Hey guys,

I was just curious but if you are running windows XP with 4GB of ram.. it normally shows anywhere from 3GB to 3.75GB. So what happens when you install the 4870X2 with 2GB of video memory on it? Will this effect the memory that windows reports and does it really matter?

I do not know that much about that area and any help you guys could offer would be great!


Also another quick question about the 4870x2's. Now that they are out there are about 9 manufacters of them. Some do some OC'ing for you and most are at the 750mhz core speed that seems to be standard. Is there any brand you would recommend over another for these cards?

Saphire
Diamond
Msi
Power Color
Visiontek
HIS
Palit
Gigabyte
ASUS

thanks again everyone.

since ur not getting the 4gb of ram u probably have a 32bit os. yes a 4870x2 will drop the ram usage to 2gb- because of the card having 2gb. (32bit os limits the whole pc to 4gb max) it will drop performance while multitasking. happened to me with my 2gtx 260 so i just picked up a 64bit os at newegg. if i were u i would pick up a new 64bit os.
As for the 4870x2 i would buy visiontek i believe there the only one that offer lifetime warranty.

Yeah, I'd pick up a version of Vista x64. Windows XP x64 isn't really well supported. With the computer you're building, you won't really have any performance issues.

I agree, Visiontek is great. Although, HIS is also extremely good. They have great customer support (I had the ICQ x1650), and a decently long warrenty period (3-years).

64 bit Vista isn't compatible with all hardware/software though. You can't just arbitrarily upgrade without considering this just for more memory access.

I didn't realize that video memory was added to system memory. Good question.

Thank you for all the answers. Kind of dissapointed about the RAM situation. The problem i have is that i love to play older games along with newer games. I can use any PC really for work and internet but i still like to play games back from the early 90's to present day. Some of these games i can barely get to work in XP Pro 32 and im afraid going to vista 64 would cause them to stop working.

This makes me wonder if i should just get the fastest 2GB of RAM i can possibly buy. Like DDr3 2000 at the lowest timings? If its only going to use 2 then use that money i would have to make it 4 and make 2gb the fastest i can make it.



thanks again for the help.

Invisik is on the right path with his answer but the 4870x2's 2 gig of ram is shared and will only use up 1 gig of addressable memory space.

My own experience is that with 4 gig of installed memory on a 32bit OS with a 4870x2 I was showing 2.5 gig of memory in windows.

I now have two laptops with Vista home premium, have used Vista Business for about 18 months and now have two systems with 64 bit Vista. I would have no problem saying the time is right to move to 64 bit Vista. Ram is cheap and the new generation of video cards are using up 1 gig of address space. Also keep in mind that Vista 64 has the advantage over XP 64 that all Vista WHQL drivers have had to include 64bit support/versions.

well i believe theres another option. dual boot ur system. partition a hardrive and use one partition with ur 32bit and the other with 64bit. i believe this can be done. im not sure tho if the 32bit and 64bit would conflict? hmmmm.
i believe it should work.
=]

Only extremely old games and apps will gives you issues with Vista 64 bit. I'd make a list of the programs/games you think might have issues under Vista 64 and do quick search to see if you find a definite answer. I've been running Vista 64 for more than a year and only a REALLY old scanner of mine refused work, all my other programs and games are just fine.

I'd take the 4gb of memory + 4870x2 and all the awesomeness it brings over ANY old programs or games - newer and better stuff you can be using and playing with that!

Well, u can always VM WinXP 32bits =P

Since they're "old" games, performance shouldn't be crippled that much, right? Now, maybe i'm wrong and you can't run WinXP 32bits on a 64bit VM and you shouldn't read what i'm telling

Esop!