8 GB RAM sticks showing up as 4 GB in both Win 7 Ultimate 64 and in BIOS

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My PC components are as follows:

  • i5-4430
    ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 (http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/B85%20Pro4/?cat=Specifications)
    Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Power Supply
    G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (2 sticks purchased as a pair)
    When I originally built the PC, roughly 9 months ago the memory was working fine and registered as 16 GB. Recently I noticed Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit was only seeing 8 GB. Upon checking BIOS I realized that the computer was still seeing both sticks of ram, but only registering them as 4 GB chips each.

    So far I have tested the memory in multiple configurations. A1 and B1, A2 and B2, A1 and B2, B1 and B2, as well as each slot individually with only one stick (4 gb total showing up). All configurations still only show the sticks as 4 GB.

    I've updated my Bios (2.20) as well as all the drivers on the ASRock page. Also reset everything in Bios to default, then even reset CMOS using the jumper just for good measure.

    Checked in msconfig>boot>advanced and Maximum memory is not checked.

    I've run Memtest86 and got no errrors, but it only saw 4 GB on each chip.

    I've cleaned the contacts on the memory and blown out the slots on the mobo with canned air.

    At this point I am thinking the mobo has gone bad, but am hoping for some suggestions.

    Update: I am just an idiot. I thought I bought 8gb sticks. They are 4s.
 


  • Something isn't right here. Your PC components listed show you bought 2 4GB ram sticks, for 8 GB total. So either your text is wrong, or your components are wrong.
 
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Oh my... I wasted a day of trouble shooting because I apparently forgot I cut a corner when I did my build. Very embarrassing... I was going off of my list I made up on the pc part picker website. Then this morning when I made the post I went off my part number from my newegg invoice. I guess I cut the memory in half bc I'd gone over budget. Wow... sorry about that. Nothing to see here, move along :/
 
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  • Apparently I don't know what I am talking about. I clearly have forgotten that I cut a corner at the last min to save money with this build. The sticker on the ram had the model number ending in 8gbxl, so that further confirmed they were 8 gb to me (didn't occur to me that would be because they are a pair). I could have sworn when I built this computer for my wife I put in 16., but clearly I did not. This morning when I made the post I went to my newegg invoice and used the part number so that I knew I was posting the exact right model of my ram and just cut and pasted. Would have saved me a lot of time if I'd done that earlier.

    I'm very embarrassed and apologize for wasting you folk's time.

    Follow up question, if I add some additional ram, any idea if adding 2 8gb chips with 2 4gb chips is okay, given that the 4 gb chips are paired and the 8 gb chips are paired in the proper slots (A1+B1 and A2+B2)?