Will a 32-bit OS be able to handle 32GB of memory on a quad dual-CPU system?

theitguy · 07-27-2006, 07:31 AM

Hello,

Can anyone answer this question:-

Will a 32-bit OS be able to handle 32GB of memory on a quad dual-CPU system, or is the max still 16GB?

Put another way, is the limit 4GB per core or 4GB per physical CPU?

We're looking at using the 32bit version of Red Hat 3 or 4, on HP DL585 with 4 dual core Opteron processors.

Thanks in advance!

Matir · 07-27-2006, 10:56 AM

Using PAE and the appropriate kernel HIGHMEM setting, it will be able to access up to 64GB of memory. That being said, each process cannot access more than 4GB of memory due to the 32bit limitation.

syg00 · 07-27-2006, 04:29 PM

And note Matir said process, not processor.

Matir · 07-27-2006, 04:31 PM

Yep. Number of CPUs in no way affects memory capabilities: only architecture does.