Question about Ram upgrade and operating systems

[captmorgan72]

I am upgrading my ram from 2 gigs to 4 , but I have Xp 32 bit. I have heard that a 32bit os will not use all 4 gigs of ram. So my question is...if I upgrade to Windows 7 64 bit, it will use all 4 gigs right? I am trying to get a cheap upgrade improvement on my old pc. Will the difference be that noticable if noticable at all, if I upgrade or do not upgrade the os?

[thalaw2]

It depends on what software you run if you want to see an increase in performance.  You may even notice a decrease since the computer has more memory to address.  However, 32bit OS's can address over 3G of RAM so you won't lose much much anyway.  If you want to use the full 4G on a 32bit OS then you need to install a RAM DISK program.  This might be the cheapest way to upgrade. 

I did it for my Win7 32bit laptop and I do notice a performance increase.  It works with WINXP too.

[BlueBard]

It's also important to note that not every application will run well on Windows 7 64 bit, especially certain legacy applications.  32 bit drivers are pretty much incompatible with 64 bit Windows and some older games simply will not run.

Mostly, though, you can reinstall 32 bit applications and they'll work just fine.  Occasionally you might need to fiddle with compatibility mode.

It's definitely a vast improvement over Vista, though, and you're running out of time for XP to be supported at all (with Windows Update).  Windows 8 will be released at some point, not sure when, but I think it's close to Beta.

If it were me, I'd seriously consider saving up and buying a new box.  It will come pre-installed with Windows 7, probably 64 bit, and it will have enough RAM to run it.  You can keep your old box around until you get as many legacy apps reinstalled as you can.

[Magnificent]

I am upgrading my ram from 2 gigs to 4 , but I have Xp 32 bit. I have heard that a 32bit os will not use all 4 gigs of ram. So my question is...if I upgrade to Windows 7 64 bit, it will use all 4 gigs right? I am trying to get a cheap upgrade improvement on my old pc. Will the difference be that noticable if noticable at all, if I upgrade or do not upgrade the os?

First off, you can't upgrade from a 32-bit system to a 64-bit system.  You have to do a clean install.  The same goes with going from XP to Win 7 (unless you upgrade from XP to Vista first, but that's only for folks with tons of money to blow on OS's they are just going to upgrade through anyway).

Next:  XP can address all 4 gigs of RAM, but it will set some aside for hardware devices (PCI-E, PCI, etc.) which is why you will see Windows reporting something less than 4GBs (usually you will see somewhere between 2.75GB and 3.5GB available).

Finally, if you're running a processor that is old enough to not be multi-core, you may not be able to use a 64-bit system (it has to be 64-bit capable and not all single cores are).

How much are you looking to spend overall?

[captmorgan72]

I actually sort of regret buying the ram now. I wanted to do a quick, cheap, upgrade, but now I am thinking it was all for naught. It's to late to cancel as the Ram is on its way. I suppose I should see about sending it back when it gets here. My processor is a Athlon 64 x2.

I actually should upgrade almost everything. A new motherboard/processor, powersupply and video card for sure. I would like to spend no more than $400 ideally.

[thalaw2]

You should be able to find a good mobo/cup combo for less than $200 if you go with AMD.  Then use the remainder to buy a pretty decent graphics card.  Of course the cost of new RAM and power supply will have an effect on how decent the graphics card is.