P5WDG2 WS Pro

Hey all!

Am I reading this correctly??? The P5WDG2 WS Pro won't support
more than 3 gigs of RAM under WinXp 32bit? It supports 8Gigs of
DDR2800 - would all that go to waste under 32 bit XP Pro? (I read
this in the pdf manual and linked to the ASUS site for the following -
below...)

In the mean time, can someone suggest a MB for a Duo-Core e6600 that
supports DDR2-800? I'd also like onboard NIC, Audio, IDE and SATA
support - 1394 and a second NIC would be nice. This P5WDG2 WS Pro
has all that except for the above problem!

Also, does WinXp 64 run EVERYTHING the 32 bit version does? Or will
half my apps not run if I upgrade?

Thanks!!!!!


FROM SITE:
If you installed total 4GB memory, the system will detect less than
4GB of total memory because of address space allocation for other
critical functions, such as:

- System BIOS (including motherboard, add-on cards, etc..)
- Motherboards resources
- Memory mapped I/O
- configuration for AGP/PCI-Ex/PCI
- Other memory allocations for PCI devices

Different onboard devices and different add-on cards (devices) will
result of different total memory size.
e.g. more PCI cards installed will require more memory resources,
resulting of less memory free for other uses.

On a SLI system, since PCI-Ex graphic cards will occupy around 256MB,
another 256MB will be occupied after you install a 2nd PCI-Ex graphic
card. Hence, 2.75GB memory left only if two SLI cards installed on
A8N-SLI Premium while 3.0GB memory left with one graphic card without
other add-on devices.


This limitation applies to most chipsets & Windows XP 32-bit version
operating system.

If you install Windows XP 32-bit version operating system, we
recommend that you install less than 3GB of total memory. If more than
3GB memory is required for your system, then below two conditions must
be met:
1. The memory controller which supports memory swap functionality is
used. The latest chipsets like Intel 975X, 955X, Nvidia NF4 SLI Intel
Edition, Nvidia NF4 SLI X16, and AMD K8 CPU architecture can support
the memory swap function.
2. Windows XP Pro X64 Ed. (64-bit) or other OS which can address more
than 4GB memory.

nada RemoveThis @home.net wrote:
> Hey all!
>
> Am I reading this correctly??? The P5WDG2 WS Pro won't support
> more than 3 gigs of RAM under WinXp 32bit? It supports 8Gigs of
> DDR2800 - would all that go to waste under 32 bit XP Pro? (I read
> this in the pdf manual and linked to the ASUS site for the following -
> below...)

That's correct. It's a result of 32 bit addressing. The "background"
tasks are run in the addresses above 3 GB, as explained in the info you
have posted below. As stated, most chipsets have this limitation.

> In the mean time, can someone suggest a MB for a Duo-Core e6600 that
> supports DDR2-800? I'd also like onboard NIC, Audio, IDE and SATA
> support - 1394 and a second NIC would be nice. This P5WDG2 WS Pro
> has all that except for the above problem!

It's not the board...it's the OS (and the chipset). I am running a
P5B-Plus with a e6600 at 3 GHz without even trying. It has all you
listed, except just one NIC.

And, of course, the P5WDG2.

> Also, does WinXp 64 run EVERYTHING the 32 bit version does? Or will
> half my apps not run if I upgrade?
>
> Thanks!!!!!

64 bit XP and 64 bit Vista does not have the addressing problem. You
can use all of whatever memory you install. If you do run a 64 bit OS,
you will have to make sure that any peripheral(s) you install have 64
bit drivers, otherwise they will not work. Not sure if 32 bit apps will
run in a 64 bit environment.