Physical address extension???

Any one have an idea of what this is and do I want to turn it off?? Also How do I turn it off.

Physical address extension(PAE) is something that allows you to run more than 4gb of RAM in an 32bit operating system.If your not running more than 3 then you don't need it enabled.
How to turn it off depends on your operating system.

If your processor has the Data Execution Prevention (DEP) - which helps block viruses by preventing execution of data areas - then PAE has to be turned on for it to operate.

How is PAE turned on?
Option 1: /PAE in boot.ini turns it on
Option 2: System supports but does not enforce DEP - /NOEXECUTE in boot.ini turns on DEP (and PAE).
Option 3: System enforces DEP - DEP (and PAE) are turned on by default.

Thanks guys, So I can use more than 4GB ram running XP pro? I always thought I couldn't and as of now I have 4 GB installed but my system only recognizes 3.50 GB

Yes you can, but there are a few things to consider.

• The system Page tables are twice as big. This will eat into a considerable chunk of the extra 0.5GB
• Since these tables are bigger, there is more data that has to be moved around to maintain them. That uses up some of your memory bandwidth, so there's less available for your apps. It may not be much, but it is there.
• Every address is now memory mapped, which means memory access is slightly slower. Again, not much but it will probably be noticeable on memory benchmarks.

If you wanted to add a lot more memory then enabling PAE is what you need, but it is debatable whether it is worthwhile just to see that extra half Gig.

Well I might add an extra 2 gigs if the machine would use it with PAE enabled I am going to do an overhaul tonight and add a few new toys

Enzotech Extreme X :P, some new Scyth S-flex ans and the Domination Ram cooler

http://www.enzotechnology.com/images/extreme_x.jpg

http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggIma...704-001-02.jpg

and with a fresh copy of Black XP all should be well....I hope:(

I'll be interested to see if that RAM cooler fits.
The OCZ version I bought came perilously close to the vid card and I'm making a new mount to relocate it downwards a bit.

At a glance it looks like it will be fine but what WAS close and I mean "heatsink fins interlocking close" was installing the Blue orb II on my Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 the fins did really interlock by about 1/8 of an inch.

Blue Orb
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/xoxide/blue-orb-II-3.jpg

My board

http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggIma...128-066-05.jpg

Now That was close Also I found out I had to install the ram first before the CPU cooler Oh that sucked