RAM and Graphic card Memory doubt

[bharatwaja]

Is it true that Graphic memory takes some of the Ram memory out of use? i.e.

If i have 2GB of ddr3 ram and a 8800GT or HD3870 512MB,

Then my OS can reference only 1.5 GB of ram?

2Gb-512MB(graphic) = 1.5 GB????!!!!

My friend has an X2 3800+ system with 3GB of corsair DDR2 and an 8600GT 512 MB, but his system shows only 2.5 GB of ram in system properties, Is this because of the memory hole (dont know if thats what it is called) problem discussed above?

 

[dileepsv]

yes it is...for better performance...n using all of ur RAM..u should get the 64-bit edition of windows xp/vista

 

[Syntax Error]

GPU memory only becomes an issue when you hit the page file memory limit on 32-bit systems, which is 4GB (2^32). When you have 2GB + 512, your computer will see your 2GB fine.

It's when you have 4GB of RAM and you have a 512MB graphics card or any other peripherals that take up memory is when you start seeing diminishing returns and your computer will read around ~3.5GB. 64-bit OS's will solve this problem.

 

[betasub]

It doesn't automatically take physical memory out of use, it simpy takes up memory addresses.

Most 32-bit OS only have 4GB of memory addresses, and various hardware take up some of these, including your video RAM. Any left over is available for physical RAM (usually a maximum of 3.x GB addressable physical RAM).

 

[Throckmorton]

Your friend's whole 3gb should show up. I have 4gb and a 7950gx2, which has 1gb total memory. My WinXP 32 bit still sees 3.25gb of my RAM