View Full Version : Dual Xeon System Question


Khaled Chatila
January 10th, 2007, 04:14 AM
Hi Guys,

I have a dual Xeon system which i plan to use for NLE - Supermicro X5DPE-G2 (http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/E7501/X5DPE-G2.cfm) - this system is capable of housing up to 16Gb of RAM - my question is, if 32Bit processors can see a maximum of 4Gb of RAM - why is there the capacity for 16Gb??

I think i've missed something here...

Thanks!

Bart Walczak
January 10th, 2007, 05:42 AM
Some Xeon models are 64-bit.

Harm Millaard
January 10th, 2007, 11:22 AM
The fact that a Xeon may be 64 bit is utter cr*p and completely irrelevant. Whether 4 GB of Ram or more can be used is dependent on the OS and some people prefer to use an other OS than WinXP. Linux or Unix or Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition and Vista come to mind.

For the time being it would not make sense if you use WinXP to install more than 4 GB, but make sure you use four banks to profit from the memory architecture of this mobo. So, better use 4x1GB sticks, than 2x2GB sticks.

Khaled Chatila
January 10th, 2007, 10:23 PM
Thanks Harm,

So you're saying that with an OS other than XP in this system, it could make use of more RAM?

I thought the limit was dependent on the processor and not the OS.

This mobo has 8 banks, and currently i am occupying 4 of them with 1Gb sticks, it came with six, but when i noticed that the OS was only seeing 4, i took the other two out and used them elsewhere.

i think the previous owner was using redhat linux... and by what ur saying, they probably had access to all 6Gb of installed RAM - right?

Thanks.

Harm Millaard
January 11th, 2007, 03:26 AM
Correct, Khaled.