Comments on: Windows on x86 and 4GB of RAM http://blog.codef00.com/2007/12/19/windows-on-x86-and-4gb-of-ram/ Just some thoughts from a computer geek Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:32:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Chris http://blog.codef00.com/2007/12/19/windows-on-x86-and-4gb-of-ram/comment-page-1/#comment-506 Chris Wed, 26 Aug 2009 05:08:50 +0000 http://www.blog.codef00.com/2007/12/19/windows-on-x86-and-4gb-of-ram/#comment-506 Time to switch to Linux :) Time to switch to Linux :)

]]> By: Evan Teran http://blog.codef00.com/2007/12/19/windows-on-x86-and-4gb-of-ram/comment-page-1/#comment-503 Evan Teran Sat, 16 May 2009 02:38:18 +0000 http://www.blog.codef00.com/2007/12/19/windows-on-x86-and-4gb-of-ram/#comment-503 The answer is "it depends" as you can see from this page: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778.aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_server_2008, Microsoft has imposed different limitations based on which version of windows server you have. It appears that the 32-bit version of Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition does infact support 64GB of RAM. Yes it is due to PAE, pretty much every newer mobo and cpu support this. However, your observation is correct. Memory mapped devices do in fact take away a small chunk of this. The big difference is that something like 512MB (or likely less, why does a server need a good video card) is not a significant portion of 64GB. Additionally, as I mentioned in the blog, this 64GB applies to physical memory, not virtual memory. So the big gain is that you will be able to run processes and the OS can cache more (read avoid disk usage) without resorting to paging. If an individual process needs more than 4GB then, you will need to use a 64GB OS. The answer is “it depends” as you can see from this page: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778.aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_server_2008, Microsoft has imposed different limitations based on which version of windows server you have. It appears that the 32-bit version of Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition does infact support 64GB of RAM. Yes it is due to PAE, pretty much every newer mobo and cpu support this.

However, your observation is correct. Memory mapped devices do in fact take away a small chunk of this. The big difference is that something like 512MB (or likely less, why does a server need a good video card) is not a significant portion of 64GB.

Additionally, as I mentioned in the blog, this 64GB applies to physical memory, not virtual memory.

So the big gain is that you will be able to run processes and the OS can cache more (read avoid disk usage) without resorting to paging. If an individual process needs more than 4GB then, you will need to use a 64GB OS.

]]> By: CrashCoder http://blog.codef00.com/2007/12/19/windows-on-x86-and-4gb-of-ram/comment-page-1/#comment-502 CrashCoder Sat, 16 May 2009 02:28:07 +0000 http://www.blog.codef00.com/2007/12/19/windows-on-x86-and-4gb-of-ram/#comment-502 Nice article. Please discuss the implications for servers, e.g. Does an x86 based implementation of 32-bit Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition really support 64GB? If so, is it due to PAE or some other technology? Do memory mapped devices reduce the amount of useable RAM when 64GB are installed? Nice article. Please discuss the implications for servers, e.g. Does an x86 based implementation of 32-bit Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition really support 64GB? If so, is it due to PAE or some other technology? Do memory mapped devices reduce the amount of useable RAM when 64GB are installed?

]]> By: Micro-optimization is stupid « Evan Teran’s Blog http://blog.codef00.com/2007/12/19/windows-on-x86-and-4gb-of-ram/comment-page-1/#comment-491 Micro-optimization is stupid « Evan Teran’s Blog Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:52:56 +0000 http://www.blog.codef00.com/2007/12/19/windows-on-x86-and-4gb-of-ram/#comment-491 [...] I tend to frequent the website stackoverflow.com. It’s a fantastic website. It allows knowlege to be shared in a unique way. The only problem is, some people have no idea what they are talking about. If there are enough people who agree with these misguided notions, well then these incorrect answers get up-votes. And the cycle of mis-information repeats. It isn’t too dissimilar from the various types of incorrect information regarding 32-bit machines and 4GB of RAM. [...] [...] I tend to frequent the website stackoverflow.com. It’s a fantastic website. It allows knowlege to be shared in a unique way. The only problem is, some people have no idea what they are talking about. If there are enough people who agree with these misguided notions, well then these incorrect answers get up-votes. And the cycle of mis-information repeats. It isn’t too dissimilar from the various types of incorrect information regarding 32-bit machines and 4GB of RAM. [...]

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