I plan to build a mini morkstation, silent of course, with Vista 64 bit and 2 x 2 GB memory.
I'd like to know how to test 4+ GB of memory, since AFAIK the testing software is 32 bit only, and can only test upto 2 GB.
Maybe memtest86+ can use PAE to test over 2 GB, but I'm not sure, so I ask for advice.
Vista 64 bit question: what are the differences between Home Premium, Business and Ultimate, besides price?
What would I miss if I go for the cheaper Home Premium? It's not that I can't afford the Ultimate, but could seem odd with integrated graphics.
The workstation would have AMD 4850e undervolted and underclocked, Abit AN78HD, WD GP 750 GB in SQD, Zen 300 PSU.
And last question, which anti-virus would you recommend for Vista 64 bit? Thank you in advance.
Vista64 variations and testing 4+ GB RAM questions
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I haven't got a clue about memtest, you could always test the two memory sticks independent from each other... but I don't know if that is a perfect way.
There are several programs for vista which differ between home premium and business. Media center is not included in the business version, and some office things are not found on home premium. Vista Ultimate got it all. On the microsoft vista website the differences are listed.
If you buy an OEM license together with your hardware, it is a lot cheaper than buying a retail version.
With an OEM license the windows license is coupled to your hardware, I remember something about vista Ultimate and that you were allowed to upgrade a lot more hardware with that version. But, unfortunately, I can't find that information anymore
.
You can always upgrade from Home Premium to Ultimate, also after install.
There are several programs for vista which differ between home premium and business. Media center is not included in the business version, and some office things are not found on home premium. Vista Ultimate got it all. On the microsoft vista website the differences are listed.
If you buy an OEM license together with your hardware, it is a lot cheaper than buying a retail version.
With an OEM license the windows license is coupled to your hardware, I remember something about vista Ultimate and that you were allowed to upgrade a lot more hardware with that version. But, unfortunately, I can't find that information anymore
.You can always upgrade from Home Premium to Ultimate, also after install.
After some Googling and some browsing I found this.
http://forum.x86-secret.com/showthread.php?t=8142
You will need to use the + version, but you can test 64GB in your PC without having to swap DIMM's.
I also found this, (please ignore the basics that follow, not everyone who will read this will know the following) - you will of course have to be running a 64-bit platform (i.e. AMD64 or the Intel copied design), this might sound silly but some people might read this and think that they can bung 8GB of RAM into an old system to test it (out off the way in a corner), and then have it tell them whether its good/bad. In reality you will need a 64-bit OS to even use 4GB or more of RAM, and you need to test the RAM in the system it will be used in, and at the speed it will be used at, this is because a fault could occur with the motherboard/chipset/CPU that wont happen in another system. Overclockers often use this tool on a 24+ hour test run to see if their RAM/RAM subsystem is working correctly, or if that is the bottleneck to further overclocking.
http://forum.x86-secret.com/showthread.php?t=7614
Andy
http://forum.x86-secret.com/showthread.php?t=8142
You will need to use the + version, but you can test 64GB in your PC without having to swap DIMM's.
I also found this, (please ignore the basics that follow, not everyone who will read this will know the following) - you will of course have to be running a 64-bit platform (i.e. AMD64 or the Intel copied design), this might sound silly but some people might read this and think that they can bung 8GB of RAM into an old system to test it (out off the way in a corner), and then have it tell them whether its good/bad. In reality you will need a 64-bit OS to even use 4GB or more of RAM, and you need to test the RAM in the system it will be used in, and at the speed it will be used at, this is because a fault could occur with the motherboard/chipset/CPU that wont happen in another system. Overclockers often use this tool on a 24+ hour test run to see if their RAM/RAM subsystem is working correctly, or if that is the bottleneck to further overclocking.
http://forum.x86-secret.com/showthread.php?t=7614
Andy
Thank you both for the answers.
The Vista differences page is helpful, I should be able to make up my mind.
The forum discussion on memtest86+ confirms what I suspected: testing of 4 GB only with PAE.
I wonder how to find out if a motherboard, particularly a uATX one, supports PAE.
I hoped that by now someone had written a 64-bit memtest.
I checked on memtest 64-bit support about 6 months ago, and since then there was no progress.
If the code wouldn't be Linux based I would have volunteered to write some 64-bit assembly.
PS. My 1,000th post, cool!
The Vista differences page is helpful, I should be able to make up my mind.
The forum discussion on memtest86+ confirms what I suspected: testing of 4 GB only with PAE.
I wonder how to find out if a motherboard, particularly a uATX one, supports PAE.
I hoped that by now someone had written a 64-bit memtest.
I checked on memtest 64-bit support about 6 months ago, and since then there was no progress.
If the code wouldn't be Linux based I would have volunteered to write some 64-bit assembly.
PS. My 1,000th post, cool!
You dont need t worry about PAE support as all CPU's have supported this for some time now, if your machine is new you wont have any trouble.
As they said in the forums there really isnt much point making a 64-bit variant at the moment as the only really useful benefit will be its ability to test more than 64GB of RAM in a single PC - give it a couple of yeaqrs and I expect it will be needed, and be out by then.
Andy
As they said in the forums there really isnt much point making a 64-bit variant at the moment as the only really useful benefit will be its ability to test more than 64GB of RAM in a single PC - give it a couple of yeaqrs and I expect it will be needed, and be out by then.
Andy