Vista 64 and 4 GB of RAM on TL-60

I am looking at a new laptop and Frys is offering one with a TL-60
processor, 4 GB of ram running Vista 64 bit. I have read that PCs
can't really use more than a little over 3 GB. But I wonder if this
is a limit of the OS or the CPU? Does Vista 64 have this same
limitation?

Rick

rickman wrote:
> I am looking at a new laptop and Frys is offering one with a TL-60
> processor, 4 GB of ram running Vista 64 bit. I have read that PCs
> can't really use more than a little over 3 GB. But I wonder if this
> is a limit of the OS or the CPU? Does Vista 64 have this same
> limitation?
>
> Rick

Why would anyone own a 64 bit OS, if all they could ever use was
3GB of RAM ? That would be a pretty significant dis-incentive to
purchasing a 64 bit OS.

With the right combination of 64 bit OS, and 64 bit program,
you can have a process that has access to a lot of RAM. Otherwise,
if you're reusing mostly old programs, and just seek to bump
up the physical RAM present, and switch to a 64 bit OS, about
all you're getting, is the ability to run a lot more processes.
The programs should be compiled "large address aware", if you
want to extend their reach.

"Memory Limits for Windows Releases"
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...78(VS.85).aspx

Like so many performance issues, you can never get the info
you need, from the companies that write the programs. "Pushing
the envelope", will not be easy.

Paul