4 gb installed, 2.89 gb usable

ErmQay

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Mar 1, 2017
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I have Acer laptop 5738 model. Originally, it had two sticks, 1GB (PC2-5300) and 2GB (PC2-6400), and total RAM was showing 3GB. I replaced it with a new 2GB (PC2-6400) stick, now it shows 4GB RAM with usable as 2.89 GB only. Both 2GB sticks are Samsung 2GB 2Rx8 PC2-6400S-666-12-E3. OS is windows 7 32-bit. RAMs are DDR2. Why it shows 3GB with 1GB and 2GB sticks (I tried both new and old 2GB sticks), but only 2.89GB with two 2GB sticks, even though 1GB stick is of different speed than both 2GB sticks.
I browsed through similar questions on this forum, but it seems this is happening even on 64-bit OS. Am I getting slower speed with (1+2) GB RAMs as 1GB RAM is of slower speed?
 
Solution
If you go into BIOS, I expect on the "Main" screen it will say that total memory is 4096 MB (4 GB) and video memory is 1024 MB. This is why only 3 GB is available to windows, 1 GB is being reserved for the video card frame buffer. If you are using the laptop for playing games, then that is totally reasonable. But, if you don't play games on it, then it is way too much video memory.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think under the "Advanced" tab you will find video options and there you can turn down the amount of video memory. If I am wrong, you may have do some digging to find the option.
If you go into BIOS, I expect on the "Main" screen it will say that total memory is 4096 MB (4 GB) and video memory is 1024 MB. This is why only 3 GB is available to windows, 1 GB is being reserved for the video card frame buffer. If you are using the laptop for playing games, then that is totally reasonable. But, if you don't play games on it, then it is way too much video memory.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think under the "Advanced" tab you will find video options and there you can turn down the amount of video memory. If I am wrong, you may have do some digging to find the option.
 
Solution