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how many memory ?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 3:47 am
by jeff55
Hi all,
I use to fly with FS for about 12 years now, but never could get a good frame rate when approaching of detailled sceneries or airports. My computer is : AMD Atlon XP 2400+ with 512kB of ram 333Mhz DDR, windows 98se and a Geforce 4 ti4800 as video board on a 8x AGP connector. I have been told by many computer sellers that Windows 98 cannot manage with more that 256 Mb of memory, is it thru ? or can FS9 manage with more memory. The actual frame I can get is from 40 or more on simple landclass down to 10 to 12 on more complex scenery ?
would it be efficient to add more memory as I could see on some of your computers specifications ?

Jeff ???

Re: how many memory ?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 3:58 am
by ozzy72
Win98 is limited to 512mb, so you are at your limit, to add more you'll have to change your OS to XP.

Ozzy

Re: how many memory ?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 4:09 am
by VPA_KTPA
Thats correct Ozzy 512mb is win 98s and win me limit i learnt that the hard way back in my win 98 days.FrJeff if you would move up to win xp and add as much ram as you mother board will handle you will see a big improvement then what you have now.my mother board will handle 2 gigs of DDR ram but i am at 1 gig and i think thats plenty to get the job done.

Re: how many memory ?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 9:51 am
by Gixer
Yup as said get XP then 1gig of ram.  You will need that much coz XP alone eats up 200meg of it  :o  I did notice a big difference when I went from 512 to 1gig though.

Re: how many memory ?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 12:19 pm
by garymbuska
[quote][/quote]Thats correct Ozzy 512mb is win 98s and win me limit
I am currently using windows ME and it has a max memory of 768 Megs not 512 it has 3 slots each capable of holding 256 meg ram DDR

Re: how many memory ?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 12:51 pm
by Gixer
Gary, it doesnt matter how many slots you have its the software that limits it.  Your mobo could probably take far more than ME can handle, though I do believe 98se and ME will run on 768 though I am unsure if it handles it well.  

I seem to remeber Fozzer runnin 768 on 98se or ME and hes has no probs, dont quote me on that though as its just from memory.

Re: how many memory ?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 1:17 pm
by VPA_KTPA
Thats what i had win 98SE and i unknowingly tried to run over the 512mb and my computer started doing things it shouldnt be doing.its in the FAQ on microsoft web site and it states running over 512mb with win98SE

Re: how many memory ?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 2:14 pm
by garymbuska
I currently running 642 megs and have no problems. I understand what you are saying but the system specs for the model I have will support 768 megs of ram I have a pentium 3 running at just under 1 Gig (978) or something like that. I think that it might be the athlon or cellaron chips that have this limit. I had a amd processor and it could only handle 64 megs of ram but this used windows 95.
If the software wont support anyhting above 512 than why put the slots to allow you to put 768 meg. What is it supposed to do with the extra 256 megs of ram.
I am certain that it is the cpu that determines how much ram you can have as they can only address so much.

Re: how many memory ?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 2:50 pm
by Sterk
garymbuska,may be what you say is correct,but only in cases when there is a big gap between proc power and memory-like,say,500 Mhz processor and 1Gb memory-wich is ridiculous,but if you have 1.5 Ghz processor and more(and no matter Amd or Intel) you can quietly put 1 gb memory or more and it'll be handled.First thing that limits memory size it's mom-then-os(windows).

Re: how many memory ?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 4:07 pm
by Scottler
If the software wont support anyhting above 512 than why put the slots to allow you to put 768 meg.


Because computers are mass produced, and the builder of the computer doesn't necessarily know what mobo and/or OS you're going to install.

Re: how many memory ?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 4:15 pm
by Fozzer
[quote]Gary, it doesn't matter how many slots you have its the software that limits it.

Re: how many memory ?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 10:36 pm
by oldhorse
I Came a cross this Awhile back, Have not try it.
      Rich

This thread came up before, but it was stated that W98 and W98SE would not support more than 512MB. It will.

Just enter in system.ini a VCache section (heading surrounded by square brackets) and in it include MaxFileCache=262144. You can max that at 524288, but I thought I'd leave it lower. Seems to work OK and will antivirus, firewall, trojan-protection, necessary backround stuff, I have about 500 MB free after start-up with 88% sys and user resources.

In the 386 Enhanced section supposedly entering MaxPhysPage=40000 will let have a GB of ram in there, but apparently this does not work for all and I elected the conservative route by using 256 for the second chip set.

Another by trial addition to reduce async swap-file writing in the background is to add ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 in the 386 Enhanced section. This _MAY_ improve stutter cases and is specific to each machine config whether there will be improvement or not.

MSMVP author's site with lot's of hints for all MS Win Versions is http://www.aumha.org/.

Re: how many memory ?

PostPosted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 2:52 am
by jeff55
Hi all,

Re: how many memory ?

PostPosted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 2:54 am
by jeff55
Hi all,

Thanks for your advices, I have now to experiment !

Regards,

Jeff. :D

Re: how many memory ?

PostPosted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 5:08 am
by jeff55
Hi everybody,

I did not have time yet to get some more memory, but could make some tests anyway. On my computer I have Norton System Works. This software contain some monitoring features which can report the current activity of physical and virtual memory and CPU load an so on. The result is that when FS9 run, the physical memory (512KB) is not fully used ( 120MB to 150Mb free according to the situation). But the CPU activity is constantly at 99 to 100%. This make me think that the problem may have more to do with the CPU itself.
What do you think ?

Jeff  :o