More RAM for SW - Good or Bad?

Finally talked my boss into upgrading me from 2gb to 4gb of RAM. Now, I
have a friend who is telling me that SW can only utilize 2gb on a 32 bit
system, so I am not going to see any benifits in my SW performance with this
upgrade anyway.
Not only that, but he is telling me that if we just plug in another 2gb
of RAM on top of my existing 2gb, I am probably going to end up with the
blue screen of death on re-start, so he is recomending we stick with our 2gb
for now. (Running DELL precision 470 workstation).
Can anyone give me the lowdown on this?

Thanks,
Sean Mc

 

I'v heard the same and are now looking at upgrading to a 64bit 8Gb
system instead.....2Gb seems to be a bit too less these days ...even
with the 3Gb switch on.
Managed to peak 2,7Gb of used memory once at ta photorendering. But
everything seems slow today...and the new settings in PW 2008 is not
the same as before, so more memory is a must.

// Krister

 

search for /3gb switch for windows
it provides access to extra memory.

it even works if you have less than 3gb.

 

Like Kenneth points out, look into the /3GB switch. If you have XP SP2
it's simple to do. 32 bit Windows normally has 4GB of address space. The
system reserves half of that, with the other half available for
applications. This is true no matter how much physical RAM is installed.
The /3GB switch forces this bias so that the system only reserves 1 GB,
and 3 GB are available for applications. Now then, SW has not always
supported this. I think it was added in 2004, maybe a 2004 service pack.
So if you're using something newer, it can use up to 3 GB on 32 bit
Windows XP Pro, if Windows is configured to allow it. Not everything
supports running Windows this way, so other tools may begin to behave
strangeley or destabilize the system. If SW wants more then 3 GB you'll
need to run on 64 bit XP.

Even without the /3GB switch, SW will be able to use the full 2 GB
without paging to the hard drive. So, there would still be a big
performance benefit.

Adding RAM to a system should not cause a BSOD unless there is a problem
with the memory. A bad or incompatible memory module or incorrect BIOS
settings could cause a BSOD when upgrading. I had no trouble
transitioning from 1 to 2 GB, and I know of other systems that run 4 GB
with no problems. Just power down, unplug the machine and stick it in
there (with appropriate static electricity precautions).

About BIOS settings... any reasonably modern system should be able to
correctly detect the memory settings automatically. Dell's BIOS may have
something strange going on, but it would have to be VERY strange.

 

Thanks for the tips, everyone.
Gave me enough info to find the rest of what I needed.

Thanks again,
Sean