64-bit OS, 32-bit app - RAM???

MasterP · 21-August-07, 09:40 PM

Hi peeps... am in a bit of a quandary

I'm looking at possibly moving to a 64 bit OS in order to get the benefits of being able to address more RAM than the standard 3(ish) Gigs that a 32-bit OS can support (I'm going to be doing a lot more serious video/effects work).

Here's my question though - If I have a 64 bit OS (with say 8GB RAM), running a 32 bit application, will that application be able to utilize more than 3 GB's worth of memory?

I have an inkling that the OS allocates the RAM, so I believe it will work
...But I'd like to hear opinions from the experts on this

Twizted · 21-August-07, 11:47 PM

you know, that is a good question.. I will have to watch whats going on with my ram on my other monitor when I am running somehting like Supreme Commander...

eascarface · 22-August-07, 01:43 AM

Anandtech's been wandering about this too so he wrote up 3 articles about which ought to awnser most of your questions better than me.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Snake2Snipe · 22-August-07, 01:45 PM

Great articles there eascarface +rep.
MasterP they definitely answer your question very well, and basically it depends on the application. In a short summery of the articles 32-bit applications still have the limitation of 32-bit addressing; if they are large address aware then they have a 4 GB limit, if not then they have a 2 GB limit. Read the article if you really want to understand it better.

MasterP · 22-August-07, 04:42 PM

eascarface - sweet find! thanks for sharing dude

(can't rep ya until I spread some more rep around though)

Snake2Snipe - thanks SO much for summerizing all of that gobbledegook into smaller words (for the likes of me!)

21-August-07, 09:40 PM		#1 (permalink)
MasterP Da' Thunda' From Down Unda'	64-bit OS, 32-bit app - RAM??? Hi peeps... am in a bit of a quandary I'm looking at possibly moving to a 64 bit OS in order to get the benefits of being able to address more RAM than the standard 3(ish) Gigs that a 32-bit OS can support (I'm going to be doing a lot more serious video/effects work). Here's my question though - If I have a 64 bit OS (with say 8GB RAM), running a 32 bit application, will that application be able to utilize more than 3 GB's worth of memory? I have an inkling that the OS allocates the RAM, so I believe it will work ...But I'd like to hear opinions from the experts on this

21-August-07, 11:47 PM		#2 (permalink)
Twizted Editor/Reviewer/LED Guru	Re: 64-bit OS, 32-bit app - RAM??? you know, that is a good question.. I will have to watch whats going on with my ram on my other monitor when I am running somehting like Supreme Commander...

22-August-07, 01:43 AM		#3 (permalink)
eascarface Apex Tech God	Re: 64-bit OS, 32-bit app - RAM??? Anandtech's been wandering about this too so he wrote up 3 articles about which ought to awnser most of your questions better than me. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

22-August-07, 01:45 PM		#4 (permalink)
Snake2Snipe Apex Master Tech Apprentice	Re: 64-bit OS, 32-bit app - RAM??? Great articles there eascarface +rep. MasterP they definitely answer your question very well, and basically it depends on the application. In a short summery of the articles 32-bit applications still have the limitation of 32-bit addressing; if they are large address aware then they have a 4 GB limit, if not then they have a 2 GB limit. Read the article if you really want to understand it better.

22-August-07, 04:42 PM		#5 (permalink)
MasterP Da' Thunda' From Down Unda'	Re: 64-bit OS, 32-bit app - RAM??? eascarface - sweet find! thanks for sharing dude (can't rep ya until I spread some more rep around though) Snake2Snipe - thanks SO much for summerizing all of that gobbledegook into smaller words (for the likes of me!)

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