Classic British Flight Sim

The only way a 32bit app in windows can use more than 2GB of system RAM is if you use the /3GB switch. Not the brightest thing to do, and certainly not something every tom dick and harry with a PC should consider doing. Its designed for the Windows Server platforms but also works in the Desktop OS's. Basicly if you have 4 GB of memory, it will change the default behavior of the underlying OS to use 3GB of RAM for Applications (note, all applications, not just one) and reduce kernal memory to 1GB.

If this was a particularly bright move, Microsoft would do it by default, as the switch has existed since Windows 2000 (Albeit slightly different win Win2k, but did the same sort of thing) Also the switch will not work on 64bit systems at all.

Basicly, if you like dabling and have time on your hands and you understand all the consequences, give it a go. If you are a regular computer user, don't bother and trust that all those clever people who have designed the opperating system know best. ;-)

Explanation for the layman please STUPID !!

Okay, so I am running Vista 32 bit with 2 GB of Ram. Are you saying that there is no point installing any more Ram as I had intended as FS will not recognise or use it?
What about other applications, will they use the extra memory?
Somewhere, probably on here, I remember seeing that Vista 32 bit can only handle 3GB. Is that right?

Sorry to sound thick but you experts get off and running into technical arguments and leave the likes of me back at the starting post.

Thanks

Pete

Not thick at all Pete.

If you have 4GB of physical memory and are running Vista 32bit, windows will break the RAM into 2 main sections. 2GB for Applications (including FSX) and 2GB for the system, things like BIOS, Hardware devices, and Graphics cards.

Now... lets say you have a 256MB Graphics card. In Vista, it will allocate the same amount of memory from the system section.

Below is with the /4GT optomisation


Its also worth noting that only applications that have IMAGE_FILE_LARGE_ADDRESS_AWARE set in their image header can use this extra space. It is possible to change the header if an application doesn't have it set, but then you run into all sorts of problems.

So in short, yest you will see much improvement by adding 2 GB of RAM, as both the system portion and the application portion of memory will be the biggest they can be on a Windows 32bit OS. ;-)

Couldn't have put it better myself Ben!!! EricT

Thanks Ben,

I actually think I've got that now.

Another 2 Gb then

Pete

And wuth the SP1 to Vista......4 Gb is now recognised.....!

Re-instsalled everything to day and am checking my settings for the Mem JD....

Now then....Overclocking that CPU...... :think:



Tony