4Gb out of 8Gb useable, can't find permanent fix

PCN00B · Feb 8, 2014

I always get the 4gb useable problem on my pc, I've found a few work arounds that get me 8Gb useable but they only work for one or two restarts then its 4gb useable again. I honestly don't know what to do, I think it might be a problem with the GPU taking the RAM but I'm not sure how to fix that or if it is. Any help would be appreciated.

My specs-
AMD FX 6100 (turbo mode 3.8GHz)
Radeon HD 6870 1GB
Corsair Vengeance (2x4Gb 1600Mhz)
Windows 7 64 bit
Western Digital Caviar Black 1Tb
Asus m5a99x Evo

Roxas_Boy · Feb 8, 2014

mbarnes86 · Feb 8, 2014

Hi

If you are over clocking PC go back to default speeds

Check voltage of CMOS button battery (should be 3 volts)
in case cmos settings lost when mains power switched off

check motherboard manual for any settings relating to 32/64 bit OS

regards

Mike Barnes

PCN00B · Feb 8, 2014

Roxas_Boy :

As I said above I have a 64 bit OS, its windows 7 64 bit OEM

yoji · Feb 8, 2014

Roxas_Boy :

Nice one Rozas_Boy.. he clearly says he using Win 7 64 bit and if it was 32 bit OS it would never show using 8GB.. as he says it has done on occasions.. for a few restarts

PCN00B · Feb 8, 2014

mbarnes86 :

I've checked the Mobo manual and there is nothing about OS in in that I can see. Changing back to default speeds did nothing when I tried it before but I'll do it again anyway just to make sure. How do I check the CMOS voltage?

alyoshka · Feb 8, 2014

Just check to see if the RAM modules haven't come loose first.

13thmonkey · Feb 8, 2014

could be a memory remapping feature or Physical address extension on mobo, but doesn't really fit with symptoms. It's a problem for older boards generally.

PCN00B · Feb 8, 2014

alyoshka :

I've thoroughly cheched the RAM, each module works fine on it's own and shows full 4Gb then when I put them in together, no matter what configuration, It'll show 8Gb for a few restarts but then it'll go back to 4Gb useable, normally after the third restart.

PCN00B · Feb 8, 2014

13thmonkey :

I though it might've been that a while ago but couldn't find a way to disable it and I'm not sure if my mobo has that feature anyway.

alyoshka · Feb 8, 2014

Is it showing 4 GB Now?
If it is and you have both the stick inside, check msconfig and see if the max memory has been ticked?
Also check in CPU Z the RAM section, what does it show in the memory section, how many sticks are shown as active?
At what speeds? and at what Voltages are they running now..

PCN00B · Feb 8, 2014

alyoshka :

Yes, all advanced boot options are unticked and therefore greyed out, cpu z memory tab has type - ddr3 size - 8192 Mb then the rest is greyed out. The SPD tab has identical stats for each module which is
size - 4096
max. bandwidth - PC3-10700h (667Mhz)
Manufacturer - corsair
Part Number - CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
SPD EXT. - XMP

The rest of the options are greyed out, in the timing table part
Freq. 518 592 666 800
Cas 7 8 9 9
Ras 7 8 9 9
Ras 7 8 9 9
tras 19 22 24 24
trc 27 30 34 41
command rate 2T
Volltage - 1.5

Hope this is of use

alyoshka · Feb 8, 2014

Channel? That should be showing Dual

PCN00B · Feb 8, 2014

alyoshka :

Yeah Dual Channel

alyoshka · Feb 8, 2014

OK, what rev is the Mobo?
Is the BIOS updated?
And have you checked the QVL from the Asus Website to see if those Memory Modules are Supported?

PCN00B · Feb 8, 2014

alyoshka :

The corsair memory I have is supported, the bios are factory, I've never updated them, I'm not sure what rev the mobo is i think it may be 1 but not sure. I am able to use more of my ram by ticking the max memory box in msconfig and putting in different values but these don't last past 5 or so restarts, not sure if that info helps or not.

PCN00B · Feb 8, 2014

brandonvi · Feb 9, 2014

I am having a problem kind of like this my self

X58 Motherboard
windows 7 (64bit)

I have 3 sticks of 2GB ram and 3 sticks of 1GB ram some times the 1GB stuff just does not show up

some times I have 6GB useable some times its 7 some times its 8 or even now and then a full 9GB no real reason and it changes just when I reboot currently as I type I have 8GB working so far I have not been able to find anything at all to explain whats going on

alyoshka · Feb 10, 2014

Could be a problem with the memcontroller on the cpu......
But will need more feedbacks from other people to really get to the root of this problem.

PCN00B · Feb 10, 2014

brandonvi :

It looks like you have 2 different ram kits that are not compatible with each other, it's advised to have the same type of ram in each slot eg 4x identical 8gb sticks instead of 2 x 16 and 2 x 4 as they may need different voltages etc. and are therefore not compatible, my problem is a bit different from yours as both my sticks are the same.

PCN00B · Feb 10, 2014

alyoshka :

How would I be able to check if it is a memcontroller issue, is the a program that is able to tell me or is there a setting I can find in the BIOS?

PCN00B · Feb 12, 2014

I've recently been doing some OCing and I'm currently using the auto OC settings in the BIOS coupled with turbo mode in AMD overdrive which gives me steady simple 3.9GHz, I'm going to up it a bit later but this is fine for now. Doing this seems to give me 8GB normally. Do you think the problem is that there is an incorrect frequency being applied to the RAM but by doing these auto OC settings is forcing a correct amount on it?

alyoshka · Feb 13, 2014

Maybe, but there is certainly a hitch between the mem controller , the bios settings and the RAMs.....
I could suggest trying to note the values of the timings , voltages, etc etc when you're getting the whole 8GB and then putting it in manually, instead of the Auto OC settings. And see if you still manage to get 8GB @3.9GHz CPU speed. Manually.

4Gb out of 8Gb useable, can't find permanent fix

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