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djhspawn

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 15, 2006
69
0
so...... I added an extra 2gbs of ram to the MP today. Everything looks great in OSX, but windows I have the following specs. Anyone know why? Pics attached.
 

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Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
21,003
4,582
New Zealand
Hmm, not sure. I have an extra GB (will take me to 3) on its way but I expect it won't arrive until the new year.
 

contoursvt

macrumors 6502a
Jul 22, 2005
832
0
Is this via bootcamp or parallels? If so, I thought parallels was limited to 2GB.

As for bootcamp, I'd guess it should be just like vista32 bit native which should see 3.x GB RAM.
 

taylorwilsdon

macrumors 68000
Nov 16, 2006
1,868
12
New York City
32 bit XP should display about 3.3gb RAM in optimal situations. Something looks to be fishy there. Do you have some heavy-duty system devices (pci cards for music, fast video cards etc) that might be clogging up the 32 bit address space?
 

jonnysods

macrumors G3
Sep 20, 2006
8,624
7,182
There & Back Again
Strange

There might be more to your issue than the 32-bit deal - I have 3gb on my MBP and Windows recognizes it fine. I wish I had an SR laptop though - I would love the full 4.
 

exabytes18

macrumors 6502
Jun 14, 2006
287
0
Suburb of Chicago
There's nothing wrong. Windows XP 32 bit is limited to addressing only 4GB of memory. This doesn't mean that it will see all 4GB of RAM in your computer. Graphics cards, other PCI cards with built-in memory, and the page file (or whatever the virtual memory is called) are all included in that 4GB.

So at the end of the day, Windows only has enough addressing space left for roughly 2GB in your case.
 

splashtech

macrumors regular
Oct 25, 2007
151
0
...and the page file (or whatever the virtual memory is called) are all included in that 4GB.

This is incorrect. The page file is not included in this. The figure quoted in the system properties on XP/Vista/etc is only the physical memory (RAM) in the PC (or virtual PC).

More on virtual memory (page file): link. :)
 

djhspawn

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 15, 2006
69
0
Is this via bootcamp or parallels? If so, I thought parallels was limited to 2GB.

As for bootcamp, I'd guess it should be just like vista32 bit native which should see 3.x GB RAM.

I am using bootcamp.

So with vista 32bit it would see 3gbs?
 

exabytes18

macrumors 6502
Jun 14, 2006
287
0
Suburb of Chicago
This is incorrect. The page file is not included in this. The figure quoted in the system properties on XP/Vista/etc is only the physical memory (RAM) in the PC (or virtual PC).

More on virtual memory (page file): link. :)

Right, I know that the system properties is reporting the physical memory in use. I was just throwing the thought out there that some part of those 4GB (max for 32-bit windows) is reserved for the page file.

Since you seem to know enough about this, care to explain exactly what's using the rest of the address space?
 

Consultant

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,314
36
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx
"The maximum amount of memory that can be supported on Windows XP Professional is 4GB". So perhaps XP Home only supports 2gb even on wintels.

However, someone mentioned:
"32-Bit versions of Microsoft Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional will not utilize more than 2GB of RAM on the Mac Pro. You must use a 64-bit version of Windows to utilize more than 2GB of memory on this system."

However at this time BootCamp does not have drivers for 64-bit windows.

If that's true that is a problem. If it's a problem it'll be time to write to
http://www.apple.com/feedback/
 

splashtech

macrumors regular
Oct 25, 2007
151
0
Right, I know that the system properties is reporting the physical memory in use. I was just throwing the thought out there that some part of those 4GB (max for 32-bit windows) is reserved for the page file.
Sorry - I dont think I made myself clear. The page file is not "reserved". It is in fact a file on the hard disk and will not be reserved in any way from physical RAM (or the hard disk even which can cause issues if it needs to grow - but that's another story! :eek:) I wasn't crapping on you or your post at all, I just wanted to ensure the OP received the correct info :)

Since you seem to know enough about this, care to explain exactly what's using the rest of the address space?
I am surprised to see that myself, I (like others here) also expected it to show as 3.3(ish) GB or 4GB. I've had 4GB in a PC and win32bit saw it as 3.3 or so in a machine at work. It should not only be seeing 2GB. But I dont know why so it's a bit of a mystery. However as some other posters have mentioned, this does seem to be a specific problem, not a general windows deficiency.
 

HLdan

macrumors 603
Aug 22, 2007
6,383
0
It depends on how the ram configuration in his Mac Pro is set up. The memory is installed in pairs. If the OP reads this could you tell us how your ram is configured?
You have 4GB, is it (2) 2GB sticks or (4) 512MB sticks?
 

djhspawn

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 15, 2006
69
0
It depends on how the ram configuration in his Mac Pro is set up. The memory is installed in pairs. If the OP reads this could you tell us how your ram is configured?
You have 4GB, is it (2) 2GB sticks or (4) 512MB sticks?

The configuration is as follows:

first riser: 4 x 512mb
second riser: 2 x 1gb
 

Jasonbot

macrumors 68020
Aug 15, 2006
2,467
0
The Rainbow Nation RSA
HLdan said:
It depends on how the ram configuration in his Mac Pro is set up. The memory is installed in pairs. If the OP reads this could you tell us how your ram is configured?
You have 4GB, is it (2) 2GB sticks or (4) 512MB sticks?

Last time I check 4*512=±2Gb... :rolleyes:
 
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