Thinkpads Forum

Well? I'm thinking about upgrading from 2GB to 3GB or 4GB. I KNOW that XP can't see or use 4GB. The question again - Will I notice any difference?

I did. the extra gb only helped in photoshop.

3GB would be overkill for Windows XP if you don't use CAD or graphics intensive tools.

Well, I do Audio, so I know extra RAM would help. I read somewhere that most APPS in XP can only utilize 2GB. Is this true? There was some switch (NOT the PAE, which I assume is for the entire system) that will allow programs to use more than 2GB.

I'm not sure if this something done in the registry, or if this will make programs go haywire, but it'd be nice if the apps could take advantage of the extra RAM, even IF limit on XP 32 Bit is 3GB.

One more question. If you INSTALL 4GB, even THOUGH XP can't see 4GB, would XP see some of the RAM BETWEEN 3 and 4GB? Like would it see 3.5GB or just 3GB?

Thanks . . . . .

epu wrote:would XP see some of the RAM BETWEEN 3 and 4GB? Like would it see 3.5GB or just 3GB?

I believe it sees a little more than 3GB, like 3.25GB.

Everyone says "overkill" . . . . . Why would "overkill" be bad ? . . . .

epu wrote:Why would "overkill" be bad ? . . . .

1) I've read that two sticks of RAM uses slightly more power than one.

2) Two sticks of RAM weighs about 0.02 lb more than one.

3) If you don't need 4GB, why spend the extra money to upgrade to 4GB.

If I had an X60/61, I would get one stick of 2GB RAM and leave the other slot empty, to improve battery life, minimize weight, and save $30.

I'd assume the same thing about the extra RAM drawing power. It makes sense. My X61 came from the factory with two sticks of 1GB, so I'd be spending a little extra on one 2GB stick. I'd settle for the 3GB of RAM.

I need to find out how to let an application see more than 2GB of RAM for itself. It'd make no sense to upgrade if the APPLICATIONS themselves can't see over 2GB.

As an example, I run a couple of Audio applications that use plug-ins that could definitely take advantage of extra RAM, like Software Synthesizers, Samplers and Reverb plugs.

I put in 4Gb, my X60 (XP 32bit) only saw 3Gb, not even a little bit extra. So I swaped one chip for a 1Gb.
I use 500Mb as a RAM disk (useful for graphics swap file, temp internet files etc) so Photoshop still only has 2Gb (effectively) to play with.

So the RAM drive uses up the amount of space you specify WITHIN the amount of RAM seen by XP? So like if you have 3GB in XP, you could only set an amount of RAM for your RAM drive within the 3GB?

If you put 4GB (of which XP could only see 3GB), you couldn't set the extra RAM that XP couldn't see as the RAM Drive . . . . . .

Hi epu, yes it comes out of the 3Gb so the OS and apps only have 2.5gb to play with but I rarely hit the limit even with Photoshop so benefits outweigh negatives and yes, it would be great if the 'spare' 1gb area could be used as a Ramdisk or something.
In the original XT/AT computers there was software to allow the used of expanded/extended memory which was to counteract the 640Kb (not a typo!!) limit and allow you to page data in/out of otherwise unaccesible memory in the "forbidden zone" (memory addressed between 640k and 1meg) . Seems like we're hitting the same limitations that Intel imposed in the 80's due to the 'who'd ever need/want that much memory' mentality. Hopefully the newer 64bit systems are that limited

I have 3GB (laptop under repair) It came with 1GB

No noticeable difference unless you start opening apps like Photoshop or Fireworks.

For video editing, it requires more processing power than ram to convert files to dvd.