NASM Forum > Other Discussion

memory addressing system

(1/1)

mostafaxx:
hello every one,

i have a question a bout how a computer system address memory,

i know that a 32bit processor can't address memory more than 4294967296 bytes that is 4 GB
because it's address bus is only 32bit long and its registers are 32bit long,

now how could a computer address plus to the 4gigs of memory a 300GB hard disk and 16GB flash memory???

Frank Kotler:
Two registers...

Best,
Frank

Keith Kanios:

--- Quote from: mostafaxx on January 28, 2013, 06:58:02 PM ---now how could a computer address plus to the 4gigs of memory a 300GB hard disk and 16GB flash memory???

--- End quote ---

If I understand correctly, you are asking how a computer can address 4GB of RAM, a 300GB hard disk and 16GB of flash memory all on the same 32-bit address bus.

The short answer is that devices such as hard disks and flash memory are not mapped entirely into the address bus, but accessed in blocks/sectors.

Read up on terms like CHS/LBA/PATA/SATA/ACHI for more information.

Navigation

[0] Message Index