Jun 08, 2010 What's the maximum amount of ram that Windows 7 32-Bit can read? 3gb Hello, Between 3.25GB and 3.5GB depending on your video card. That will be the max recognized and able to be used by 32 Bit Windows. Regards, Alex T. Windows Desktop Experience MVP. On a computer that is running Windows 7, the usable memory (RAM) may be less than the installed memory. For example, a 32-bit version of Windows 7 may report that there is only 3.5 GB of usable system memory on a computer that has 4 GB of memory installed.
I'm planning on buying a new graphics card and adding more RAM at the end of the month and I happened to come across a video that suggested that Windows 7 not only has a limit to 4GB of RAM, but that 4GB is actually comprised of both the Graphics card and the system RAM memory. So does this mean that since I'm running 2GB of DDR2-800 now, that if I buy a 1GB graphics card and add an extra 2GB of RAM, then 1GB of that RAM will be wasted because the total memory of both the Graphics card and the RAM adds up to 5GB?? Please advise.
Windows 7 32 Bit Ram Usable
A 32Bit operation system supports up to 4GB of memory, however not all of it may be available for use by applications.
If you only have 4GB of memory and do not plan to install any additional memory then I would install the 32Bit version as there is nothing to be gained by installing the 64Bit version. However if you plan to upgrade to 6 or more GB of memory sometime in the future then install the 64Bit version.
In round numbers XP, Vista and Windows 7 32-Bit Versions of the Operating System can only address 4GB. Does not matter how much memory you have installed 4GB is the max. From that max your video card has XXXMB of ram on the card so that limits the operating system to 4GB minus the cards XXXMB of memory.
In addition other hardware also takes away additional amounts of memory (usually a small when compared to the video card)
and the remaining memory (address space) is available for Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 OS and your applications. Windows 7 32 Bit Ram 8gb
So that 4th GB thru 16 GB of ram you installed or will install goes unused on a 32-Bit OS. Does not matter what the BIOS reports or what the OS shows as installed memory it still limited to that 4GB address barrier.
Windows 7 32 Bit Ram Maximum![]()
A link to the white paper titled 'Gaming Performance Analysis' by Corsair
Memory Inc. provides a good clear explanation of how a video card effects the amount of available memory in your PC. See: http://www.corsair.com/_appnotes/AN804_Gaming_Performance_Analysis.pdf
Intel Chipset 4 GB System Memory Support
http://www.dcomputer.com/ProInfo/support/support/mainboard/4GB_Rev1/4GB_Rev1.pdf
Vista Users with SP1 now report how much physical memory installed on your computer:
See: Windows Vista SP1 includes reporting of Installed System Memory (RAM): http://support.microsoft.com/kb/946003
RAM, Virtual Memory, Pagefile and all that stuff:
Basic information about the Virtual Memory implementation in 32 bit versions of Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server etc. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555223
J W Stuart: http://www.pagestart.com
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