Problem installing new RAM?

[Tom-Colin Kelly]

Hey puter with 1GB of RAM (kingston) and i do have 2 other ram inserts of around 2GB. therefore after inserting this (properly i have checked it thoroughly and what not, there should be 5GB if my excellent maths is correct!

I wouldn't say I am terrible with computers, however i do not have as much knowledge as you great people on the forums, therefore i was wondering what you thinnk could be wrong, e.g. my voltage or something or just my old OS cannot handle it?
here are my PC Specs:
Windows XP Professional
Direct X 9.0c
Intel Premium Duo 2.8Ghz
Core Speed: 2.93MHz (approximate)
Multiplier x 14.0
Bus Speed 199.5MHz
DDR 2 5GB Memory (is this the ram all together?)
Slot 1: DDR2 2GB
Slot 2: DDR2 2GB
Slot 3: DDR2 1GB
ATI Radeon HD 5400 Series 1GB memory

It appears that it is correct however there is not much of a difference should i be concerned?

Thanks a lot

Tom

[Henry Wong]

Tom-Colin Kelly wrote:Hey puter with 1GB of RAM (kingston) and i do have 2 other ram inserts of around 2GB. therefore after inserting this (properly i have checked it thoroughly and what not, there should be 5GB if my excellent maths is correct!

I wouldn't say I am terrible with computers, however i do not have as much knowledge as you great people on the forums, therefore i was wondering what you thinnk could be wrong, e.g. my voltage or something or just my old OS cannot handle it?
here are my PC Specs:
Windows XP Professional
Direct X 9.0c
Intel Premium Duo 2.8Ghz
Core Speed: 2.93MHz (approximate)
Multiplier x 14.0
Bus Speed 199.5MHz
DDR 2 5GB Memory (is this the ram all together?)
Slot 1: DDR2 2GB
Slot 2: DDR2 2GB
Slot 3: DDR2 1GB
ATI Radeon HD 5400 Series 1GB memory

It appears that it is correct however there is not much of a difference should i be concerned?

Thanks a lot

Tom

Well, what kind of difference were you expecting???

[Pat Farrell]

On many Windows-32 computers, the most the computer will use is 4GB, and you won't see or be able to use more than 3.2 or so.

To use more than 4GB (32-bit addressing) you must use a 64 bit operating system.

[chris webster]

As Pat says, 32-bit versions of Windows - such as Windows XP - can only handle up to 4GB of RAM, and you may in fact find that Windows only "sees" less than that anyway. The reason for this is basically that 32 bits can only contain a number up to 4.3 billion (roughly), so 32-bit Windows (or Linux) can't keep track of more than around 4.3 billion memory addresses i.e. 4GB (in reality it's less than that because some addresses are used up for other things). 64-bit operating systems can cope with far more memory addresses than that, so your 5GB would not be a problem.

I think your processor would allow you to use a 64-bit operating system (you should check this e.g. on the Intel website), so you could upgrade to a 64-bit version of Windows e.g. Windows 7, which should be able to see all your RAM, but if you do this you will need to take a full backup of your PC as it will almost certainly wipe your data in the process. Also, you will have to pay for the Windows upgrade licence, so make sure you get the 64-bit version if you do this.

Alternatively, you could try installing a 64-bit version of the free Linux operating system e.g. Ubuntu, which would be able to access the extra RAM and which you can choose to install in "dual-boot" mode, which means you could keep your Windows installation but you would probably need to create some space for the extra partition(s) on the hard disk for Linux to live in. Ubuntu is usually very good at installing itself safely these days, but make sure you back everything up first, just in case.

If you want to try Linux out first, one option might be to buy a Linux magazine with a cover disc, as they often have various distributions of Linux on there that you can boot directly from your DVD drive. This would allow you to try out a version of Linux to see if it works OK with your hardware (e.g. some printers and wireless cards can be a problem with Linux) and that it can see all your RAM, without actually installing anything on your PC initially.

[Steve Luke]

You can access more than 3 GB of memory on 32 bit Windows XP if you turn the Physical Access Extension (PAE: see this Microsoft article.) The amount of memory available to an application will still be limited to 3GB, but the system would be able to address >3GB, making more available to applications, or allowing more applications to run. The top is still limited to 4GB for XP.

I have also seen some combinations of RAM which don't mix, and motherboards which only allow certain combinations of RAM (i.e. you could put in 5GB, but the MB might only recognize 1 (1 1GB stick),2 (1 2GB stick, or 2 1GB stick),3 (3 1GB stick),4 (2 2GB stick), or 6 (3 2GB stick). If you use an unsupported amount the OS usually tells you though. For example if you go to the System Properties window that shows you the computer specs you should see a line that tells you how much RAM you have, and much Available RAM (if the Available RAM is displayed and not close to the total RAM you have an un-supported configuration).

[Pat Farrell]

Steve Luke wrote:You can access more than 3 GB of memory on 32 bit Windows XP if you turn the Physical Access Extension

Very true, but it may not do you much good. Often, XP will only let applications see 3.2 or maybe 3.3 GB of memory, the rest is reserved for IO buffers transfer maps, etc. (just like in the old 640KB days).

Plus support for PAE is motherboard/chipset dependent. Sometimes it works, and on other machines it does nothing.

The amount, 4GB is at a bad point. Or at least an unfortunate one. If you go from 3GB to 4GB, you are unlikely to see any real improvements. Even going from 3GB to 5GB often doesn't yield real world performance improvements, since there is additional overhead with PAE and going to a 64-bit OS has its own levels of overhead. To really make a noticeable difference, you need to go to 8GB.

The good news is that memory is insanely cheap these days. 8GB of good RAM is about $40. Windows and all other operating systems love more ram.