Ram Limitations

[RickyTick]

OK, so I know the 32bit OS can only "see" 2 gb of ram. In order to use 4gb of ram, you need a 64bit OS. Right?..Right.

Is there a limit on how much ram a 64 bit can "see"?

Since I have Vista 64, and my mobo will hold 8gb of ram, could I have 8gb and it all be addressed by the OS. Is there any reason to have 8gb?

This is all hypothetical of course.

[The Wise Monkey]

The way the OSs work is that a 32-bit OS can theoretically address 2^32 bits of memory space. However, due to hardware limitations, this isn't the case - it can only do 3GB max.

A 64-bit OS, however, can theoretically address 2^64 bits of memory space, which is quite a bit more - about 100 petabytes, iirc. So you can install as much memory as you want. :)