I don't know what has happened to the MSI group, but it's dead. Thus, I ask
here.

I have the above referenced motherboard REV A3 (Pheonix BIOS version 6.00
PG) with two 1 GB sticks of Corsair PC3200 (200mhz) RAM (part#
CMX1024-3200C2). This memory is unregistered and and unbuffered and is
running at dual channel at CAS 3.0, 2.5V.

The CPU is an AMD 64 X2 4400+, socket 939. All are running at default
speeds...no OC'ing. OS is Vista Ultimate.

On to the point:

I recently installed Lightroom and Photoshop CS3 on my machine and they
(esp. CS3) seem to be quite RAM hungry. Add to that that I am dealing with
large image files and that I don't feel that Vista is handling memory
allocation as efficiently as it could. So I guess my question is twofold:

1) Can anything be done to maximize the efficiency of my current RAM?

2) I'd like to add another 2 GB of RAM. I have 2 slots open, but seem to
remember there being some issue either with the board or with Vista with the
4th GB of ram (or perhaps it's an issue with the slot?).

Would I do better putting two more 1 GB sticks into the slots 3 & 4 (which,
I believe, removes the possiblity of running in dual channel mode) or buying
two 2 GB sticks and removing the existing RAM altogether?

Thanks for any input,
James

James Colbert wrote:
still run in dual channel mode as long as the modules in each bank are
the same. Why not add 2x512MB for a total of 3GB? Or look into shifting
to 64 OS. Drivers being the main issue, then you could add 2x1GB for 4GB.

Somewhere on teh intarweb "James Colbert" typed:
The issue is with 32-bit OSes. They can't address 4GB of RAM. If you have
Vista 64-bit them you're good to go.

If you'd Googled "MSI-7125" and hit the first link on the page you'd have
got this:

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p..._neo4_platinum

There's a lot about memory configs there.

Your mobo manual probably says the same thing. Interestingly it seems that
the southbridge has limitations when it comes to >3GB of RAM so, in your
case, it's not just OS-dependant as I mentioned above.

If I were you I'd upgrade to Windows XP Pro. It has better memory management
and is an all-round better operating system. With the release of SP3 XP's
also almost exactly half as demanding as Vista on resources for system
usage, (10% 'lighter' than XP/SP2). This would mean more RAM available for
your applications. Your Vista Ultimate licence also includes a (hidden)
licence for XP Pro* so that you can legally run XP with the current license
you hold. You may have to "obtain" a corporate install disc/ISO and use a
volume install key such as you'd find in a bittorent download but you'd be
doing so legally. The alternative is to apply to Microsoft for XP install
media (quoting your Vista number) but it's my understanding that they charge
quite a bit for that as they're trying to discourage people from running the
superior operating system for some odd reason.

(*)

There is so much ongoing demand for XP and disdain for Vista that Dell has
found a way past Microsoft's June 30th cut-off date for selling new machines
with XP**. What they will do is, if you buy Vista Business of Ultimate, they
will instead, if requested to do so, factory-install XP Pro and ship XP Pro
restore discs (as well as your Vista discs) using the above 'loophole' in
Microsoft's plan to phase out XP.

(**)

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/g...n&s=bsd&~tab=2

Microsoft aren't happy about Dell doing this but Dell learned the hard way
when, just after Vista came out, they had many, many requests for XP and
after initially refusing (in line with Microsoft's guidelines) they realised
that they were losing market share, especially corporate, because of it.
They've learned their lesson now and are pushing the boundaries and
Microsoft's patience by taking the path they have chosen. Microsoft aren't
closing the loophole yet as they can chalk up the whole thing as a sale of
Vista, making their lemon of an OS, look better than it actually is.

Cheers,
--
Shaun.

Thanks Pen and misfit for your responses. I understand that 64 bit would
resolve the RAM issue, but it would also present new ones, such as crucial
application compatibility. I think in this case that adding 2 more 512mb
sticks might be the best solution (at least until I build a new system). And
as far as that is concerned, would the newer RAM cause any compatiblity
issues (i.e., 2.5 CAS as opposed to 3 for the existing memory and DDR 200 or
400)?

Thanks again,
James

Somewhere on teh intarweb "James Colbert" typed:
You're welcome.

All the memory will run at the speed of the slowest.
--
Shaun.

"~misfit~" <misfit61nz@hooya.com.au> wrote in message
news:4827eb35@news2.actrix.gen.nz...
Thanks, Shaun!

Just installed 2 512K sticks in slots 3 &4. 3GB RAM recognized and running
at dual channel. Thanks again for your input, Pen and Shaun.

James


"James Colbert" <jc2567@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:74GVj.32502$KJ1.23422@newsfe19.lga...

Somewhere on teh intarweb "James Colbert" typed:
You're welcome James, pleased to be able to help.

Cheers,
--
Shaun.

On 11 May, 18:31, "James Colbert" <jc2...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
for some reason mailing lists and web forums are very popular - must
be people don't like newsgroups. probably the spam issue on public
newsgroups, and perhaps difficulty in setting up a newsgroup..

MSI suprisingly have a newsgroup, but as you noticed it is rather
dead.

here is the web forum for MSI

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p..._neo4_platinum


an interesting combination I think I saw once was with wget, it has a
mailing list and newsgroup, linked up - one goes to the other.. And
both also go to a read-only archived discussion forum.

jameshanley39@yahoo.co.uk wrote
Its actually that most dont even now what newsgroups are.

Its actually that most dont even now what newsgroups are.

<jameshanley39@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

Thanks for the link, James. I just came back to mention that, ironically, my
WE index rating has dropped by one full point since installing the extra gig
of RAM. Heh! Performance actually does seem better, although I haven't
really put it through the grind as of yet.

Thanks again,
James

On May 19, 8:55*pm, "Rod Speed" <rod.speed....@gmail.com> wrote:

these communities (users,developers) certainly would
wget, squid

I think that most in these communities would
norton ghost, acronis,
vnc(realvnc,ultravnc,..)

jameshanley39@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
You just had a short circuit between the ears.