Maximize Vista's RAM to 4Gb

>I posted this in the General Discussion, but I feel this is a better place
>
> I just recently built a new machine with the latest components and
> installed
> Vista Ultimate 32 bit edition on it. I have 4 Gb of RAM in the machine,
> but
> Vista only displays 3.325 Gb of it. I have read that I can do a boot.ini
> "hack" with /PAE to enable it to read all 4Gb but wanted to know a few
> things.
>
> I am a gamer and really wanted the ram for this purpose. When playing
> games, does it matter what the OS sees as usable RAM, or does the game use
> all 4Gb that I have installed.
>
> I also read that if I installed the 64 bit edition, Windows would
> recognize
> all 4Gb. My only concern there is with driver issues and some software.
> Any
> suggestions or answers would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thank you,
> David
>

>
> "David" <David@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:A8BA2FAC-3CBF-4612-B9E4-218A244D9B35@microsoft.com...

>>I posted this in the General Discussion, but I feel this is a better place
>>
>> I just recently built a new machine with the latest components and
>> installed
>> Vista Ultimate 32 bit edition on it. I have 4 Gb of RAM in the machine,
>> but
>> Vista only displays 3.325 Gb of it. I have read that I can do a boot.ini
>> "hack" with /PAE to enable it to read all 4Gb but wanted to know a few
>> things.
>>
>> I am a gamer and really wanted the ram for this purpose. When playing
>> games, does it matter what the OS sees as usable RAM, or does the game
>> use
>> all 4Gb that I have installed.
>>
>> I also read that if I installed the 64 bit edition, Windows would
>> recognize
>> all 4Gb. My only concern there is with driver issues and some software.
>> Any
>> suggestions or answers would be greatly appreciated.
>>

>
> Firstly... as has been done to death in this NG (and everywhere else for
> this matter), 32-bit Vista can already see all 4GB, bust since some is
> reserved for OS use only, it doesn't show it all to you. But rest assured,
> all 4GB is in action.
>
> Secondly, there are no games that need 4GB for RAM. There are plenty that
> need a lot of RAM, and can compete with Windows for it, but at 4GB, they
> can safely co-exist.
>
>
>

> FSX can use quite a bit of RAM (given all the addon's and extra software
> to go with it!), and with Vista taking a bit, 4 GB isn't such a bad idea!
>
>

> "hack" with /PAE to enable it to read all 4Gb but wanted to know a few
> things.

> I have read that I can do a boot.ini

> > "hack" with /PAE to enable it to read all 4Gb but wanted to know a few
> > things.

>
> That hack is for XP. Vista doesn't use boot.ini. If you use the freeware
> VistaBootPro
>
> http://www.vistabootpro.org/
>
> You can turn on PAE without messy hacks. When I turn it on my motherboard
> can't handle it and locks up so I'm limited to 3.5 GB. Changing your VGA
> Aperture
> size will also affect the available RAM.
>
> Tom Lake
>
>
>

>
> "Dustin Harper" <dharper@vistarip.com> wrote in message
> news:FF90C235-1792-4EBD-B1FE-2BFB7E080DC7@microsoft.com...

> > FSX can use quite a bit of RAM (given all the addon's and extra software
> > to go with it!), and with Vista taking a bit, 4 GB isn't such a bad idea!
> >
> >

>
> After taking my BF2 experiences into account, I'd say that > 2GB is
> essential for the serious gamer. I think 3GB is the safety threshold.
>
>
>