you can use 4gb if u are running 64bit os. 32bit will only see 3gbs but 4gb will not hurt u but it's a waste of money for an extra gb. u can have 2gb in one slot and a 1gb in the other slot thats how u can have three. that's how my vista os 32bit is set up.

Yeah, but I thought 64bit OS wasn't supported by SSL. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Thats true.

And I would recommend having the RAM balanced, (2x2 Gigs).
Maybe the GPU can use some of the extra RAM too.
It also depends on the Mainboard. As far as I know, the use of 3.5 is possible.

The core 2 duo and quad processors like to be run on a system with dual channel memory support, if you want to upgrade from 2GB then 4GB is the way to go.

XP Pro does actually support 4GB of memory, however several devices have to use MMIO. At start up the BIOS checks the system and reports the total amount of address space require by these devices. The OS then removes this amount from the available memory. The biggest single culprit in a laptop is going to be your graphics card if you have a 512MB graphics card then the system will need 512MB of address space which is subtracted from the 4GB of RAM even though this memory is not actually used by the graphics card.
If you disable some devices in the bios you should see the amount of RAM reported by windows increase.

SP1 on Vista will display the total amount of RAM installed in the system, however you still won't be able to use it. Unlike XP Vista will only allocate 3GB of memory regardless of the amount required for MMIO.

As nobspangle said, dual channel memory support is the way to go. I have Win XP 32Bit, from 4GB I can use 3.5GB (it depends also on your chipset etc.). I dont care about the wasted 0.5GB esp since memory is so cheap nowadays.

totally agreed.

i run xp pro with 3gb and a intel x3100 gfx card and video sl works fine.

djang, which effects can you use?

thats cool that u can use 3.5 nik39, so there it is 3-3.5 and 4gb is not seen in 32 bit.

As I understand it, depending on your chipset, the "wasted" ram is used for system addressing (for example, the PCI bus and system operations, etc).

In addition, SSL (or any other application) is only going to see 2 GB (or 3 GB) anyway, since there is a process limit of 2 or 3 GB (depending on how the application was written).

I run 6 gig of ddr 2 ram in my pc yes your pc may Xp in some areas will not see it but in Programs where ram or cpu are needed the resource is there
But this Also depends on your chipset

I am running Two 1gig ATI 3850HD CARDS no freeze no lag even when loading next track no glitch
But yes only 64bit system will see all ram like Mac linux or unix 64bit Base

I think Leopard is a 64bit OS. But it runs 32bit applicatoins in 32bit mode. So if you're running multiple programs, then you can still use all 4gb of ram.

Yes Leopard is 64 bit i think only windows 64 bit SL will not not does not like drivers for TTM57SL

Hey D-Twizzle by the way nice mixes on smashvidz great production work