4/8GB Ram Fix for Vista x64 Hardware Requirements Discuss 4/8GB Ram Fix for Vista x64 in the Installing and Upgrading Vista forums; Update for Windows Vista for x64-based Systems (KB929777) Brief Description Install this update to address an issue in storport.sys which results in a system crash when certain hardware ...

[Snuffy]

Update for Windows Vista for x64-based Systems (KB929777)
Brief Description
Install this update to address an issue in storport.sys which results in a system crash when certain hardware configurations exist.
(This does not say it fixes the limit from 3GB to over 4GB for X64 but it does)

link provided. PS: you must Validate your copy of Vista before you can DL and Install.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...n#Requirements

[felix8406]

Snuffy, I'm curious, where does it mention that the RAM limit for Vista 32Bit is 3GB; I always though that it was 4GB; except for Vista starter that can only support up to 1GB max?

[Snuffy]

This explains it much better than I can.

What's Up with 4GB?
Here's the scenario that most of us that consider ourselves computer enthusiasts fall into when considering buying more memory: We're running an amazingly fast system with 2GB of DDR2 memory. Chances are the system hardware is 64-bit but because of necessity and the lack of optimized drivers we're running a 32-bit Operating System (i.e.; Windows XP Professional or one of the many 32-bit flavors of Vista). So you can't really effectively use 4GB of system memory!

I know your thoughts immediately shifted and the following question in some form or fashion is rolling through your gray matter..."What do you mean, both Windows XP Professional and Windows Vista 32-bit operating systems support up to 4GB of system memory, it says so in all the literature? Supporting that amount of physical memory and actually being able to effectively use it are in fact two different issues that need to be understood. Windows XP Professional and Vista 32-bit editions can support 4GB of memory on paper, but in actuality this is not entirely true. In truth what happens is the 4GB address space is essentially split into two component segments each being 2GB in size. The first two gigabyte segment is allocated to the kernel, and the remaining two gigabyte segment is allocated to applications. Intel provides a pseudo-remedy called Physical Address Extension (PAE) or /3GB as it's often referred to. This extension allows Windows XP and other Intel based 32-bit operating systems to then allocate 1GB of physical memory to the kernel and 3GB to the active applications. Just activating this extension doesn't magically allocate 3GB to your applications either, each application must have a flag in its executable correctly set using a Hex editor of other software tools. I am told (as I have never personally used it) that using PAE to extend physical memory allocation to applications works well, except for one big gotcha; you're more than likely running 32-bit applications and currently they have a limitation of only being able to access 2GB of physical memory.
Another fact that you need to also realize is that even though Windows XP and Vista accommodate 4GB of physical memory you have other resources aside from the kernel and applications that need a piece of this pie to function. These are namely PCI-E and PCI slots coupled with other system hardware. This is why when you install 4GB of physical memory in a 32-bit Windows operating you will see only around 3GB in your System properties.

Now that this whole memory utilization thing with 32-bit operating systems is about as clear as mud, let's look to the bright side. Will you see a performance increase by installing 4GB in your system that formerly had only 2GB? Absolutely, but not to the same extent you'd see if all of the 4GB of physical memory were available for the kernel and applications. It's roughly the same as giving yourself 50% more available memory instead of the 100% you added. Is there a way to fully take advantage of 4GB of physical memory? Sure, you can install a 64-bit operating system such as Windows XP 64-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit, or one of the 64-bit flavors of Linux. Again though if you run 32-bit apps on one of these operating systems you will experience the same limitation with 32-bit applications that I described earlier which in most cases won't really matter anyway. Another thing to consider about 64-bit operating systems is drivers, or should I say the lack there of.

Now that I've totally confused you it's time to test this product and see what kind of real world performance we'll see.

For those whom can not understand the lingo you can look at the pictures and the color shows the difference..

http://www.bjorn3d.com/read_pf.php?cID=1076

Final Score: 9.0 out of 10 and the prestigious Bjorn3D Golden Bear Award.

A Word of Thanks
I would also like to sincerely thank Brian Flood along with their excellent team at Mushkin, Inc. for the opportunity to review this excellent product and their help along the way.

In the old days very few mobos could honestly run Mushkin memory. today most mobos can run Mushkin memory.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605/en-us

[felix8406]

If I understand the article correctly, Vista 32Bit can support 4GB of RAM, but all 4GB are not completely used by the OS because some of the RAM is needed for other resources. I’ve seen articles stating that Vista can only support 3GB of RAM, which implies that having anything more than 3GB is just a waste, but that’s not necessarily a true statement. If you installed 3GB of RAM, then the OS would be forced to share that RAM with other resources as well, which would limit the amount of RAM available for the OS to less than the 3GB.

[Snuffy]

Depending on your mobo and other devices installed. you will show different amounts of memory installed ( check Welcome Center ) and depends if your mobo uses PAE or not. So basically those that use 3GB in Vista 32 Bit have a much more stable environment than those that use 4GB.
During tests almost 99% of unstable problems were fixed by removing 1 stick of memory in 4GB systems. You should read your mobo manual on which types of memory to use is you want 3 GB. With all the tests ran which show 32bit systems run at 99.+ % compared to 3GB systems. it simply is not worth the MONEY to buy 3GB. Some gamers are having major problems also with the new GAMES which use 4GB Memory when the system only tells the game is has from 2.1 to 3.5 GB Memory... when 32bit system can not read 4GB.