32-bit of any OS use only 3GB of RAM total?

[Wildside]

tell me if this is true or not? Because wouldnt it be wise to just get 4GB of RAM for a 32-bit OS like Vista? I really have no problem getting 3GB along with my huge purchase i want to buy at the end of the year or early next. I'm just really curious is to if this is true or not.

im chosen to get these RAM for a total of 3GB of DDR 800 SDRAM. Since OCing RAM will have no effect in gaming, i dont care about lower timings anymore , correct me if im wrong.

Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

 

[Sora]

Yes they only can run with 3GB....however yes overclocking ram does have a slight performance in gaming if you run it on a 1:2 ratio. You do understand that also if the ram can become overclocked very high that means you can lower the timings a lot right? For instance....my 2GB set of Gk.skill was DDR2-800 5-5-5-15 @ 1.8v.

I overclocked them to DDR2-900 4-4-3-9 with 2.2v.... G.skill is better than Corsair XMS2.

Also 2Gb is plenty for gaming...3GB will make do difference at all.

EDIT: Also even if you were only looking at stock timings how arent these better than XMS2?
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

They also overclock to around DDR2-1200. You could hit Cas Lat 3 probably with 2.2v at DDr2-800

 

[veg1992]

Yes they only can run with 3GB....however yes overclocking ram does have a slight performance in gaming if you run it on a 1:2 ratio. You do understand that also if the ram can become overclocked very high that means you can lower the timings a lot right? For instance....my 2GB set of Gk.skill was DDR2-800 5-5-5-15 @ 1.8v.

I overclocked them to DDR2-900 4-4-3-9 with 2.2v.... G.skill is better than Corsair XMS2.

Also 2Gb is plenty for gaming...3GB will make do difference at all.

EDIT: Also even if you were only looking at stock timings how arent these better than XMS2?
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

They also overclock to around DDR2-1200. You could hit Cas Lat 3 probably with 2.2v at DDr2-800

isn't it 4gb for vista???

 

[Sora]

no Vista comes in 32-bit and 64-bit...it's still a max of only 3GB on any 32-bit OS Im almost ppositive..even 32-bit Vista

 

[Waphlez]

Technically 32-bit can only address up to 4GB, but 32-bit XP will only be stable at 3GB, not sure about 32bit Vista. 64-bit handles 4GB of RAM just fine.

 

[Law]

Only if Vista and XP are 64bit, Vista and XP 32bit are 3.12GB only. You also need 64bit CPU, a motherboard with the current chipset that support 4 to 8GB of RAM and current BIOS. Nearly all motherboard/BIOS, CPU are now 64bit compatible. It's just picking out the Windows OS.

 

[zmatt]

yeah newer core2 and AM2 mobos have ram ceilings of 8, 16, and i have sen 32 gigabytes. The hardware isnt the problem. Technically XP or Vista 32 can access 4 gigs of ram, but due to cruddy programming they start to loose stability after 3 and I have heard that they slow down after 2 because the amount of ram is exceeding that speed at which the OS can access it.


A 64bit OS like Most Linux Distros Xp-64 or 64bit Vista do not have this problem.

 

[Wildside]

Yes they only can run with 3GB....however yes overclocking ram does have a slight performance in gaming if you run it on a 1:2 ratio. You do understand that also if the ram can become overclocked very high that means you can lower the timings a lot right? For instance....my 2GB set of Gk.skill was DDR2-800 5-5-5-15 @ 1.8v.

I overclocked them to DDR2-900 4-4-3-9 with 2.2v.... G.skill is better than Corsair XMS2.

Also 2Gb is plenty for gaming...3GB will make do difference at all.

EDIT: Also even if you were only looking at stock timings how arent these better than XMS2?
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

They also overclock to around DDR2-1200. You could hit Cas Lat 3 probably with 2.2v at DDr2-800

well ya i know that lower timing the better, but i thought it wouldnt much benefit gaming as much.

I still might go with 3GB still. Like u said, 3GB is the max it can support.

is the FSB: DRAM the ratio? how do u get the ratio 1:2?

 

[Sora]

There is no 2x512 sticks of HK..just 1Gb sticks and the XMS2 won't clock enarly as high as the HK's.

Yes that is the FSB: DRAM ratio...if you had a C2D stock you would need your ram running at DDr2-1033. if you ran at a 300 FSB then you could do a 1:2 ratio with Hk's however it doesn't matter if you want a massive overclock.

 

[veg1992]

There is no 2x512 sticks of HK..just 1Gb sticks and the XMS2 won't clock enarly as high as the HK's.

Yes that is the FSB: DRAM ratio...if you had a C2D stock you would need your ram running at DDr2-1033. if you ran at a 300 FSB then you could do a 1:2 ratio with Hk's however it doesn't matter if you want a massive overclock.

lol i suck with the overclocking Math, so i need my ram to be at dd2-1333 for the e6750??