Ugly
Fishy Cool Bird
join:2001-12-12
The Meadow
 ·Comcast
| Good memory + Vista = A bad deal?
Is there a problem with having 4Gb of desktop memory (2Gb x 2) on a desktop motherboard and Vista?
Is this true for all memory? All boards?
What is the current "standard" memory: is it DDR2, 3, what?
The DDR3 1066 MHz or PC3-8500, is THAT backward compatible to a DDR2 board?
If not, then it's looking like the DDR2 (and mobo) are not for this bird.
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Oh, I love the smell of fish. Guts, rotten, it's all good. |
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Jahntassa
What, I can have feathers
Premium
join:2006-04-14
Conway, SC
| said by Ugly  :Is there a problem with having 4Gb of desktop memory (2Gb x 2) on a desktop motherboard and Vista? Is this true for all memory? All boards? As much of a problem as there being 4gb of memory on XP, I believe.
What is the current "standard" memory: is it DDR2, 3, what?
If anything i'd say DDR2. You don't really see DDR3 in many 'mid-range' systems. Perhaps the overpriced 'gamer' PCs, but it's not standard by any means.
The DDR3 1066 MHz or PC3-8500, is THAT backward compatible to a DDR2 board? No, DDR3 is not backwards compatible with DDR2. |
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signmeuptoo
Folding and Crunching Not just Breakfast
Premium
join:2001-11-22
LOSTinSpace
clubs: 
 ·Future Nine Corpor..
 ·AT&T Southeast
| reply to Ugly
ok Mr. Bird:
1: It isn't a "problem" having 4GB of RAM, you CAN install it. However, as you can find out doing a search in this forum, 32 bit operating systems have a 4GB limit with memory "addressing". Now, since part of what is addressed with 4GB of RAM is all of your hardware, such as your video card, you will see significantly less RAM available for actual use, say, 3.4 GB will be available, or even less, due to the hardware addressing on a 32 bit OS.
The solution, then? Run a 64 bit OS. Since there are 64 bits to addressing with such an OS, you can install much more RAM (I forget how much, but it is a lot more) and the RAM will appear available for use. HOWEVER: YOU MUST HAVE A PROCESSOR that WILL WORK WITH A 64 BIT OS. This means that if your system is quite old, you might not have the option.
2: It has nothing to do with the MEMORY sticks themselves, but the CPU and the OS's addressing size (32 or 64 bit).
3: It has nothing to do with the mainboard except as far as which processor works on it.
4: What is the current "standard" memory? Answer: No such thing as a "standard" memory. Older systems use DDR (such as my AMD Athlon 64 Toledo DFI Lanparty Mainboard, which is no longer for sale). MOST current mainboards have chipsets that implement DDR2 (is that what you mean by "standard"?), and such mainboards will ONLY run DDR2 with only a very small few running the old DDR or the latest DDR3, such mainboards are called "hybrid boards" and are generally not the best choice when comparing boards.
Now: Due to the newest Intel and upcoming AMD processors and their respective latest mainboard chipsets, some mainboards will use DDR3 and ONLY DDR3, which is more expensive than DDR2. In fact, such mainboards are for serious enthusiasts with large budgets only.
5: No.
6: What is for you, Mr. Bird, is a board that best suits YOUR needs. The first thing you choose when building a new system is the CPU and respective mainboard CHIPSET! Then you chose a mainboard WITH that CHIPSET that is satisfactory. Then the other parts are chosen in succession.
For instance, Let's say you choose one of the latest or soon to come out new Intel processors, well, you would want to compare chipsets for it, and find a mainboard with said chipset. An example of a chipset is the P45 chipset, go spend some time and read about it, you will learn a lot. Use Google.
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Ugly
Fishy Cool Bird
join:2001-12-12
The Meadow
·Comcast
1 edit | Thank you for that excellent post.
Here is a DDR3 compatible mobo in a very reasonable price range.
With a P45 chipset, so it avoids Nvidia and nForce, which have sometimes been annoying for me.
Do you think this is any good with DDR3? -- It's unclear from the Newegg info if this can handle a 64-bit OS.
All the credible customer reviews (5/6 of them) have been quite good.
One would think there should be more reviews however. -- That is a bit odd.
Best regards, Ugly 
Edit: Yes, this board appears to support 64 bit oS.
• »www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a···13131344
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Oh, I love the smell of fish. Guts, rotten, it's all good. |
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signmeuptoo
Folding and Crunching Not just Breakfast
Premium
join:2001-11-22
LOSTinSpace
clubs: | I believe that board is a nice choice. And yes, it supports a 64 bit OS, since the processor that goes on it is a 64. |
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Ken Peterson
Premium
join:2000-12-08
| reply to Ugly
I think I know what the OP means. I have two Gigabyte Intel P4x motherboards (P43 & P45) and when I run either flavor of Vista or XP (32 or 64 bit) with 4 GB of RAM, the "sleep" function gives me blue screens of death upon restore or soon thereafter. 2 GB of RAM never gives me a problem. I am currently running 4 GB of RAM with Vista 32 and have not seen a BSOD as I use hibernate instead of sleep. |
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Shatter
join:2006-07-24
Waterford, MI
| reply to Ugly
There are still people having problems with 4gb of RAM and 64 bit OS. I have vista 64-bit and often have start up problems booting up with 4gb that I never get if I boot with only 3mb, its a common problem. Yes I have checked the RAM and my system is all new with a 800W power supply. Microsoft offers a patch to fix it but tried it and no dice. Point is you can still have issues with 4gb of RAM and 64 bit OS. |
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Somnambul33t
L33t.
Premium
join:2002-12-05
Mullica Hill, NJ
clubs: | reply to Ugly
i heard rumors of weird issues with 4GBs ram on nivida 700-series motherboards. supposedly these issues were fixed in Vista SP1. |
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