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    About 4GB of RAM on vista-32....Again

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by roroland, Oct 9, 2008.

  1. roroland

    roroland Newbie

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    Hi:

    This has been answered lots of times maybe, sorry:

    I want to buy a dell studio 17 and I don't know if I should add 3GB or 4Gb of RAM, I know Vista-32bits can't use 4GB of ram completely (although vista sp1 will "read" that you have those 4gb physically installed, the system can't access the RAM completely...)

    But my question is, May I have some benefit to have that amount of ram ? Maybe the games, or heavy programs could access the extra ram, or is pointless ? If it's pointless, why dell's try to sell that amount of ram if the system can't use it ?

    Is cheating us ?

    (sorry about my english)

    Thanks
     
    roroland, Oct 9, 2008
    #1
  2. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    The left-over RAM cannot be used in anyway. (No Benefit)

    Though, having two 2GB modules will enable them to run in True Dual Channel.
     
    Andy, Oct 9, 2008
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  3. Everway9

    Everway9 Notebook Consultant

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    Hey Andy! What does the /PAE switch do for you?
     
    Everway9, Oct 9, 2008
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  4. roroland

    roroland Newbie

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    So, the possibility to run in true dual channel you think justify to buy the laptop with 4gb then ? or should I save the money and buy it with 3gb ?
     
    roroland, Oct 9, 2008
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  5. roroland

    roroland Newbie

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    So, the possibility to run in true dual channel you think justify to buy the laptop with 4gb then ? or should I save the money and buy it with 3gb ?
     
    roroland, Oct 9, 2008
    #5
  6. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    In some cases force enabling PAE works, but causes driver/device conflicts.
    Save the money, and buy 3GB if you don't plan to upgrade to 64-Bit in the near future.
     
    Andy, Oct 9, 2008
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  7. roroland

    roroland Newbie

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    Thanks for the quick response
     
    roroland, Oct 9, 2008
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  8. atlguy

    atlguy Notebook Consultant

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    You should consider using 64Bit vista if you want to use 4Gigs of RAM.
     
    atlguy, Oct 11, 2008
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  9. Everway9

    Everway9 Notebook Consultant

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    Cheers Andy! :D
     
    Everway9, Oct 13, 2008
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  10. epguy3

    epguy3 Notebook Evangelist

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    I'm with Andy on this one. forget 4Gb of RAM if you can't use a 64bit OS. stick with 3Gb RAM for a balance of stability & performance.
     
    epguy3, Oct 30, 2008
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  11. Everway9

    Everway9 Notebook Consultant

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    If you use 3GB of RAM then Dual Channel wont work will it? (unless you have 2 x 1.5GB sticks which I have never heard of). Probably best to use the 4GB (2 x 2gb) you only loose about 760mb
     
    Everway9, Oct 31, 2008
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  12. SpeedracerII

    SpeedracerII Newbie

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    I ordered my laptop with 1GB and bought 4GB of dual channel on Fry's for less than the Dell price of 3 GB. Takes about 5 minutes to install. Maybe Vista can't see all 4 GB but someday I may have an operating system that can.
     
    SpeedracerII, Nov 1, 2008
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  13. dougjr

    dougjr Notebook Consultant

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    So you have vista 64 bit nvm i know now
     
    dougjr, Nov 2, 2008
    #13