New RAM not showing up in XP

Actually, 32-bit OS' can't see more than 3GB.

ilovgoogle said:

Are you sure? I thought the max was 4gig? Leopard is 32 BIT and it sees it.

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Leopard is 64-bit.

ilovgoogle said:

For some reason the 4gigs of RAM I got (see here: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/53C4DDR2P4GB/) is showing up as 2.99 gigs inside of XP. Leopard shows it as 4. Windows XP is 32 BIT but with 4gigs that should not be a problem. I can't imagine Windows eating a gig either, I mean 1 entire gig is different from .10. Problem is I really need it for XP but rather then OSX to play Crysis. Thanks for any help!

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Same thing on my XP...

Tallest Skil said:

Actually, 32-bit OS' can't see more than 3GB.

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No, just 32-bit Windows has that limit.

32-bit Linux and Tiger work just fine with 4GB.

Cassie said:

Wait, then does that mean most G4 processors are 64-bit capable? [/obvious question]

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No, G4s are 32-bit, G5s are 64-bit, Core Duos are 32-bit, Core 2 Duos are 64-bit, Leopard is both.

My recommendation is installing Vista 64-bit. I use it, it is great. Way better than XP.

Cassie said:

Wait, then does that mean most G4 processors are 64-bit capable? [/obvious question]

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Um... Hmm... I remember the original PowerMac G5 being marketed as the first 64-bit chip... but...

Okay, let's see here. They're marketing Snow Leopard as the first true 64-bit OS. That probably means that only 64-bit Intel chips will run it, regardless of the G5's capabilities...

So Leopard (and Tiger) must be dually-compatible? Something like that.

Yeah, The General is all over this. Kudos.

Same issue happens if you put the 4GBs in a Windows machine (as in not-Apple designed motherboard) with 32bit XP or 32bit Vista, even with 64bit CPU, you see 3-3.4GBs. The OS allows mappping the higher part of the memory for addressing the subsystems.

Yeah. I have 4GB in my MacBook as well, and my 32 bit XP only sees 2.96GB out of my 4GB total. I have a preinstall of 64 bit Vista Home Premium (WinClone image) and when I have a larger HDD I'm going to restore it (I hope for a 500 GB SATA drive for my bday.). When you install Vista HP it takes up 10GB+ before BootCamp drivers and Windows Updates. I actually turned off updates and I deleted the ones that already downloaded, but weren't installed.

So ya, you're not gonna get more than 3 GB on 32 bit XP or Vista.

drmemory said:

Same issue happens if you put the 4GBs in a Windows machine (as in not-Apple designed motherboard) with 32bit XP or 32bit Vista, even with 64bit CPU, you see 3-3.4GBs. The OS allows mappping the higher part of the memory for addressing the subsystems.

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Really? My Vista Home Premium x64 (given on Apple hardware, but still) sees 3.96 GB before SP1, and after SP1 it sees all the 4GB.

Strange...

ShiggyMiyamoto said:

Really? My Vista Home Premium x64 (given on Apple hardware, but still) sees 3.96 GB before SP1, and after SP1 it sees all the 4GB.

Strange...

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That's because you're running a 64-bit version of Windows Vista which supports more than 4GB of RAM. My guess is that in SP1 they just made it round up to 4GB from 3.96GB when showing how much RAM you have.

The General said:

That's because you're running a 64-bit version of Windows Vista which supports more than 4GB of RAM. My guess is that in SP1 they just made it round up to 4GB from 3.96GB when showing how much RAM you have.

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Hmm Yeah. Probably. Remember though, I'm not running it at the moment. I have it installed, though cloned to an image for when I have enough HDD space for it.

Tallest Skil said:

Um... Hmm... I remember the original PowerMac G5 being marketed as the first 64-bit chip... but...

Okay, let's see here. They're marketing Snow Leopard as the first true 64-bit OS. That probably means that only 64-bit Intel chips will run it, regardless of the G5's capabilities...

So Leopard (and Tiger) must be dually-compatible? Something like that.

Yeah, The General is all over this. Kudos.

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Cassie was talking about G4...

And are you saying that Snow Leopard won't run on Core Duos? >.>

eXan said:

Cassie was talking about G4...

And are you saying that Snow Leopard won't run on Core Duos? >.>

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My guess is that the 64 bit portion of Snow Leopard will be FULLY 64 bit (one of the things that isn't cocoa is Finder, that's still written in Carbon (correct me if I'm wrong).

All 32-bit OS's can address 4 gigs of ram WHICH INCLUDES GPU ram as well as another component that uses some sort of memory (I forget what it is) and then the system random access memory.

Vista 32-bit will recognize whatever is installed but only use what it can (which is dependent on how much GPU memory you have. XP 32-bit will only recognize only what can be used.

Leopard is BOTH 64-bit and 32-bit and can address what a pure 64-bit OS can address, such as anything greater than 2.98-4 gigs.

Snow Leopard will be a pure 64-bit OS, or so we are told.

yeah dude i'm in the same boat as you. got 4 gigs in my imac for crysis!!! wowowowo best game ever and it only sees 2.96. wishi i could get a better video card

erikpmort said:

yeah dude i'm in the same boat as you. got 4 gigs in my imac for crysis!!! wowowowo best game ever and it only sees 2.96. wishi i could get a better video card

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Yeah that's because likely you're using a 32 bit XP/Vista. If you had a 64 bit OS then you'd be able to utilize all the RAM.

There's something else going on with the Macbook Pro not showing (or using) the full amount of ram possible. I'm only showing 3GB in XP. I wonder if the the fact that there is 768mb total video ram has something to do with the shortage?