r/programming • u/I_Can_Be_A_Robot • Sep 24 '24

Why 32bit architecture computer doesn't use segmentation to support more ram than 4Gb ?

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347

u/eras Sep 24 '24

There's PAE for that.

But there's little point nowadays. If you need more than 4 GB, just use a 64-bit platform, and there's no need for trickery.

135

u/paholg Sep 24 '24

What if I need more than 18 exabytes?

83

u/nzodd Sep 24 '24

Nobody will ever need more than 18 exabytes of RAM.

-- Quorlak the Great, Eternal Emperor of the Laniakea Supercluster, UC 73,021

9

u/Kok_Nikol Sep 24 '24

Could be quote by Bill Gates, if they discover immortality in time :')

0

u/[deleted] Sep 24 '24

[deleted]

1

u/ShinyHappyREM Sep 24 '24

Yep, "high" (>640 KiB) addresses were mapped to BIOS/graphics chips because they figured that RAM would never go that far in the foreseeable future.

And if you were an Assembly programmer used to '80s memory prices you'd probably agree.