Introduction

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Main Memory

Part of the main system memory may be used by

 

Disclaimer

the graphics system for graphics performance

 

 

and therefore reduce the amount of main system

 

 

memory available for other computing activities.

 

 

The amount of main system memory allocated

 

 

to support graphics may vary depending on the

 

 

graphics system, applications utilized, system

 

 

memory size and other factors. For PC's

 

 

configured with 4 GB of system memory, the full

 

 

system memory space for computing activities will

 

 

be considerably less and will vary by model and

 

 

system configuration.

If your computer is configured with two 2 GB memory modules, the memory might be displayed as approximately 3 GB only (depending on the computer's hardware specifications). This is correct because the operating system usually displays the available memory instead of the physical memory (RAM) built into the computer. Various system components (like the video adapter's GPU and PCI devices like Wireless LAN, etc.) require their own memory space. Since a 32-bit operating system cannot address more than 4 GB of memory these system resources overlap the physical memory. It is a technical limitation that the overlapped memory is not available to the operating system. Even though some tools might display the actual physical memory built into your computer, the memory available to the operating sys-tem will still be approximately 3 GB only.

User’s Manual

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