Confused on RAM

I'll try not to let my dyslexia kick in here and try to keep it short and to the point.

I have an eMachines T3604
http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/emachines-t3604/1707-3118_7-32329692.html
http://www.emachines.com/products/products.html?prod=T3604
Both of these sources specify 2gb of RAM max.

It carries an Intel® Desktop Board D945GCL
http://www.intel.com/support/mother...23154.htm?wapkw=(Intel+Desktop+Board+D945GCL)
which specifies 4gb of RAM max.

Intel® Celeron® D Processor 356
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=27131

Now, it came with Windows Vista Home Basic, which it still has. I was looking into upgrading to Win7, ran the upgrade advisor and it displays both 32 bit and 64 bit. So I looked into it a bit more and the board is a 64 bit capable motherboard... as far as I can tell anyways.

I have 2gb of RAM installed now, I would have installed more had there been any indication that it would actually use it. The Win7 upgrade family pack comes with both 32 bit and 64 bit disks. If I install the 64 bit disk would I be able to install more RAM? The only thing the Win7 Upgrade Advisor came up with as not able to do was the amount of disk space. I'd be doing a clean install so that's not an issue.

Belarc Advisor specs it out as such:

Board: Intel Corporation D945GCL AAD82064-301
BIOS: Intel Corp. CF94510J.15A.0028.2006.1213.1629 12/13/2006

Memory Modules
2046 Megabytes Installed Memory
Slot 'J6H1' has 1024 MB
Slot 'J6H2' is Empty
Slot 'J6J1' has 1024 MB
Slot 'J6J2' is Empty​

Thanks, any advice is appreciated.
Dan

 

Oh, and I should probably say that there's only 2 slots for RAM, even though Belarc says there's an extra 2 empty slots.

 

You have a right to be confused. There must be a typo in the intel docs about the motherboard. They say it supports 4GB, but in 2 slots that can have at most 1GB each. Doesn't make sense.

My guess is that the board does support 4GB using 2GB modules. But that is just my guess based on when the motherboard was made.

 

Neither 32-bit or 64-bit is stopping you from installing more RAM. You can install as much as your motherboard will accept.

The OS will use as much as it can. 32-bit is limited to 4Gb (though a little less will be seen due to HW mapping), and 64-bit can use almost an unlimited amount.

I suspect the documentation is right and what we are seeing is one or both of the following. (1) Acer (they own eMachines) uses a proprietary motherboard, as sadly, many big makers do. I suspect, if you inspect the board carefully, you will see a revision number or some other minor difference in the model numbers from a "stock" Intel board. Or (2), there is a BIOS update for the board to allow 2Gb sticks and the Intel documentation reflects that, while the older eMachines docs do not.

So it is either a proprietary issue, or a BIOS upgrade issue, or both. At least that's my guess.

 

Board: Intel Corporation D945GCL AAD82064-301

 

OK, so if the board is only going to ever use 2gb of RAM ever then there wouldn't be any benefit at all in upgrading to a 64 bit OS. I may as well upgrade to the 32 bit OS. Or am I missing something on the whole 32bit/64bit thing?

 

Regardless, 4Gb is the magic number. If you want to use more than 4Gb, you must use 64-bit. 32-bit OSs have a 4Gb limit.

Here's my canned text on buying RAM. What do these wizards say for your system?

These popular RAM makers have auto-scanning and/or manual entry RAM wizards to help you determine which RAM is compatible with your motherboard. For manual entry, enter/select the PC or motherboard make and model number and the wizard will list compatible RAM.

Crucial - Memory Advisor
Corsair - Memory Finder (manual data entry only)
GeIL - Memory Configurator (manual data entry only)
Kingston - Memory Search (manual data entry only)
Mushkin - Advisor
OCZ - Memory Configurator (manual data entry only)
Patriot - Memory Search (manual data entry only)
PNY - Memory Configurator (manual data entry only)
SuperTalent - Memory Finder (manual data entry only)​

The following retailers have auto-scanners and manual wizards. They sell brand name and/or "house" brand (re-branded) RAM.

Newegg - Memory Configurator System Tool
MemoryStock - Upgrade Configurator
18004Memory – Configurator
4AllMemory - Memory advisor (automatic and manual)
TigerDirect - Memory Configurator (manual data entry only)​

 

Again, since I'm stuck with 2gb of ram there is no other reason at all on the face of the planet to try to use the 64 bit OS. Is that correct? There is no other benefit to a 64 bit system over a 32 bit system when everything else, including ram, is equal.

I ran a few of those system scanners and they all come back saying "you have an emachines t-3604, you can use 2gb of ram as per manufacturers specs".

 

You are quite right. 2GB it is.

 

I wouldn't install Win 7 on a computer that was locked into a max of 2GB RAM. The version of windows you are currently using will be faster than 7 limping along on 2GB.

 

Quite right man! Save your money for your next machine. There's no point in upgrading your OS at this time as both will perform equally well with 2 GB's, plus you may lose functionality with some of your software. I'd leave this machine as it is.

 

Correct. BUT - if your system did accept 4Gb, you would likely see a performance boost with your 32-bit system - especially if using on-board graphics.

Not sure what you are saying there. If you are suggesting the only benefit to running 64-bit is to use more than 4Gb of RAM, then that is wrong. 64-bit in general is faster than 32-bit simply because it is biting off 64-bit wide chunks with every clock cycle, as opposed to 32-bit wide chunks. 32-bit is soon to be ancient history, along with floppy and EIDE drives, AGP cards, and CRT monitors.

Since it appears you are limited to 2Gb, I agree with the others - wait until the budget allows for a new computer.

 

Well either way I'm upgrading, I'll just do the 32 bit OS. I've already bought and paid for the family pack and I've already used one license. Thanks all for your input.

 

I'm running it on an Athlon XP 2800+2GB RAM+ATI X700 Pro card and it runs as well as the XP it had, if not a bit better. I'm able to run the Aero desktop, but I'm sure it's because I have a fairly decent graphics card. I suspect you won't because of the onboard graphics chip.

 

Just to ensure understanding, note you can install 32-bit or 64-bit with each license. That is, you cannot use the same license to install 32-bit on Machine A and 64-bit on Machine B.

Some folks have seen the two disks (32 and 64) and thought they were legally able to install on two machines. It is one, or the other.

 

I've seen people discussing this before, but wasn't that for a single upgrade license? "I see two disc's, what can I get away with". I have the family pack which includes 3 licenses. I won't be able to test it either way as I'm installing 32 bit for all 3 licenses, so it is a moot point.

 

Note I said, "each license". You have a 3-pack. So 3 licenses means you can install Windows 7 on 3 machines. That can be two 32-bit installs plus one 64-bit, three 32s or three 64s, or any combination you want, as long as Windows from that 3-pack is only installed on 3 machines - not 4, 5, 6, or more.

Now an "upgrade" license has totally different terms. An upgrade must be tied to an existing license of a qualifying earlier version. You cannot install an "upgrade", for example, on a new machine that has no license tied to it. If you don't have a legitimate license tied that machine, you can't use the upgrade version, or you must buy a new license for a previous version, then tie the upgrade to it - and that would be a waste. Still, if a single license or 3-pack, even if there are disks for 32 and 64-bit, 3 machines max is all you can install Windows on.

 

Yeah, we're saying the same thing then.
Cheers.

 

Great!

 

Just a wrap up to this conversation. I've installed Win7 32 bit. I also replaced my 256mb video card with a 1gb one. It's not super fast or anything but I'm not a gamer so I'm good there. I just watch TV on the computer and stream some video sometimes and the TV tuner was lagging. Now it's not.

Installation went pretty quickly with the OS. I did the complete reinstall, formatting the hard drive. The only downside to that was that I lost my Microsoft Office by doing so. I emailed tech support, they told me to call, they told me that I either upgrade over the old OS and get to keep it or wipe the drive and lose it. Oh well, I'll probably just go with Open Office for now. I sure did like Outlook though.

Now I'm off to install other stuff.
Thanks for all your help guys.
Dan