Should my system perform better in high quality mode?

[Master of Puppets]

<p>My current setup is: </p><p>windows xp</p><p>4 gigs DDR2 memory (xp 32 bit only "sees" 2.75......btw, is it possible to make xp see all  4 gigs?)</p><p>2 PNY 8600 GTS cards in SLI mode (I've found alternate frame rendering is best)</p><p>P4 dual core 2.66 ghz processor</p><p>Gigabyte GA-N650SLI-DS4 board (NForce board with 650i chipset)</p><p>I can run in balanced mode fine but high quality causes the frame rate to stutter occasionally due </p><p>to shadow loading.  I'd like to pinpoint where my problem could be if there is one.  I'm thinking I should </p><p>be able to run in high quality better than I am.  Is anyone using a similar system that can run in high quality</p><p>with no stutters?  It would be nice to play the game with shadows.</p>

[Sploit]

Master of Puppets wrote: <blockquote><p>My current setup is:  </p><p>windows xp</p><p>4 gigs DDR2 memory (xp 32 bit only "sees" 2.75......btw, is it possible to make xp see all  4 gigs?)</p></blockquote><p> As far as I know Windows XP 32-bit can only use about 3 GiB of RAM, and has a limit of 2 GiB per process. I don't think there is an easy way to get around this limitation, except for using a 64-bit OS (XP64/Vista64).</p><p> Regards,</p>

[Master of Puppets]

<p>I've been told that and was hoping there was a way around that limitation.  I'd like for xp to utilize all the memory but I don't care to buy</p><p>a 64-bit version of xp (especially since vista has a 64-bit version that will have more support) so my pc can use all 4 gigs or try to use vista at this time. </p><p>Thanks for the reply.  I'll make do with what I've got     <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> </p>

[Besual]

Master of Puppets wrote: <blockquote><p>I've been told that and was hoping there was a way around that limitation.  I'd like for xp to utilize all the memory but I don't care to buy</p><p>a 64-bit version of xp (especially since vista has a 64-bit version that will have more support) so my pc can use all 4 gigs or try to use vista at this time. </p><p>Thanks for the reply.  I'll make do with what I've got     <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> </p></blockquote> Don't set all your hope in a 64bit OS. Several mother boards have issues with 4GB+. In your example reason for the 2.75GB could be the motherboard. It reserves a memory address range for your graphic cards and the real RAM in this memory address range is blacked out. Anyway: EQ2 will use only 1 CPU and 2GB(?) RAM max. And it's really CPU heavy.