Dell XPS M1710 and issue with 4Gb RAM?!?

[Tipstaff]

Originally Posted by Shadowarriorx

I just recently upgraded my laptop to 4Gb of ram. And i've read quite a bit of info saying that the XPS in 32 bit OS only reads up to 3.3Gb.

I also asked if I should upgrade to the 64 bit OS, and I called 3 times to get 3 opinions. All three of them said not to upgrade to the 64 bit operating system.

So....was it useless to upgrade to the 4GB of ram if it won't all be used??

Well, it's not actually useless. Even if you don't use all 4GB you are using more than what you had previously. With desktops most come with 4 ram slots, so you can juggle sizes, such as putting in exactly 3.5GB, which is the limit of a 32bit OS. With laptops though, you only have 2 ram slots, so you are stuck at 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, and so on. Yes, you don't have 4GB, and you're stuck at 3.3GB thanks to Dell, however this is still 1.3GB more than your next choice down, that being 2GB. Either way, you should still see a large overall speed improvement.

[Shadowarriorx]

Originally Posted by Tipstaff

Well, it's not actually useless. Even if you don't use all 4GB you are using more than what you had previously. With desktops most come with 4 ram slots, so you can juggle sizes, such as putting in exactly 3.5GB, which is the limit of a 32bit OS. With laptops though, you only have 2 ram slots, so you are stuck at 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, and so on. Yes, you don't have 4GB, and you're stuck at 3.3GB thanks to Dell, however this is still 1.3GB more than your next choice down, that being 2GB. Either way, you should still see a large overall speed improvement.

I know you can use all 4gb in 64bit, only problem is that it needs more headroom, therefore you essentially have the same amount of ram available. Only problem I've heard is that some things run slower because they are not optimized for 64 bit and that some drivers are very unstable. Not to mention that some programs are incompatible with 64 bit.

I just am unsure if its worth going to 64 bit for the bit of increased speed, because I'm also getting a new harddrive for my computer as I need more space.

BTW, i've also heard that something from remapping or something like that will allow you to use all 4 gb and make sure your video card doesn't use up that space.

[temeteus82]

WOW64 is the solution for 32-bit apps to run in 64-bit Windows.
All the drivers are rather good at least in Vista 64-bit. Some older intel mobile chipsets has some hardware limitations in the memory controller that don't allow over 4 Gb ram, note that the gpu ram is counted in.

[Zardon]

Originally Posted by Shadowarriorx

I know you can use all 4gb in 64bit, only problem is that it needs more headroom, therefore you essentially have the same amount of ram available. Only problem I've heard is that some things run slower because they are not optimized for 64 bit and that some drivers are very unstable. Not to mention that some programs are incompatible with 64 bit.

Well im not specifically sure to which drivers you are referring but this site is developed, maintained and content is designed on 64 bit Vista (on two 8 core systems) and I have yet to experience an issue (and im running 32 gb of ram in one and 16gb in the other). All programs I use work, on a professional level and I haven't experienced a game released in the last year which gives the os an issue either.

I just am unsure if its worth going to 64 bit for the bit of increased speed, because I'm also getting a new harddrive for my computer as I need more space.

It is well worth it on a variety of levels. more ram = better multitasking. 64 bit apps run faster, even games like crysis which have 64 bit exe's (32bit apps tend to run equal or a few percent slower in a worst case scenario - the OS is a strong state right now and dont read the fud you see on many of the "news" sites).

[kris23]

XP x64 has a couple problems

Vista x64 has even less, i personally like it.