GB RAM under x86 OS no matter how many modules you install.
     
  9. damox

    damox MDL Novice

    Jul 21, 2009
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    Just to be "that guy".

    What about Physical Address Extension (PAE)
     
  10. HSChronic

    HSChronic MDL Expert

    Aug 25, 2007
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    PAE still won't bypass the physical limitations of a 32-bit OS. PAE lets programs use the upper memory block that is usually reserved. This is also called large address aware. If you really want to ease your curiosity then look at the wiki page for 32-bit operating environments.
     
  11. sky_001

    sky_001 MDL Novice

    Jul 30, 2009
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    X64 of window os is your choose.
     
  12. ennio

    ennio Guest

    #13 ennio, Jul 30, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 30, 2009
    If you have 5GB of RAM use x64 W7 and disable pagefile. You will see big difference in speed.
     
  13. kaos420

    kaos420 MDL Senior Member

    Jul 30, 2009
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    ya i have 5gb.....installing 64 now. hazar i seen you said setting it in bios to use all? would i really need to do that on a 64 os? my emachine handles up to 8gb. wouldnt 64 automatically use the full 5?
     
  14. secr9tos

    secr9tos MDL Addicted

    Jul 28, 2009
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    yes because x64 can allocate 2^64 bytes of address space. BUT if your ram controller is x86 ( just in case ) it's useless.
     
  15. Arakon

    Arakon MDL Novice

    Aug 3, 2007
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    On a side note: 5 GB is a rather odd value, if you got 3 modules installed or something, your PC is likely not running them in dual channel, so it's effectively cutting your memory access speed by half.
     
  16. kaos420

    kaos420 MDL Senior Member

    Jul 30, 2009
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    i have 4 spots. support up too 8gb.. 2gb each. when i bought it had 3 1gb ddr2 chips. i bought a 2gb one same make model . installed. worked. i figure as i buy more they will be 2gb each. as i wanna end up with 8gb. I slowly max all goodies on my pc's over time. any way 64 bit up and running. Out of 5gb now it says
    5gb installed (4.67gb usable)
    don't know if it can get closer to 5 then that.lol so 64 should do.

    side note hazar worked perfect on both version of ultimate for me.... good going.
     
  17. kaos420

    kaos420 MDL Senior Member

    Jul 30, 2009
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    really? what would it do?i thought page files were needed.