Dell XPS 420

I'm considering a Dell XPS 420 a multi media system. However you can install a max of only 4 Meg of ram. Iv'e seen other systems where you can go higher. Should I be concerned regarding future proofing?

 

Sorry Gigabytes.

 

4 gigs of ram should serve you well for quite a while imo.
Be aware if it comes with a 32bit operating system you will only be able to use 3gb of it. You will need a 64bit operating system if you want to be able to access more memory.

 

i would say its pretty limited. i didnt buy that same system because of that reason.
ddr2 ram is so cheap theese days.
that said by the time you will want to upgrade you will probaly need a new computer anyway.

 

All of Dell's systems support 4GB maximum, when I last checked recently. HP, for one, is selling 64bit systems with 8MB maximum.

 

I'm using XP 32bit with 4 Gigs of Ram and only 3.25 shows in My Computer which is normal for a 32 bit OS. It's plenty for me but I guess it all depends on what you plan on doing with your machine. It looks like the 420's are quad cores and by the time most software is quad compatible, it would be time to upgrade your machine anyways.

FWIW, I just built a Q6600 machine and have it overclocked 25% @ 3.0GHz with stock voltages. If you get one of those machines, it should be nice.

What do you plan on doing with the machine?

 

Watch and record Tv, movies, play some games maybe get one of those new Zune's. Surf sore my photos etc.

 

Any idea as to how much more memory a 64 bit OS will give you access to?

 

more than even servers need...do not worry...over 6Gb is considered money overkill these days...

 

well 64bit vista business versions around 64GB
so it will be ages and ages until you need that much.

 

Actually I meant if I had 4 GB how much more would a 64 bit Vista OS give me over and above what a 32 bit version would give me? From what innerpeace said in his post a 32 bit XP would show 3.25 GB.

 

hello The Hammer,
woops sorry misunderstood.
well you would get the full 4gb of ram using a 64bit bit operating systems. dont forget thou you would need to make sure all the applications you run would work on a 64bit OS

 

innerpeace,

Does that mean 0.75 GB of RAM is "wasted" or is 3.25 GB a false RAM indication?

 

From what little I understand, it's not wasted.

http://www.vistaclues.com/reader-question-maximum-memory-in-32-bit-windows-vista/

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/237090-44-showing-25gb-vista

 

There is an interesting sentence about 64 bit memory allocation in the first link innerpeace. Thanks.