usuage of 6gb of ram in a maximum 4gb max system

[kreactor]

according to crucial.com, the vostro 400 can only have a max of 4gb of memory
http://www.crucial.com/upgrade/Dell-...-upgrades.html

but installed are 2x2gb and 2x1gb in the 4 slots total of 6 gb

windows 7 x64 system menu shows 6gb installed, window task manager show 4.54gb

so right now using 1gb of the 'extra' ram as a ramdisk for google chrome cache (softperfect ramdisk), but also have a 6gb pagefile just in case

please comment on whether ramdisk and pagefile usage is appropriate

thanks

edit: planning to change to 4x2gb total if bigger ramdisk is logical/beneficial

 

[razel]

Don't bother with the ramdisk for chrome cache. Do you really surf the web fast enough that'll you'll notice the difference in overall time saved throughout the day? I bet you it's not even a whole minute saved.

I'd trust Win7's memory management and disk cache. It's fantastic.

Yes, I have run into at least 3 Dell system's where Dell says the maximum RAM was less that the system was capable of. I usually just take a look at the memory controller off Wikipedia where Intel states the maximum RAM it actually can handle. It still ends up being a gamble but for RAM, it's worth it if you can get it to work. Have fun.

 

[Cerb]

Check and see if you have 4 RAM slots, and is a G33 based board. If so, you can use 8GB, with a 64-bit version of the OS (they key it came with can be used with a 32-bit or 64-bit, as long as it was for Vista or newer).

If disk access from Chrome is slowing you down, edit your shortcut to turn off disk caching, which will work fine with more RAM.
http://superuser.com/questions/334793/how-to-disable-browser-cache-in-chrome
The bottom two answers will both do the job.