Chapter 2: Installation

2-13

•For Microsoft Windows users: Microsoft implemented a design change in the
Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Windows Vista. This change is
specic to the behavior of Physical Address Extension (PAE) mode which
improves driver compatibility. For more information, please read the following
article at Microsoft’s Knowledge Base website at: http://support.microsoft.
com/kb/888137.
Possible System Memory Allocation & Availability
System Device Size Physical Memory
Remaining (-Available)
(4 GB Total System
Memory)
Firmware Hub ash memory (System BIOS) 1 MB 3.99
Local APIC 4 KB 3.99
Area Reserved for the chipset 2 MB 3.99
I/O APIC (4 Kbytes) 4 KB 3.99
PCI Enumeration Area 1 256 MB 3.76
PCI Express (256 MB) 256 MB 3.51
PCI Enumeration Area 2 (if needed) -Aligned on 256-MB
boundary-
512 MB 3.01
VGA Memory 16 MB 2.85
TSEG 1 MB 2.84
Memory available to OS and other applications 2.84

Memory Population Guidelines

When installing memory modules, the DIMM slots should be populated in the following
order: P1-DIMMA2, P1-DIMMB2, then P1-DIMMA1, P1-DIMMB1.
• Always use DDR3 DIMM modules of the same size, type and speed.
• Mixed DIMM speeds can be installed. However, all DIMMs will run at the speed
of the slowest DIMM.
Recommended Population (Balanced)
DIMMA2 DIMMB2 DIMMA1 DIMMB1 Total System Memory
2GB 2GB 4GB
2GB 2GB 2GB 2GB 8GB
4GB 4GB 8GB
4GB 4GB 4GB 4GB 16GB
8GB 8GB 16GB
8GB 8GB 8GB 8GB 32GB