ram vs. bit question

i dont exactly know what im talking about, but from what ive heard, a 32 bit system cant handle more then 4 gigs of memory at one time, this is pressing for me because im buying 8 gigs for a new computer, but if its a 32 bit OS is there a point in buying all that ram?

32bit can't handle more than 3GB. 64bit OSs can handle significantly more.

>>2
Which is why XP64 is still a better choice than Vista.

Only if you have more than 3Gb ram...

HAY GAIZ I don't exactly know what I'm talking about but I'm buying 8 GB of RAM.  I don't even know WTF OS I want to run, or maybe I do but I've already decided to buy all this fucking RAM even if the OS can't use it.  Is there a point in doing so?

Sorry OP, but you need to PLAN MOAR.

>>4
or not tell porky's about getting 8gb ram...

op here, and yes, im not sure if i want to run linux or windows yet, is this such a big deal? i wanted to widen my perspective before i bought the system so i dont wind up buying 2 OS's and blowing an extra $150. so this is the process of me planning more...

also, whats the ram capabilities of the various linux OS's?

run mac osx - its more stable and secure than vista

>>6
The RAM capabilities? WTF are you talking about? Sage for probable troll

>>8
certain systems cant support more then a certain threshold of ram, its not a troll

>>6
Buy two operating systems?

Troll

>>6
Any distribution of GNU/Linux can support up to 64 gigabytes of physical memory using a high-mem kernel. Per address space you're still limited to a 3G/1G split, i.e. a single application can use at most 3 gigabytes.

Also, learn some fucking terminology. "linux OS's"? FUCK OFF, GO BACK TO FUCKING SCHOOL YOUR FUCKSHITTING ASSNIGGER.

Oh evrybuddy i am bilding a databass servar.  thats y numbar of RAMZ is so important and OS is not important at all.  I will use watever OS allows me to use the most RAMZ.

OP:  You're planning backwards.

>>12
OP here
yes im planning backwards, i do a tiny bit of research, try to create a realistic spec i can shoot for, and then go in and research parts, specifications and compatibilities. im not trying troll, im just trying to widen my perspective. then barter myself down to a ballpark of price. is there another method i should do instead? should i stick to one company single mindedly and only take their advise on what i should and should not buy? help me out here

>>11
thanks for the info, and i apologize i dont know common terminology, im rather new to this community. also im not sure a school would specifically teach me street lingo about niche based terminology, in fact id be surprised if you could find any sort of school like environment that would teach anything about linux as part of its curriculum.

>>10
im only trying to widen my perspective. there are no attempt to start arguments.

>>7
macs may be more secure, but i still dislike the interface, i feel mac systems devote too much energy to anesthetics within the software and waists computing power that way. im also hesitant to buy vista for this reason too. also im an avid gamer, and macs are poor when it comes to compatibility with games, though i hear that you can open a window type program within macs to run windows exclusive software on, but thats just a conversion process that i feel is a waist.

OP here

okay nevermind, i just did some math out, and ive deduced that 32 bit systems support 4 gigs of ram, and 64 bit systems support 4194304 terabytes of ram

op again, i should correct myself, 62 bit systems have teh potential to support 400000 whatever terabytes of ram, they wont actually be able to physically i dont think

32-bit Operating Systems can only support 4 GB of RAM, with somewhere between 3-3.5-ish being the practical limit. 64-bit OSes support a ridiculously large amount of RAM, relatively.

Linux is free. Period. There are some places where you can buy a computer with Linux pre-installed, but you can download and install any of a countless number of varieties of Linux for free. Most will have a 64-bit version, capable of using more than 4 GB of RAM (assuming your motherboard can support it).

Windows XP x64 and all version of Vista support 64-bit processors and therefore your 8 GB of RAM, and they also cost monies. That's about it.

>>16
drivers are your next concern then.

play safe. get 3gb of ram.

Google Fedora Core or Ubuntu if you're new to linux and considering trying it. They are compatible with most hardware.

Windows is teh gay for everything but gaming, IMO.

Well actually, you can use more than 4gb ram with 32 bit architecture... it just makes the manufacturing of the motherboard a little trickier

hi OP here. i just came to the conclusion that i use a mac and its not possible to put 75 gigabytes into a 60 bit operating SYStem motherboard so i think im just gonna go with a GNU since you can at least get everything for free with it.

Dell sells computers with pre-installed Ubuntu :>

Hello there, i want to upgrade the RAM of my 18-bit PDP-1, should I buy rambus or DDR ?
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