Sql Server 2005 and AWE

In perfmon look at SQLServer:Memory Manager:Total Server Memory (KB) is this >4Gb

x86 processes with the LargeAddressAware bit set (like sqlservr.exe) get a full 4 GB VAS for themselves. Enabling AWE (on OS and SQL editions that support it) allows the SQL server instance to map extra pages (up to 64GB) in and out of its VAS and use them for the buffer pool.

That being said, x86 is a dead end and you should switch to an x64 instance ASAP.

• Best Practices for WOW64
• Memory Architecture
• Q and A: x64 & AWE mechanism