hdood Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Well, losing the page file isn't an issue as its contents can't be reused after a reboot anyway (and might even be zeroed out depending on your settings). The only issue is that you're basically just making X gigabytes of the available memory (the part that resides in the page file) slower because it now has to go through several layers before hitting the actual RAM. RAM disks do have a use, but it's not for hosting a page file, and I've never understood why these people don't just disable it. There must be some site out there giving out inane advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePitt Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 No one is lying or making excuses its a physical limit that can't be worked around. Just the same as there being a limit on 64Bit though it is 16.8 Million TB so we won't be hitting that any time soon. However we first have to up the address bus to 64Bit before we can take advantage of that, I believe the current limit is 48Bit so we can only access 2^48 of the 2^64Bit available. Actually 2003 recognize 4GB on x86 (/3GB)... Now if they are "sharing" the videomemory (which is for now "impossible", note the quotes) is another story. Anyhow should show the main memory installed (4GB) + the video... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdood Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 Actually 2003 recognize 4GB on x86 (/3GB)... Server 2003. The restriction applies only to the client editions, because the compatibility problems aren't considered as relevant on the server line. As for the /3GB switch, its sole purpose is to split the address space into 3GB process, 1GB kernel instead of the 2/2GB that is normal. It also requires that programs are specifically programmed to use it, which most aren't. In most scenarios it should be left well alone, and is a legacy option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Ba'al Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 so does this mean that 32bit now will recognize "all" of your 4gb of ram? if so i guess i really don't need x64 as all i currently have is 4gb in my system. It only *recognises* it, nothing more. It will still only have 3GB usable, as seen in the screenshot above. This is a general limitation of 3s-bit OSes, not limited to Windows. If you do want to use your full 4GB, then you *must* use x64, no way around it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdood Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 I don't know why that keeps being claimed. It's only an issue with Windows, and is partly for compatibility reasons and partly for licensing reasons. Other modern 32-bit OSes like Linux and Mac OS X can use 4GB and more with no issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kheldorin Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 I don't know why that keeps being claimed. It's only an issue with Windows, and is partly for compatibility reasons and partly for licensing reasons. Other modern 32-bit OSes like Linux and Mac OS X can use 4GB and more with no issue. Because people still see PAE as a work-around to the 4GB limit and that a 64-bit OS is the proper solution? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdood Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Yes, a "workaround" that... lets you use 4GB+ on a 32-bit OS. The claim that it's an architectural limit is wrong, plain and simple. It's all Windows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kheldorin Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Yes, a "workaround" that... lets you use 4GB+ on a 32-bit OS.The claim that it's an architectural limit is wrong, plain and simple. It's all Windows. Depends on how you look at it I guess. I could say that IPv4 introduces a limit in IP addresses and IPv6 would be the solution. But if I use NAT to introduce an extra level of indirection then I could "work around" the IP address limit. Similarly, PAE needs an extra level of indirection to translate to an address space bigger than 4GB. Whatever it is, 64-bit OS is still the superior solution and if the current Windows implementation pushes the adoption of 64-bit OS, then it's better for everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stockwiz Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 doesn't windows create a page file even if you disable it? If so, it wouldn't hurt to create 2 GB page file on a 2GB ramdisk if you're a security nut and want to make sure no sensitive information gets paged to disk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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