Poll: Too Much RAM?

[Rahb]

I don't know if this is true but I thought I saw this in a magizine somewhere. That you can only use X mbs of ram in your computer. Lets just say 256 before the level of performance is no longer increased? I don't know if there is any true to this because I know that server computers have at least a gig. BTW I am talking on a gamers computer set up.

 

[XMan]

It depends on how much memory the chipset can address.

Older Socket 7 systems could only handle 256MB or 512MB of memory depending on L2 cache sizes. It was possible to install additional memory, but performance was degraded.

Most current chipsets can cache a gig or more of memory, so it's difficult to hit the limit.

I believe 32-bit operating systems have a 4-gigabyte memory limit, however. This is where 64-bit computing will help out a lot.

 

[bjc112]

that is true in 98... it says it can take up to 2gb... but some people said they hit problems over 512.. "some"

but in 2k or Xp... i think its like 5 or so?????

either way.. my motto is you can never have toooooooo much ram.. i am going to 768 in about 1 week!

 

[AndyHui]

Yes, you can have too much RAM. WILL YOU ALL PLEASE READ THE FAQ:

FAQ: What is the maximum amount of RAM for Windows?.

All 32-bit Windows versions (apart from Win2K AS and DC) can ADDRESS up to 4GB of RAM.

Win2K Advanced Server supports up to 8GB of RAM and Win2K DataCenter can support up to 64GB of RAM.

Windows 95, Windows 98, 98SE and Millennium Edition can only physically ACCESS a maximum of 2GB of RAM.

Win9x/ME can go up to 512MB of RAM before it requires an adjustment to the vcache to use more RAM.

For more information regarding the 512MB limit and the workaround, see this article.

Then you have hardware limitations.

Most of the Pentium chipsets, 430VX, 430TX for example, can only cache up to 64MB of RAM. That means for those systems, you may have poor performance with more than 64MB of RAM.

Similarly the Klamath Pentium II (233, 266, 300) can only cache up to 512MB of RAM. Any more and you lose performance.

Chipsets can also limit you: the 440EX and 440LX chipset can only have a maximum of 256MB of RAM.

The i810, i810E, i810E2, i815(E/P/B/G) chipsets all have a maximum of 512MB of RAM.

 

[bjc112]

pretty close...