Can't seem to go from 3g to 4g.

[Thomas]

Hello, most thread I notice say that 4 gigs is the min someone should use while boxing 5 characters.

ATM I have a Gateway FX7020. It's the AMD Phenom 9600, 8800GT Nvidia, 3gig DDR2, 500gig HD ect.

I notice that when I put in the "4th" gig since I figured I had a machine that could do it NP with another gig but I noticed it stops at like 3.3 gigs.

So I ask some people I knew and people at best buy ect. and they say that vista 32 bit can't go above 3gig's and I'll need to upgrade to 64bit.

I noticed 64 bit is fairly new and that it's still sort of an unstable OS.

My questions is......... is there a way around this so that my computer will take 4 gigs without upgrading to a 64bit system (which I'll eventually do someday but not atm).

3gig's seems ok to run 5 comps on. It's certainly not ideal and FPS isn't great but I can seem to do fine.

3 gigs ok for now? I'm just leveling up for WotLK rerolling horde so it's not like I'm doing arena or anything.

[homerjunior]

Xp can only run 3.3 gigs

[Thomas]

Xp can only run 3.3 gigsBlah... can 32bit vista run 4 gigs? Or is the 64 jump needed?

[KvdM]

It's a 32-bit limit, which means that 32bit vista can't do it either. You'll either need to switch to xp 64 or vista 64 (or any other 64-bit operating system).

[Thomas]

It's a 32-bit limit, which means that 32bit vista can't do it either. You'll either need to switch to xp 64 or vista 64 (or any other 64-bit operating system).ok 8)

Guess I'll stick with 3 gig's leveling til my work season starts up again.

[Otlecs]

I noticed 64 bit is fairly new and that it's still sort of an unstable OS.

Untrue!

I can't comment on XP64, but Vista64 has proven to be absolutely stable for me, and the upgrade (well, ok, re-installation!) was completely pain free.

So long as you can find drivers for all your hardware (and you will if your machines less than a couple of years old, with mainstream supplier components), it's a walk in the park.

[HPAVC]

I can't comment on XP64, but Vista64 has proven to be absolutely stable for me, and the upgrade (well, ok, re-installation!) was completely pain free. So long as you can find drivers for all your hardware (and you will if your machines less than a couple of years old, with mainstream supplier components), it's a walk in the park. Its still unsupported for WoW right? Though I see people running it and getting blue post responses for their issues in the WoW forums.

[Otlecs]

Interesting point, and not one I'd really considered. Yes, I guess it's technically unsupported but in the real world it... a) works fine, and b) seems to get support from the Blues.

:thumbsup:

[Crucial]

I notice you have a 9600 Phenom as well... if you install Vista SP1 on either 32bit or 64bit, just be aware that the TLB fix on that processor will be enabled whether you want it or not. And that means really bad FPS.

Check out this thread: Vista x64 Very Slow ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=10402')

[Thomas]

I notice you have a 9600 Phenom as well... if you install Vista SP1 on either 32bit or 64bit, just be aware that the TLB fix on that processor will be enabled whether you want it or not. And that means really bad FPS.

Check out this thread: Vista x64 Very Slow ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=10402')Almost scares me out of upgrading :(

Although I'll need to someday because it will be tough to play well without the ram boost.

Hopefully w/e the problem is will be fixed soon :(

[Crucial]

I notice you have a 9600 Phenom as well... if you install Vista SP1 on either 32bit or 64bit, just be aware that the TLB fix on that processor will be enabled whether you want it or not. And that means really bad FPS.

Check out this thread: Vista x64 Very Slow ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=10402')Almost scares me out of upgrading :(

Although I'll need to someday because it will be tough to play well without the ram boost.

Hopefully w/e the problem is will be fixed soon :(Any processor with xx50 on the end means its fixed. 9850 etc.

[Drakkun]

Two suggestions for you.

1) Do a Google search on the 3 GB switch for windows. It allows applications to use more of the 3.3 GB of memory. It may help.

2) Vista lets you add a USB drive to use for swap space instead of your hard drive. This can help speed up the virtual memory because USB flash memory is faster than a hard drive. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/readyboost.aspx

[Coltimar]

I have used every flavor of Vista and 64 Ultimate is far and away the best. Leaps and bounds more stable than even any of the 32 bit versions.

[Mac]

is it a straight upgrade from xp to vista 64 ?

[wowphreak]

32bit limit IS 4 gigs has always been will always be.

Dont use /3gb switch because that for something else.

If yer not seeing all 4 gigs its not because XP cant see, use it or what not.
Its because its actually being used and I bet yeh donut to dollar its yer graphics card thats sucking up most of it.

aint readyboost like some kind of running joke?

[sikerdebaard]

[..]
2) Vista lets you add a USB drive to use for swap space instead of your hard drive. This can help speed up the virtual memory because USB flash memory is faster than a hard drive. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/readyboost.aspxNot at all. Most cheap USB-sticks wont go above 6 MB/s, the more expensive ones above 25 MB/s. Even the aged IDE-Bus has a higher troughput (up to 133 MB/s.)

[..]

aint readyboost like some kind of running joke?You'll have to make a line between Readybooster and Readydrive. Readybooster basicaly turns any flash-like memory card / stick into a disk cache.
Readydrive is basicaly a piece of software to store hybernate files (standby/hybernate) and prefetch data on a flash / memory card to speed up the boot process.

[Otlecs]

>is it a straight upgrade from xp to vista 64 ?

No. Upgrading from anything (including Vista32) to Vista64 is a complete reinstallation.

It was painless for me though.

[mikekim]

I've got Vista Ultimate 64 and Home Premium 64 running on both my machines at home.
these are both perfectly stable with no issues at at, in fact the only problem I had was when I first installed Ultimate (about a year ago) there was an issue with installing from DVD with 4GB (needed a hotfix) after initial installation with only 2GB. Home premium was installed about a month ago and the DVD was "slipstreamed" with SP1 already and I had it up and running from a fresh install to full patched in a couple of hours. I still have the original HD's with XP on incase i need them (they are sitting on the shelf collecting dust).
as for performance... i get between 40-110 fps on each OS running wow, boot speed is quicker than XP, draw your own conclusions from that (machines are Q6600, 4GB Ram, 8800ultaXT (ultimate) / GTX260 (home premium))

[aNiMaL]

Running Ultimate Vista 64 and I got no trouble with it,
I just have to disable the aero theme because of some driver issue with my videocard (atikmdag crashes)

I've heard (but can't find confirmation atm) Vista 32 got it's 4gig support in SP1,
it can allocate 4gig, but if you have1 gig on your videocard it has to allocate that aswell, so in the end only the ~3 gig ram works.

[EDIT] tss, tssk, videocards with 4gig :s I've been working to long today

[Otlecs]

I've heard (but can't find confirmation atm) Vista 32 got it's 4gig support in SP1,
This is correct. It reports the correct amount of installed memory, but still only has the "old" amount available for use (3.nGB).

[zanthor]

I notice you have a 9600 Phenom as well... if you install Vista SP1 on either 32bit or 64bit, just be aware that the TLB fix on that processor will be enabled whether you want it or not. And that means really bad FPS.

Check out this thread: Vista x64 Very Slow ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=10402')You can find tools that disable the TLB erratta.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/FORUMS/showthread.php?t=180338

32 bit windows are NOT locked at 3.3gb of ram, they can address up to 4gb of ram, however since every device in your computer requires a memory address you generally see around 3.1-3.4gb available memory in a 32 bit os.

That said, you don't need more than 3.2gb of ram for multiboxing. I don't run what would be considered a "light" ui, I don't run with settings stripped down, and I run Vista 32 bit with 4gb of ram.

http://www.botbh.com/zimg/Shattrah-quad.jpg
Notice all the crap I'm running, under 100% memory usage with 5 copies running in Shattrah.

Would more be nice? Yes, it would give me a buffer, however it's far from a requirement, and to gain 800mb of ram i certainly wouldn't spend the money on a 64 bit upgrade.

[Wilbur]

Pirates Arrgg.

[Thulos]

On my XP 32 machine I'm only showing about 2.88gb of useable memory with only a 512mb video card installed. Really would love to figure out what devices are eating into my available memory because 1.12gb of memory allocated to devices seems like a whole lot. Hopefully my fresh Vista 64 Ultimate install will solve the issues.