Upgrade from 2GB?

I currently have 2gb memory, and as it is relativly cheap, was thinking of adding another 2gb (so for £70 ish I could double my ram).

Specs:
Vista
2GB DDR2
e6600 2.40 GHz
Radeon X1300/X1550 Series

1. Is there any point in getting more RAM? How much difference would the extra 2GB make? Can my current processor make good use of 4GB of RAM? Also, as I'm only on a 32 Bit OS can I even support 4GB?

2. If you say I can use more RAM, then what would you reccomend? I looked at Corsair and Corsair Value, because I know they are likely to be compatable with my current DELL own brand RAM, but I'm really not too sure :).

Cheers for any advice.

NB: Also, can my current system support a 8800 GFS 340mb? Cheers :)

[Jonny2Bad]

Not sure whether vista 32 can support 4g ram, I know xp cant so better google that and find out, if you have pciex slot and a decent psu of about 500w and above then you'll be able to run a 8800 gts

[Nox]

its a physical limitation of any 32 bit operating system, you can only access 4GB of memory minus any thats allocated for devices, such as your gfx card, usb ports, allsorts. A typical 32 bit version of XP will 'see' somewhere around 3.2 GB if you have 4gb installed, but this will fluctuate +- 200MB depending on your hardware.

Nox

[Jonny2Bad]

Ah that would be the proper answer cheers nox i did wonder why xp 32bit wouldnt recognise the full 4g!!!

[djgandy]

A single process can only address 2GB, so unless you multi task you will not be able to take advantage of more than 2Gb.

So my 32 bit Vista could handle the 4GB? If so I'll probably get some, as I do multi task a lot (play CSS with itunes going + on internet in the background etc). What would you reccomend? Links to it on the nova site would be great if you could.
Thanks a lot for the posts so far guys :)

[Nox]

A single process can only address 2GB, so unless you multi task you will not be able to take advantage of more than 2Gb.

that limitation is addressable :) sorry pun intended! /3G on the boot ini sorts that but can cause problems if the application is poorly programmed/compiled, atleast on XP anyway.

see my previous comment about it, it will 'handle' it fine, but you will loose 40% or so of it unless you switch to a 64bit OS.

Nox

[djgandy]

A single process can only address 2GB, so unless you multi task you will not be able to take advantage of more than 2Gb.

that limitation is addressable :) sorry pun intended! /3G on the boot ini sorts that but can cause problems if the application is poorly programmed/compiled, atleast on XP anyway.

see my previous comment about it, it will 'handle' it fine, but you will loose 40% or so of it unless you switch to a 64bit OS.

Nox

AFAIK all memory addresses above 0x7FFFFFFF are not accessable from a user mode process (kernel mode only) although the switch would change this I assume.
I know ms compiler has a large aware flag so you probably have to compile with that.
I'm not sure how the program functions if someone doesnt have the 3gb switch though.