Vista SP1 32 bit memory

I've spent the last 2 weeks trying to confirm this.
With Vista 32bit SP1, is it true that it will not only see the 4 gigs of ram installed, but use all 4 gigs as well?

I've had gamers tell me that the OS will show the 4 gigs installed, but that was the only thing Sp1 did. It still can use only around 3.21 gigs.
I've also had system builders say that Vista 32bit SP1 will both show the 4 gigs, and use ALL 4 gigs.
Both swear that they are right and the others don't know what they're talking about.

I've built a new gaming rig and I have an OEM copy of Vista HP SP1 32 bit, and I want to be sure that I'm not wasting the 4 gigs I have installed, but I can't seem to get a consistent answer from everybody.....only controversy.
Even two different MS MVP's gave me two different answers. I'm almost to the point of calling MS tech. support and asking for their best Vista tech. specialist to find out for sure.
This is getting ridiculous.:sa:

Does anyone know the facts?? Who's right?
Thanks very much.

32bits operating systems can only access almost 3.69GB of ram due to the physical limitations of the 32 bits architecture. A 32bit processor uses 32 bits to refer to the location of each byte of memory. And if you do the math you will see that 2^32=4.2billion...this means almost 4GB of RAM memory. With SP1, Windows Vista is able to detect 4GB of ram but will only use the amount that the 32bit OS can access. So if you want to be able to access more that 3.69GB Ram you should upgrade to a X64 Vista SP1 which is more stable and has better security and can access a lot of RAM, is to early for me to calculate the exact amount

You can read more here: http://www.vistax64.com/vista-news/198702-access-more-memory-even-32-bit-system.html

its 4gb alltogether, so that not only includes ram, it means your graphics card ram etc.

So for example, 4gb of ram installed & 512mb of memory on your gfx card, you'll only be able to detect 3.5gb of ram.

If i were you, id get the 64 bit version.

Clark1221 said:

I've spent the last 2 weeks trying to confirm this.
With Vista 32bit SP1, is it true that it will not only see the 4 gigs of ram installed, but use all 4 gigs as well?

I've had gamers tell me that the OS will show the 4 gigs installed, but that was the only thing Sp1 did. It still can use only around 3.21 gigs.
I've also had system builders say that Vista 32bit SP1 will both show the 4 gigs, and use ALL 4 gigs.
Both swear that they are right and the others don't know what they're talking about.

I've built a new gaming rig and I have an OEM copy of Vista HP SP1 32 bit, and I want to be sure that I'm not wasting the 4 gigs I have installed, but I can't seem to get a consistent answer from everybody.....only controversy.
Even two different MS MVP's gave me two different answers. I'm almost to the point of calling MS tech. support and asking for their best Vista tech. specialist to find out for sure.
This is getting ridiculous.:sa:

Does anyone know the facts?? Who's right?
Thanks very much.

Click to expand...

It is a common misconception that Vista cannot use or see a full 4GB. Allow me to destroy that myth:

2^32 = 4,294,967,296 Bytes
4,294,967,296 / 1024 = 4,194,304 KB
4,194,304 / 1024 = 4,096 MB
4,096 / 1024 = 4GB

By it's very nature, 32-Bit is limited to 4GB.

The 3GB - 3.5GB "limitation" is a by-product of a memory mapping that takes places on the hardware level, long before the operating system even starts! This is because no two devices can use the same memory at the same time, and when you turn on your computer, many devices request a certain amount of memory for it's own use. That memory is taken from the upper 1GB between 3GB and 4GB. When mapped, it will not be available for system use.

The best way to confirm this is to enter your system BIOS at power on. If the facility is provided, the BIOS should show you the TOTAL INSTALLED memory, as well as the TOTAL AVAILABLE memory. If the TOTAL AVAILABLE memory is less than 4GB, then even if you do install Vista x64, you will have less than 4GB available. There is nothing you can do to prevent this, except use a motherboard that uses Memory Remapping to allocate memory space to devices that do no conflict with system memory.

Windows Vista, before SP1, usually reported the TOTAL AVAILABLE memory. And this is where the myth was born that Vista cannot use more than about 3.5GB memory.

With SP1 installed, Vista reports the TOTAL INSTALLED memory.

Thanks, Dzomlija.

Very informative and educational post.

Good information.....thanks to all.
The system I just finished building uses the EVGA 790i Ultra mb...a fairly new board, which uses a max of 8 gigs of ram. I'm not sure if this board uses memory remapping.....can't find anything on this in the manual. I suppose I can either call EVGA tech. support, or it sounds like I would be able to tell by looking at 'total' and 'available' memory in the bios.
Dzomlija...so to confirm...if the bios shows a total available memory of less than 4 gigs, installing 64 bit Vista won't change this? (I thought 64 bit would solve the memory limits, up to the limit of the mb of course)
Need to make a decision on an OS, and get this gaming rig up and running!!!
Thanks again...

Also...if I were to install Vista SP1 32 bit, and dual boot, and install Windows 7 64 bit, would this cause too many issues and/or be a pain, since I would need to have both 32 and 64 bit drivers installed?
I've heard the Windows 7 Beta is very stable...for a beta.

Clark1221 said:

Good information.....thanks to all.
The system I just finished building uses the EVGA 790i Ultra mb...a fairly new board, which uses a max of 8 gigs of ram. I'm not sure if this board uses memory remapping.....can't find anything on this in the manual. I suppose I can either call EVGA tech. support, or it sounds like I would be able to tell by looking at 'total' and 'available' memory in the bios.

Click to expand...

Clark1221 said:

Dzomlija...so to confirm...if the bios shows a total available memory of less than 4 gigs, installing 64 bit Vista won't change this? (I thought 64 bit would solve the memory limits, up to the limit of the mb of course)
Need to make a decision on an OS, and get this gaming rig up and running!!!
Thanks again...

Click to expand...

Moving to Vista x64 will remove limits, but if the hardware has allocated memory address space to devices, it wouldn't matter how much memory you have installed. The memory used by the devices will not be made available to the system pool.

Let's say you installed 4096MB memory, and the BIOS allocates 512MB to onboard devices. This will leave you with 3584MB memory available to the system.

Now, if you where to install an additional 4096MB for a total of 8192MB, you should in theory have 7680MB available to the system pool. I say in theory, because I haven't tested this yet, as my motherboard also suppports 8GB memory but I only have 4GB installed. I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that if the motherboard supports 8GB or more, then it will allocate device memory space that does not conflict with the system pool.

My old motherboard, the ASUS A8N32-SLI-DELUXE was like this. I installed 4096MB, but only had 3325MB available (as shown in the BIOS), even with Vista x64 installed. The A8N32-SLI-DELUXE only supported a maximum of 4096MB.

In my current motherboard, the ASUS M3A32-MVP-DELUXE, I have 4096MB installed of a possible 8192GB. The BIOS shows 4096MB installed, and 4094MB available.

Clark1221 said:

Also...if I were to install Vista SP1 32 bit, and dual boot, and install Windows 7 64 bit, would this cause too many issues and/or be a pain, since I would need to have both 32 and 64 bit drivers installed?
I've heard the Windows 7 Beta is very stable...for a beta.

Click to expand...

You'll need the 32-Bit drivers installed in Vista, and then the x64 drivers installed in Windows 7. The dual boot shouldn't be a problem. I can give you more info later in the week. I'm still waiting for my Windows 7 to finish download - I have like 6 hours or so to go, and I have to head off to work in an hour.

Keep an eye out for Windows 7 posts my me in Windows 7 Forums