Question on Large Address Aware Client

[Kitsune286]

<span class="postbody">Quote Test Notes:The client is Large Address Aware, meaning that you are much less likely to run out of memory if you have 3GB or more of RAM and are running either the 64-bit versions of Windows or have modified your boot.ini to support 3GB user address space.-Okay, I know how to put the /3gb switch in, not hard. But my question is this: If I only have 3GB's of physical ram, is it worth putting this switch on? I read the link back on another dev's post (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx) and there is some talk about Intel Processors. Am I SoL using AMD? I play on test semi-regularly, and while I note the improvement in speed in the program startup, I seem to lag a little bit more in the zones. Ping is okay, no packet loss, but FPS likes to go nuts sometimes, like when flying through Jarsath Wastes.Spec's:AMD Althon X2 64 2.8ghz (dual-core)3GB's of some speed memorynVidia GeForce 8600GT (single vidcard)I guess I really just want to know if its practical to have the switch on, if I only have 3gigs of actual ram.Or, am I completely wrong and this goes by virtual memory, and I just need to ramp it up some? (It's set on 4550MB min and 5550MB max)Did I make anyones head hurt? =)</span>

[Trilarian-2]

The real question is are you running a 64-bit OS?  If not, then you are limited by 4GB of address space - no way around that (2^32).  What this means is your CPU can access a max of 4GB of memory, which includes your video card memory, 640k reserved, etc.  If you make the userspace able to see 3GB, then that leaves 1GB minus your video memory, reserved, etc. which usually is a small number.  Whenver your CPU needs more than that it will swap out files.  In the end, you will end up with a less stable and lower performing machine as many clock cycles are spent swapping memory, instead of loading once.  If you want to use 3GB+ RAM, it would be best to upgrade to a 64-bit OS first.

[Kitsune286]

For a good while, I ran with the /3gb switch on, saw no problems. Running with it off, and its about the same.I guess for me, it ultimately doesn't matter.