9800 GX2 problem?

bohemianbeatle

Hi again guys. I just got the 9800 GX2 (ASUS EN9800GX2), the problem is that my OS (XP 32 bit) will only recognize 2 Gbs of RAM when i have 4Gbs. I know 32 bit OS systems will not recognize all 4 gb's, but before i got this card i used to have a 8800 GTS 640 mb and my system would recognize 2.99 gb's RAM. If I enable memory remap feature in BIOS it will recognize 4 gb when it boots, but on windows it only recognizes 2gbs as well.

Is it possible that the new video card is causing this?

thanx a lot!

Nachbrenner

check the /3GB switch with MSCONFIG.EXE

Zelig

Yes, it's probable that the new video card could cause this. It's a function of 32-bit operating systems, all the memory from system devices must be mapped within the first 4GB, so the bigger your video cards, so less usable memory you get.

bohemianbeatle

Rite, how can I do that?

Tipstaff

Why do people keep recommending that you enable the /3GB switch in the boot.ini? XP SP2 does see 4GB, it just includes your overall system memory in that 4GB (including your video memory). The switch has nothing to do with the physical memory you have in your system. It's only intended to allow an application to address more memory than what is assigned by the default user-mode spacing (1/2 your ram) by taking away space from the kernel mode spacing (the other 1/2). By enabling the /3GB switch on a system with 4GB you increase the user-mode space to 3GB, but you also halve the memory spacing put aside for the kernel from 2GB to 1GB. Well, guess what? Your hardware gets it's mapped space from that kernel mode space, of which is the last 3GB-4GB of memory. In fact, your video cards memory (and other device drivers) is included, or rather mapped in that last 3GB-4GB of space (and if you have an AGP system, the AGP appreture is included in there too). Steal from the hardware to give to the software running on that hardware? Nice idea.

IF you insist on using the /3GB switch, here's what you do. In your boot.ini file you will see a line that says:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="Microso ft Windows Server 2003" /fastdetect

What you do is add /3GB to the end, and reboot your machine. But, like I said, this will assign 3GB to the user-mode (what will be available to applications), and take away memory from the kernel.

What people don't tell you is that you SHOULD also define how much is taken up by the user-mode, and you can do that by adding another switch to define the memory used by it, which is /Userva=xxxx . I would, however, suggest first adjusting your systems page file. If you had the same amount of ram in your system when you installed the OS the default maximum page file size is something like 1.5GB. Since the kernel is able to page things into memory it's most likely that the page file is too small. So, I would first try increasing that amount to 3GB, reboot, and see what's available. After that, if you still want to try the /3GB switch, then try adjusting the /Userva=xxxx switch by setting an amount such as 2900 or 2500 (that would assign the kernel 1.1GB or 1.5GB of system memory respectively). So, this is what you would have:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="Microso ft Windows Server 2003" /fastdetect /3GB /Userva=2900

BTW, this whole /3GB switching thing, it's not going to get you anything really. Your only real option in order to get, and use that 4GB of memory, and not have to sacrifice some of it to use that nice 1GB video card is to go with a 64bit operating system (which also means you need to have a CPU that supports 64bit operations... some people forget that part).

bohemianbeatle

Ok thanx for the advice. looks like ill have to get a 64bit OS sooner or later, altho im not very fond of Vista and ive heard that 64bit XP has some compatibility issues with some software.

Anyway, thanx a lot!