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re: How much RAM to add? Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 8:52 pm Posted by Adam Bradley (8186 messages posted) You likely can, if you need to is another matter, XP will run fine on 512 or so under normal day to day use. Why do you want to add RAM? Adding RAM is rather simple on a desktop PC and if you are somewhat familiar with the how a computer fits together you can snap it in without a problem. If you are not familiar with the insides it is still not to hard, RAM comes in a few types, the major types are pictured here. Your board likely does have spare slots but it is easy to check. If you open the case you can see the existing RAM installed and see if it has any spare slots around it. Like most modern computer connections they cannot be installed backwards unless you actually try to, just make sure they snap in all the way but do not be to forceful about it. Buying the RAM is where it gets a little tricky, go to crucial and hit the memory upgrades section or kingston and use the model selector, you can pick out the system type you have to get the information you need here. If you are buying the RAM from a local shop you can also just take the system in with you and make sure it matches up. hope this helped without being to head spinny. On Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 7:04 pm, BobC. wrote: >Hello. I have Windows XP ;service pack 2. My CPU is 2.8 ghz and the ram is listed >as 504 mb. I have an HP tower for this desktop computer. I'm guessing (novice here) >that there are slots for additional ram. If so, can I add to my existing ram without >"confusing" my system? How much would be compatible? Is it a simple do-it-yourself >plug and play type of upgrade or are there more technical considerations that I'm >usually uncomfortable with? Thanks for any advice. Bob [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: How much RAM to add? Monday, November 2, 2009 at 2:12 am Posted by MartinM (5829 messages posted) A couple of additions to Adam's helpful post: 1. Be sure to be earthed before touching the new memory chips - static can destroy them. And I suppose I should say be sure to unplug the tower completely before opening its case ! 2. No point in having more than 2GB in total as XP cannot / will not use it. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: How much RAM to add? Monday, November 2, 2009 at 4:47 am Posted by Keith Stanier (1380 messages posted) BobC. wrote: |Hello. I have Windows XP ;service pack 2. My CPU is 2.8 ghz and the ram is listed |as 504 mb. I'm guessing (novice here) |that there are slots for additional ram. If so, can I add to my existing ram without |"confusing" my system? How much would be compatible? Yes Bob compatiblity is the problem. There are many types of RAM available all with different speeds. If its an old computer then don't think that putting faster chips in will make it run faster it won't it may run slower. You need to remove the covers and examine the chips installed for make/model/numbers. You say it shows 504MB is that of My Computer Properties? You say you have spare slots so how many are being used? If you have 504MB then you could be using 2, 256MB I wouldn't have thought that it would be 1 512MB. My spare computer is an old one and I bought extra memory of eBay, 2, 256MB PC100 £20 and I used one of the older 128MB chips so I now have 639MB to play with on Win98/ME. MartinM. wrote: |No point in having more than 2GB in total as XP cannot / will not use it. Yes I think thats because WinXP is old now. All these extra memory options weren't available when XP was designed. I have 4GB in mine and Windows on sees 2.76GB. Vista recognises large memory. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: How much RAM to add? Monday, November 2, 2009 at 6:47 am Posted by MikeB (28 messages posted) My PC operating XP SP2 with 512Mb RAM was starting to go very slowly so I thought I would try adding more RAM. Echoing what another post says, I used the Crucial web site - it was very helpful and pointed me at exactly the right memory to buy, and provided detailed installation instructions. Other sites no doubt do much the same. It turned out to be an extremely easy job and my PC is now faster than I can ever recall it being. I think that the maximum memory that XP can handle is 4.5 Gb and I added 2 Gb (2 x 1 Gb cards as I have dual core processing), giving a total of 2.5 Gb. The total cost was 60 pounds Sterling and about 30 minutes gentle effort. On Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 7:04 pm, BobC. wrote: >Hello. I have Windows XP ;service pack 2. My CPU is 2.8 ghz and the ram is listed >as 504 mb. I have an HP tower for this desktop computer. I'm guessing (novice here) >that there are slots for additional ram. If so, can I add to my existing ram without >"confusing" my system? How much would be compatible? Is it a simple do-it-yourself >plug and play type of upgrade or are there more technical considerations that I'm >usually uncomfortable with? Thanks for any advice. Bob [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: How much RAM to add? Monday, November 2, 2009 at 9:24 am Posted by MartinM (5829 messages posted) FYI only, the maximum that XP will use is 2GB. Any more is a total waste of money - it won't be used. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: How much RAM to add? Monday, November 2, 2009 at 10:16 am Posted by Keith Stanier (1380 messages posted) MikeB wrote: |I think that the maximum memory that XP can handle is 4.5 Gb and |I added 2 Gb (2 x 1 Gb cards as I have dual core processing), giving a total of 2.5 |Gb. As MartinM states the max memory that WinXP with recognise and use is 2GB, I think its a bit more. As I've said I have 4GB but Windows only shows 2.76GB in My Computer Properties. If you want to check your system spec with make/model and numbers for the motherboard, CPU Speed, memory, cache, graphics card. Download CPU-Z its free. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: How much RAM to add? Monday, November 2, 2009 at 10:51 am Posted by MartinM (5829 messages posted) Whatever My Computer shows, the virtual address space of processes and applications is limited in XP to 2 GB, unless the /3GB switch is used in the boot.ini file. Depending on how applications are written, the /3GB switch can make a marginal difference to performance, although this is all rather academic and I don't mean to make more of these limits than they deserve ! [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: How much RAM to add? Monday, November 2, 2009 at 12:29 pm Posted by MikeB (28 messages posted) Crucial.com and a number of other reference sources state that 4 Gb is the maximum for XP. I do not know if this is accurate or not but, when booting up my computer, the BIOS clearly registers that there is 2.5Gb of memory. The computer System Properties also show 2.5Gb of RAM. Could the 2Gb limit you suggest be for a single-core processor rather than a dual-core system? On Monday, November 2, 2009 at 10:51 am, MartinM wrote: > >Whatever My Computer shows, the virtual address space of processes and applications >is limited in XP to 2 GB, unless the /3GB switch is used in the boot.ini file. > >Depending on how applications are written, the /3GB switch can make a marginal difference >to performance, although this is all rather academic and I don't mean to make more >of these limits than they deserve ! > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: How much RAM to add? Monday, November 2, 2009 at 1:15 pm Posted by MartinM (5829 messages posted) The limit is to do with the address space architecture of XP and is unaffected by the number of cores supporting it. What the BIOS registers, and what XP sees in My Computer, are not the same as how much RAM XP can utilise for itself and applications. I am only guessing, but maybe if your video card is using 500MB of RAM the BIOS can see that plus the 2GB that XP can use ? Anyway, if you'd like to read this up the best source article I know, written by Microsoft engineers for hardware developers, is here. So now you can see how the confusion arises: "The maximum amount of memory that can be supported on Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003 is also 4 GB". BUT "The virtual address space of processes and applications is still limited to 2 GB". Translation: XP is aware of up to 4GB but in practice can only use 2GB (or 3GB if the applications are written appropriately - most aren't). [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: How much RAM to add? Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 6:14 am Posted by MikeB (28 messages posted) Many thanks for that advice. I was so impressed with the dramatic increase in speed after adding 2Gb of RAM that I had been thinking of adding more. In view of what you say, I shall now forget about this. On Monday, November 2, 2009 at 1:15 pm, MartinM wrote: > >The limit is to do with the address space architecture of XP and is unaffected by >the number of cores supporting it. > >What the BIOS registers, and what XP sees in My Computer, are not the same as how >much RAM XP can utilise for itself and applications. I am only guessing, but maybe >if your video card is using 500MB of RAM the BIOS can see that plus the 2GB that >XP can use ? > >Anyway, if you'd like to read this up the best source article I know, written by >Microsoft engineers for hardware developers, is here. > >So now you can see how the confusion arises: > >"The maximum amount of memory that can be supported on Windows XP Professional >and Windows Server 2003 is also 4 GB". > >BUT > >"The virtual address space of processes and applications is still limited to >2 GB". > >Translation: XP is aware of up to 4GB but in practice can only use 2GB (or 3GB if >the applications are written appropriately - most aren't). > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: How much RAM to add? Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 8:00 am Posted by Ricer46 (22836 messages posted) Going from 256 to 512 makes a huge performance increase. 512 to 1GB somewhat less, but still very noticeable. 1GB to 2GB still less, not so noticeable. 2 GB to more .... nada. On Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 6:14 am, MikeB wrote: >Many thanks for that advice. I was so impressed with the dramatic increase in speed >after adding 2Gb of RAM that I had been thinking of adding more. In view of what >you say, I shall now forget about this. > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: How much RAM to add? Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 7:47 pm Posted by BobC. (9 messages posted) I'll try to say thanks to all for the replies. Good information. From reading everyting here, 2GB is max. Before buying anything and opening up the tower, should I "discard" the old memory and put in two 1-G's or keep the old and try to add as best I can? Thanks all. On Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 8:00 am, Ricer46 wrote: >Going from 256 to 512 makes a huge performance increase. >512 to 1GB somewhat less, but still very noticeable. >1GB to 2GB still less, not so noticeable. >2 GB to more .... nada. > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows XP Discussion Forum