The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    G.Skill RAM: 32-bit vista/xp can see as 4 gig?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by vi3tscorpian, Aug 23, 2008.

  1. vi3tscorpian

    vi3tscorpian Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    46
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    guys, i have a question:

    i read a review recently by a guy. he claimed that his laptop with 32-bit vista recognized 2 2GIG RAM sticks (dual channel) as a total of 4 gig instead of only 3 gig. is it true?

    G.SKILL RAM on newegg also noted that only Santa Rosa system will see ram as 4 gig totally.

    i just bought the G.SKILL dual channel laptop 5300 RAM from newegg for my T61.
     
  2. Han Bao Quan

    Han Bao Quan The Assassin

    Reputations:
    4,071
    Messages:
    4,208
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    That guy is totally bs. X32 cannot recognize more than 3Gb of ram, PERIOD.
    Santa Rosa can support up to 8Gb with some BIOS, but the OS is another story.
     
  3. sfrohman90

    sfrohman90 Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    93
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    with that question...im currently on my desktop and is the whole vist 32 cant see 4gb memory just a laptop thing??? because im using g.skill 4x1 gb sticks in this puppy with vista ultimate 32 bit and it recognizes 4gb just fine...
     
  4. vi3tscorpian

    vi3tscorpian Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    46
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    so you say 32-bit vista could see 4 gig? cool!!!

    btw, is G.SKILL RAM good in performance?

    also i have this link regarding the RAM and SYSTEM

    http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000811.html
     
  5. Han Bao Quan

    Han Bao Quan The Assassin

    Reputations:
    4,071
    Messages:
    4,208
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
  6. Tony

    Tony Nissan ftw!

    Reputations:
    364
    Messages:
    1,193
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    the OS SHOWS 4gb of ram
    but a 32bit OS can only USE 3gb of ram

    you can go to task manager and see how many gb of ram is actually available for use
     
  7. stewie

    stewie What the deuce?

    Reputations:
    3,666
    Messages:
    2,174
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    With Vista SP1, it will "report" all 4 GB yes, but it doesn't mean you're able to use it all. 32-bit Windows can use from 2.75 - 3.5 GB, depending on the hardware and BIOS combination.

    Read this article by a Microsoft Software Test Engineer:

    http://blogs.msdn.com/hiltonl/archive/2007/04/13/the-3gb-not-4gb-ram-problem.aspx

    With some of his quotes here:

    http://news.softpedia.com/news/Vist...imitation-of-32-bit-Windows-Vista-75309.shtml

    Some systems can use up to 3.5 GB even with 32-bit Windows.

    http://blogs.msdn.com/hiltonl/archive/2007/04/13/the-3gb-not-4gb-ram-problem.aspx
     
  8. sfrohman90

    sfrohman90 Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    93
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    ehhh your right now that i check...it shows 4.0 GB but the free and used only add up to 3.5 GB...whatever not a big deal to me...
     
  9. stewie

    stewie What the deuce?

    Reputations:
    3,666
    Messages:
    2,174
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Good to know the T400 can use 3.5 and not only 3. :)
     
  10. BinkNR

    BinkNR Knock off all that evil

    Reputations:
    308
    Messages:
    1,000
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Seconded. While these 32 bit Windows OSs can see the 4GB of RAM, the most they can actually us is 3.16GB of it.
     
  11. sfrohman90

    sfrohman90 Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    93
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Oh sorry haha im not on my T400 UNFORTUNATLY...i have to wait even longer for my baby because of stupid lenovo and their delays...im just on my custom built desktop, sorry to get you excited haha
     
  12. vi3tscorpian

    vi3tscorpian Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    46
    Messages:
    330
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    last question: what happens to the remaining amount of RAM that's not listed? will it affect system's stability?

    thanks all for all the info :)
     
  13. Tony

    Tony Nissan ftw!

    Reputations:
    364
    Messages:
    1,193
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I don't really know the answer to your question.
    But I think the rest of the ram can be shared with the GPU.. I think

    and one advantage of having 4GB over 3GB is that 4GB of ram enables synchronous dual channel memory access which is about 10% faster
     
  14. Han Bao Quan

    Han Bao Quan The Assassin

    Reputations:
    4,071
    Messages:
    4,208
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    It wouldn't affect the system, just your pocket.