How much is enough?

Jafo · January 2nd, 2008

I currently have 2gb of memory, but I was thinking about upgrading to 4gb. Would it be worth adding another 2gb? Will there be any noticeable improvement for gaming, video editing, etc.? What do you guys think?

Yellowhello · January 2nd, 2008

Only if you have a 64-bit OS.

Jafo · January 2nd, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by yellowhello

Only if you have a 64-bit OS.

So, would it hurt the performance if adding another 2gb using Windows XP Pro 32-bit?

**Capper** · January 2nd, 2008

It won't hurt performance at all....in fact it will help with memory intensive applications.....just be aware there is a 4GB limit for all 32-bit operating systems, and that that 4GB limit includes anything and everything that has a virtual memory address.

screwballl · January 2nd, 2008

you may find that after adding the extra memory that windows only sees 2.5-3.5GB of your memory, almost never the full 4GB

Jafo · January 2nd, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by screwballl

you may find that after adding the extra memory that windows only sees 2.5-3.5GB of your memory, almost never the full 4GB

Even if you enable PAE? I've never installed more than 2gb, so I'm not sure what to expect. I have read that Windows should show the numbers you've posted, which is fine as long as it's closer to 4.

cured · January 2nd, 2008

2GB is enough, you won't see much difference with 4GB

screwballl · January 2nd, 2008

PAE can only be turned on with Win2000 Pro multi-proc edition, Windows servers since 2001. I have heard (but not tested) that all versions of XP 32bit have this disabled so even if you add the PAE entry, it will not recognize it. And Vista has it built in so that only the 64-bit versions can use the full amount of memory.

edit: scratch that, found a MSDN page on it:

Windows Version - Support
Windows 2000 Professional - AWE API and 4 GB of physical RAM
Windows XP - NONE
Windows XP SP2 and later - AWE API and 4 GB of physical address space
Windows 2000 Server - AWE API and 4 GB of RAM
Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition - NONE
Windows Server 2003 SP1, Standard Edition - AWE API and 4 GB of physical address space
Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition - 8 processors and 32 GB RAM
Windows Server 2003 SP1, Enterprise Edition - 8 processors and 64 GB RAM
Windows 2000 Advanced Server - 8 processors and 8 GB RAM
Windows 2000 Datacenter Server - 32 processors and 32 GB RAM (support for 64 GB was not offered because of a lack of systems for testing)
Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition - 32 processors and 64 GB RAM
Windows Server 2003 SP1, Datacenter Edition - 32 processors and 128 GB RAM

**Capper** · January 2nd, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by cured

2GB is enough, you won't see much difference with 4GB

Thats not necessarily true.......programs like Photoshop will show a noticeable improvement in load/editing times.

For most applications, 2GB is fine, but if you have the ability (meaning the money), adding the extra memory will not hurt at all.

Yellowhello · January 2nd, 2008

Yeah, it won't hurt performance, probably improve it, but just know you won't see all 4GB.

January 2nd, 2008	#1
Jafo Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Georgia, USA Posts: 176	How much is enough? I currently have 2gb of memory, but I was thinking about upgrading to 4gb. Would it be worth adding another 2gb? Will there be any noticeable improvement for gaming, video editing, etc.? What do you guys think? AMD Athlon 64 Processor 4000+ Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe 4 GB DDR SDRAM 2 eVGA GeForce 7800 GT 256 MB 2 Seagate Barracuda 7200 (200GB each) Thermaltake Tsunami Windows XP SP2

January 2nd, 2008	#2
Yellowhello Stoopid Head Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Pacific Grove, CA Posts: 4,256	Re: How much is enough? Only if you have a 64-bit OS. Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 + Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme DFI Blood Iron P35-T2RL + Thermalright HR-05 IFX 2GB G.Skill 800MHz F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB Silverstone Decathlon 650W Western Digital 250GB SATA II

January 2nd, 2008	#4
Capper I'm Evil Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 5,675 Blog Entries: 6	Re: How much is enough? It won't hurt performance at all....in fact it will help with memory intensive applications.....just be aware there is a 4GB limit for all 32-bit operating systems, and that that 4GB limit includes anything and everything that has a virtual memory address. INTEL QX9650 ASUS P5E3 Premium 4GB DDR3-1600 Sapphire HD 3870X2 Danger Den Tower-26 (Custom W/C) 5 x Seagate 250GB HDD in RAID5 BFG ES 800W PSU

January 2nd, 2008	#5
screwballl Colonel Calamity Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Sandy South Posts: 6,279 Blog Entries: 6	Re: How much is enough? you may find that after adding the extra memory that windows only sees 2.5-3.5GB of your memory, almost never the full 4GB Thanks HL and Corsair! My opinions are my own and not representative of this site or its members.

January 2nd, 2008	#7
cured Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 145	Re: How much is enough? 2GB is enough, you won't see much difference with 4GB CPU: Pentium IV 2.67 G Board: GIGA GA-8PE800PRO Memory: KINGSTON 256MB 266Mhz DDR x2 Video Card: ASUS GF2 MX400 64MB HDD: SEAGATE 80GB BARRACUDA 7200.7 Case: ENLIGHT P4 MIDI TOWER CASE Power Supply: NEW CORSAIR HX-520W!! Cooling: AIR Operating System: Windows XP

January 2nd, 2008	#8
screwballl Colonel Calamity Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Sandy South Posts: 6,279 Blog Entries: 6	Re: How much is enough? PAE can only be turned on with Win2000 Pro multi-proc edition, Windows servers since 2001. I have heard (but not tested) that all versions of XP 32bit have this disabled so even if you add the PAE entry, it will not recognize it. And Vista has it built in so that only the 64-bit versions can use the full amount of memory. edit: scratch that, found a MSDN page on it: Windows Version - Support Windows 2000 Professional - AWE API and 4 GB of physical RAM Windows XP - NONE Windows XP SP2 and later - AWE API and 4 GB of physical address space Windows 2000 Server - AWE API and 4 GB of RAM Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition - NONE Windows Server 2003 SP1, Standard Edition - AWE API and 4 GB of physical address space Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition - 8 processors and 32 GB RAM Windows Server 2003 SP1, Enterprise Edition - 8 processors and 64 GB RAM Windows 2000 Advanced Server - 8 processors and 8 GB RAM Windows 2000 Datacenter Server - 32 processors and 32 GB RAM (support for 64 GB was not offered because of a lack of systems for testing) Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition - 32 processors and 64 GB RAM Windows Server 2003 SP1, Datacenter Edition - 32 processors and 128 GB RAM Thanks HL and Corsair! My opinions are my own and not representative of this site or its members. Last edited by screwballl; January 2nd, 2008 at 12:51.

January 2nd, 2008	#10
Yellowhello Stoopid Head Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Pacific Grove, CA Posts: 4,256	Re: How much is enough? Yeah, it won't hurt performance, probably improve it, but just know you won't see all 4GB. Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 + Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme DFI Blood Iron P35-T2RL + Thermalright HR-05 IFX 2GB G.Skill 800MHz F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB Silverstone Decathlon 650W Western Digital 250GB SATA II