Info - How much memory can be put in a computer?

Search through

and through

and in

with

order by

Go >>

<< Back

1 2 3 4 5

articles per Page.

How much memory can I put in a computer?

There are 2 parts to successfully answer this question correctly.

1) The hardware.

Firstly the hardware there are a lot of different types of memory to choose from and if you buy the wrong stuff, you've wasted your money, it wont work.

Luckily there are alot of great tools on the web to help, the one I use is 'crucial.com' which is web based...

Click here to visit their website. At their website you can...
Choose to select the brand and model of your system to get the memory type.

Or choose to have the website scan your computer to get the memory type. There's plenty of help using the website to scan your computer as well, including a video if you need aditional support.

Now you know what the memory type you need is and the maximum amount of memory you can install. Note: If the website scanned your computer it will tell you how much memory you currently habe installed as well. If you chose to select brand and model, it'll tell you what was originally installed.

2) The OS (operating system).

Secondly the OS different operating systems can handle different amounts of memory, regardles of what is actually installed. review the table below...

Maximum memory useable in the OS.
OS	Version	32 bit	64 bit
XP	Starter	512 MB	N/A
XP	Home	4 GB *	128 GB
XP	Professional	4 GB *	128 GB
Vista	Starter	1 GB	N/A
Vista	Home Basic	4 GB #	8 GB
Vista	Home Premium	4 GB #	16 GB
Vista	Business	4 GB #	128 GB
Vista	Enterprise	4 GB #	128 GB
Vista	Ultimate	4 GB #	128 GB
Windows 7	Starter	2 GB	N/A
Windows 7	Home Basic	4 GB #	8 GB
Windows 7	Home Premium	4 GB #	16 GB
Windows 7	Professional	4 GB #	192 GB
Windows 7	Enterprise	4 GB #	192 GB
Windows 7	Ultimate	4 GB #	192 GB
Linux	All Distros	4 GB	1 TB

Notes:

* Due to the way memory is allocated in 32bit systems and the older hardware installed, having 4GB of memory will not make the full amount available to Windows. Normally only 2.5GB to 2.75GB of memory is usable in Windows.

# Due to the way memory is allocated in 32bit systems, installing 4GB may only give between 3GB and 3.5GB of usable memory in Windows.

Using the information you have gathered you can safely go out and buy your memory.

That's it for this guide.

<< Back