"DiDi" <> wrote:
>Dell Vista Ultimate 32BIT is the best if you ask me. Vista does not
>recognize 4 GB Memory, and it uses 2 GB of memory itself. 3 GB memory is
>ideal. 4 is a waste of money unless they throw it in for free and something
>in the future develops a use for it.
This is a conglomeration of received wisdom, some right, some not.
32-bit Vista can't actually use 4GB of RAM, that's true. Some of its
4GB address space must be used to access video RAM, BIOS, and a few
other things. What's left over can be used for system RAM, usually 3
and a quarter to 3 and a half GB. 64-bit Vista does not have this
limitation.
As for Vista using 2GB for itself: not exactly. Each process in 32-bit
vista gets a 4GB virtual address space. By default, that space is
divided evenly: 2GB for the program, 2GB for the system. Remember that
this is VIRTUAL memory, not PHYSICAL RAM. Bits and pieces of many
virtual memory spaces will be in RAM at the same time, more bits and
pieces will be on the swap file. It's the virtual memory manager's job
to keep track of what's where and to move less-used bits to the swap
file to make room for needed bits.
--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(Shell/User)
http://members.cox.net/slatteryt