Need some help about PC's

[omkarjere]

Can anyone plz answer following questions:

1. Can I keep RAM slots empty ? for e.g If I have 4 slots for RAM and I wanna install 4GB of RAM and If I install 2x2GB kits and keep 2 slots empty will it work ?

2. If I install a good CPU cooler (not stock ones) will the CPU overclock automatically or will I have to modify settings from BIOS.

Thanks

 

[Abhas]

Can anyone plz answer following questions:

1. Can I keep RAM slots empty ? for e.g If I have 4 slots for RAM and I wanna install 4GB of RAM and If I install 2x2GB kits and keep 2 slots empty will it work ?

2. If I install a good CPU cooler (not stock ones) will the CPU overclock automatically or will I have to modify settings from BIOS.

Thanks

1. Yes it will. Absolutely not a problem

2. No. You will have to tweak the settings. The cooler will only help in better colling when the cpu gets hot due to overclocking.

 

[Kshitiz_Indian]

Can anyone plz answer following questions:

1. Can I keep RAM slots empty ? for e.g If I have 4 slots for RAM and I wanna install 4GB of RAM and If I install 2x2GB kits and keep 2 slots empty will it work ?

2. If I install a good CPU cooler (not stock ones) will the CPU overclock automatically or will I have to modify settings from BIOS.

Thanks

As Abhas said -

1. No problems at all.

2. The cooler only cools it better, meaning it brings temperatures down. To OC, you'll need to have the required settings in the BIOS to be able to modify them. For example, Intel BOXD motherboards(IGP ones mostly) do not have these.

 

[Abhas]

Just make sure that your motherboard supports 4 gb ram (most of them easily do nowadays, but worth a check).

Also, if you are installing 2 modules, put them in dual channel. It effectively doubles the bandwidth, and increases performance. - Credits to Kshitiz for this piece of information

 

[Kshitiz_Indian]

Just make sure that your motherboard supports 4 gb ram (most of them easily do nowadays, but worth a check).

Also, if you are installing 2 modules, put them in dual channel. It effectively doubles the bandwidth, and increases performance. - Credits to Kshitiz for this piece of information

Thanks, but don't worry, its not copyrighted.

Kshitiz_Indian added 1 Minutes and 13 Seconds later...

Just remembered, incase you're unaware about it, you'll also need 64-bit Vista if you're going in for 4 GB memory because 32-bit can't support more than 4GB memory in the system in total, which includes your graphics card memory too.

 

[Abhas]

Thanks, but don't worry, its not copyrighted.

Kshitiz_Indian added 1 Minutes and 13 Seconds later...

Just remembered, incase you're unaware about it, you'll also need 64-bit Vista if you're going in for 4 GB memory because 32-bit can't support more than 4GB memory in the system in total, which includes your graphics card memory too.

Stringent Plagiarism rules in college - said that out of habit

So, does that mean, Vista will only be able to detect 2Gb memory if he's installing 4 gb? or will it be 4gb - Video ram ?

 

[Kshitiz_Indian]

Stringent Plagiarism rules in college - said that out of habit

So, does that mean, Vista will only be able to detect 2Gb memory if he's installing 4 gb? or will it be 4gb - Video ram ?

4GB - Video RAM - BIOS size - L2 Cache - L1 cache - any other type of memory present in the system, for example a physx card, a dedicated sound card, or anything which has memory, excluding storage ofcourse.

Basically, the concept is that 32bit operating system or system can support 2^32 bytes(I guess, it might just be bits, though I'm not sure), which comes to 4096MB which we call 4GB. This memory can be any memory because all memories have to be addressed in the system, and have to be mapped. So memory more than 4096mb will remain unmapped and hence unused.

 

[omkarjere]

I know 32-bit OS won't use RAM more than 2-3 GB so one will need a 64-bit OS if he wants 4GB RAM. One more thing which settings should I modify to overclock my processor ? and do normal programs work on 64-bit OS ? or I have to get special 64-bit OS edition ? for e.g Photoshop CS3 will it run on 64-bit as well or there would be a special 64-bit version for that ?

 

[khan31]

I know 32-bit OS won't use RAM more than 2-3 GB so one will need a 64-bit OS if he wants 4GB RAM. One more thing which settings should I modify to overclock my processor ? and do normal programs work on 64-bit OS ? or I have to get special 64-bit OS edition ? for e.g Photoshop CS3 will it run on 64-bit as well or there would be a special 64-bit version for that ?

There are 64 bit versions of normal 32bit apps but to be honest most 32bit programs etc work flawlessly on a 64bit OS. Now to overclock your CPU you need to do quite a bit and I could only help you completely if you happend to have a intel chip and an Asus board!

 

[Kshitiz_Indian]

I know 32-bit OS won't use RAM more than 2-3 GB so one will need a 64-bit OS if he wants 4GB RAM. One more thing which settings should I modify to overclock my processor ? and do normal programs work on 64-bit OS ? or I have to get special 64-bit OS edition ? for e.g Photoshop CS3 will it run on 64-bit as well or there would be a special 64-bit version for that ?

64-Bit Vista has a backwards compatible 32-bit environment too which allows 32-bit older apps to work on Vista 64-bit. Most good softwares are turning 64-bit though.

Beware though, 64-bit vista has no environment for running older 16-bit applications like Cricksim or Turbo C++, something which can be done in 32-Bit vista ultimate at least.

And overclocking a PC is something much more than just changing some settings - its a different experience for everyone. I suggest you read some of the excellent OC guides on sites like anandtech forums or others, etc.

 

[khan31]

A good oc guide which I used to start off - http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardware/110267-c2d-overclocking-guide-beginners-p5k-add.html

The guide is great if you got an Intel Core 2 chip.