Windows 32bit help.

I just had a "chat" with one of the live support people at dell, to find out if it was possible for vista 64bit to run on the studio 17, so i could gave the ati hd3650 and 4gb of ram, and this is what he said to me:

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11:23:29 Agent Pradeep_Chandrasheka
The 32 bit operating system can show up to 3580mb of memory approximately
11:24:26 Customer Lyall
But if you have 4gb of ram, and 256mb from the graphics card, surely it will only use 3.2gb of ram.
11:25:59 Agent Pradeep_Chandrasheka
Callum the system uses the complete Ram actually but shows only 3.2Gb
11:26:12 Agent Pradeep_Chandrasheka
showing is different and usage is different
11:26:29 Customer Lyall
Why does it show it differant?
11:28:40 Agent Pradeep_Chandrasheka
Its an error of Operating system
11:28:57 Customer Lyall
Oh okay then.
11:29:18 Customer Lyall
So if i get the 4gb of ram, and the ati graphics card, i will be able to use all the ram+Graphical ram?
11:30:05 Agent Pradeep_Chandrasheka
Yes
11:30:25 Agent Pradeep_Chandrasheka
The system utilises it but will not show as its an operating system error


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It seems to me that from the research that i have done he was just down right lying to me. And just trying to sell a couple of upgrades. Is there ANY truth in what he just said?

Thanks,
Callum

 

If you want to use 4GB of RAM go x64. No doubt about it. x86, as he "adequately" puts it cannot use that memory. I had the same thing with my U6. On x86 my RAM was fluctuating from 3.12-3.5 but never higher. x86 is limited to 4GB on paper and because of the 2^32 restriction it cannot allocate the upper part of the memory so you end up losing up to 1 GB.

x64 on the other hand will be able to use, depending on your Vista version, more RAM than you can fit in a laptop for the next 5-10 years .

 

I'm not sure you and the agent were entirely on the same page - you said you were asking about 64-bit, but at 11:23:29, the agent is definitely talking about 32-bit, and the not showing all the RAM error (really a limitation rather than error) he's talking about is definitely a 32-bit limitation. With Vista x64, you will be able to use all 4 GB of RAM and all 256 MB on the graphics card. The same applies for other 64-bit versions of Windows. The upper limit on 64-bit Windows is at lowest 8 GB (Vista Home Premium x64, Basic as well if it has a 64-bit version); it depends on the version of Windows but is a limit put in to encourage buying the more expensive versions if you're using that much power. The theoretical limit is 2^64 bytes, which relative to current hardware is astronomically high.

With Vista 32-bit (and most other 32-bit Windows operating systems), the limit of total addressable RAM (both standard RAM and video card RAM) is 4096 MB (4 GB, or 2^32 bytes). Since you have to have the video card RAM addressable if you want to see anything on your screen, this means you will only be able to use about 4 GB - whatever your video card has. Most 256 MB video cards share an additional 256 MB of system RAM in case they need more, so you probably would be able to use 3.5 GB of RAM with a 32-bit operating system. With a video card with less memory, you might be able to get a bit higher; with one with more memory (such as 1.5 GB), you could be limited to 2.5 GB or so.

A couple of 32-bit server Windows OS'es (such as Windows 2000 Advanced Server) have workarounds that allow you to use more than 4 GB of RAM even with a 32-bit operating system, but they're more expensive than it's really worth, and you wouldn't be running the latest operating systems, either. So if you want to utilize 4 GB of RAM, you should get a 64-bit operating system.

It's definitely possible to run 64-bit Vista on the Studio laptops. It'll run on any 64-bit CPU (which includes all Core 2 Duos and recent AMD processors) provided the rest of the hardward is sufficient, which would certainly include the Studio line.

 

Someone once found an article in the MSDN knowledge base - a 32Bit OS can use more than 4GB of RAM - its just that anything above 3GB can only be used for special "uses" or by specialised applications.

If any moderator sees this - could we have an offcial 32 vs 64Bit thread?
Where the very first article explains it in detail, yet is also easily understandable.

 

Can anyone explain whether they could tell a noticeable difference in 32 vs. 64 bit? what about a benchmark test or real world examples. I want the most out of my Studio 1735 that I can get and I don't know whether to upgrade to 64 or not. Is it worth it?

 

From what I've read there seems to be a little increase in performance, but most people are possibly better off using the "standard OS" - as, unless oyu specifically need 64Bit the hassle of finding drivers and installing the OS isn't really worth it.

Also - some people will say that 32Bit drivers may be more stable overal as they've been developed over a longer time.

This is not to say however that 64Bit would be unstable.

 

Some points I'll make on this issue:

- 32-bit won't use the full 4 gb of RAM. You'll need a 64-bit OS for that.
- The agent you talked to is either lying or mistaken.
- The usable system RAM is what Windows reports in Task Manager > Performance tab > Physical Memory: Total.
- Most people don't ordinarily run enough stuff to actually make use of 4 gb of RAM
- 64-bit uses memory slightly less efficiently than 32-bit, so the RAM savings may be less than you'd think.
- You probably will see increased performance if you move to 64-bit Vista, but probably not mainly because of RAM. 64-bit can use the CPU more efficiently. It's not a drastic difference though.
- 64-bit Vista will have reduced compatibility... especially with older peripherals (printers etc.). Make sure any devices/peripherals that require their own drivers support 64-bit Vista before upgrading... or be willing to switch to using another device instead. On the software side, most programs work fine in 64-bit Vista, but you may occasionally find a program that doesn't work.
- You can (probably) get Dell to send you the 64-bit Vista disc... you may just need to approach it right... see this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=254817