Tom's Hardware > Forum > Motherboards & Memory > Memory > Windows XP pro 64bit not seeing greater then 4 Gigs of ram

Windows XP pro 64bit not seeing greater then 4 Gigs of ram

Forum Motherboards & Memory : Memory - Windows XP pro 64bit not seeing greater then 4 Gigs of ram

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Maxwellg19   01-31-2009 at 09:01:09 PM

Ok i have build me a system about 3 or greater years ago, and i just got a memory upgrade

I used to be running 2 Gig no problems at all,

i just bought 2x2Gb chip from a local vedor the memory is
T8UB2GC5 STT DDR2-800 PC 6400

my mother board is a MSI 945GCM7-L V2 (I know this board only supports DDR2 667 i bought the 800 thinking it would)

since i Bought the ram, my computer has been only seeing 3 Gigs of it and not 4

I've tried
Windows
Vista Ultimate x64
XP Pro x64

Pulling My graphic card, No Different
Running with just on or the other chip My computer reconized the Ram w/out any problem

i have not used 32 bit os since geez (i can't rember)

Bios Sees the Ram
Physical 4096

I can't seem to find any "Memory Hole" or "Memory Remapping"
I've tryied everything i can think of



BTW I'm not useing vista ATM so XP only solutions (Vista was bootleg don't tell Bill gates)


I Think i provided the Info we need to solve this problem






EDIT: i have installed windows 7 bete onto my computer (no hardware change or bois edit) and it now shows up 4 GB i do have pic of system info if i ever figer out to post it



Message edited by Maxwellg19 on 02-13-2009 at 05:00:01 AM
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Maxwellg19   01-31-2009 at 09:03:09 PM

I forgot to mention I've used MRI, and Memtest to see if the ram was good

Reply to Maxwellg19
gamerk316   02-03-2009 at 02:32:13 PM

Well, you've done the steps I would have recommended...I guess check using CPUz to see what it says...

I'll think this one over for a bit, and get back to you if I think of something.

Reply to gamerk316
Maxwellg19   02-03-2009 at 02:46:42 PM

it does in fact show i have 4 GB of ram

Reply to Maxwellg19
13thmonkey   02-05-2009 at 01:05:15 PM

there will be an option in bios to enable PAE physical address extension, I had the same problem about 2 weeks ago, enabled it and was suddenly seeing 6GB instead of an odd figure of 5096 MB

Reply to 13thmonkey
13thmonkey   02-05-2009 at 01:06:53 PM

I might be wrong on a second reading, but with the 64bit os you could have 2GB + 2x2Gb
Can't edit...

Reply to 13thmonkey
bravo29   02-05-2009 at 02:11:45 PM

check your boot.ini file if the /PAE switch is even present.

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to bravo29
gamerk316   02-05-2009 at 02:47:53 PM

Guys, PAE does not increase the amount of system RAM, and won't affect how much RAM the system sees.

He has tried two 64-bit OS's, and still can't see all the RAM. My question: Does the BIOS see the full amount? If so, does CPUz or some other reporting utility see all the RAM?

Reply to gamerk316
13thmonkey   02-05-2009 at 03:30:26 PM

well I was only seeing 5096 of my 6144 MB of ram when I installed another 4GB, and that was at the mobo level, changed a setting to enable 'something' thought it was address extension in the memory section of the bios and the 6GB all appeared/

Reply to 13thmonkey
gamerk316   02-05-2009 at 09:32:05 PM

All right, the BIOS sees the full amount...now, use CPUz or some other utility and tell us how much that one sees...

Reply to gamerk316
Mondoman   02-06-2009 at 03:56:03 AM

The problem is that the OP's MB hardware does not support more than 4GB (presumably because of its 945 chipset). Thus, the only memory addresses available to the hardware (no matter if he is using 32bit or 64bit OS) are 0-4GB. Items such as the graphics card and other peripherals use up some of those 4GB of addresses, so only about 3GB (in the OP's case) of addresses are left over for RAM.

To fully use 4GB or more of RAM, the OS, chipset, and BIOS must all support 8GB or more of RAM; the OP's MB does not meet this requirement.

------------------------------ e2160@3GHz: OCing my way to Ubuntuland!
 Reply to Mondoman
Mondoman   02-06-2009 at 03:56:54 AM

13thm changed a "memory remapping" setting in his BIOS, nothing to do with PAE.

------------------------------ e2160@3GHz: OCing my way to Ubuntuland!
 Reply to Mondoman
Maxwellg19   02-07-2009 at 08:22:59 PM

My bios does see the full amount of ram althose.. it says usage (usable i think)
is like low or high 3 Gigs i'm pretty much Giving on this what i think it maybe is the Motherboard... not bios... Will only see 4BG ram total... that is includeing graphic card and bla bla bla.....


I'm pretty much gonna give up on it and use my X2 939 system at work and leave intel (better system ) at home


But As stated before: CPUZ see all 4 GB of my ram.. i'm not at the PC

ggrrr i can't just leave it along

Reply to Maxwellg19
Maxwellg19   02-07-2009 at 08:31:48 PM

bravo29 wrote :

check your boot.ini file if the /PAE switch is even present.




PAE only changes a 32 bit os to 36 or 38 Bit os that is all

32^2= 3gb 36^2= >3GB 64^2 = >12GB i think that is the basic math based on like 3 weeks of research :( i hate reading :)

but my problem is never gonna be solved until MAJOR upgrade when i go SLI capable Mainboard and q6600

Reply to Maxwellg19
13thmonkey   02-07-2009 at 08:47:48 PM

I just had a look at your mobo manual and cant find anything similar to what I found. Does you mobo show 4GB?

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to 13thmonkey
Maxwellg19   02-07-2009 at 08:49:51 PM

13thmonkey wrote :

I just had a look at your mobo manual and cant find anything similar to what I found. Does you mobo show 4GB?





i know it won't support more then 4GB it does show 4GB physical but the useage if different not sure of the number excatly i don't have my PC in front of me

Reply to Maxwellg19
13thmonkey   02-07-2009 at 10:14:41 PM

if it does show 4GB physical then my idea is out of the window.

my other newer idea is concerning the onboard vga, is some memory mapped to that? or does it not share the onboard memory?

Reply to 13thmonkey
Mondoman   02-08-2009 at 05:02:09 AM

max and 13th - I posted the correct answer above. There's nothing you can do without buying a more advanced MB.

------------------------------ e2160@3GHz: OCing my way to Ubuntuland!
 Reply to Mondoman
13thmonkey   02-08-2009 at 12:14:05 PM

thats very sneaky marketing speak to support 4GB including the other addressable memory requirements (GPU etc.) and they would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those pesky 64bit OS's.


Message quoted 1 times
Reply to 13thmonkey
Maxwellg19   02-09-2009 at 06:51:47 PM

13thmonkey wrote :

thats very sneaky marketing speak to support 4GB including the other addressable memory requirements (GPU etc.) and they would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those pesky 64bit OS's.




BUSTED roflmao

Reply to Maxwellg19
Maxwellg19   02-13-2009 at 04:56:38 AM

OK i have a new update i have installed windows 7 and what do i know i see 4 GB of ram hum.... that is carzy ... what is worse is the of version os is 32 bit O;-)





Question how do i post pics on here? i do have proof

Reply to Maxwellg19
13thmonkey   02-13-2009 at 08:59:33 AM

were you using vista 64 with sp1, or an early disk of vista. Prior to a patch there was a problem with how it reported large amounts of memory when gpus with large amounts of memory were installed.

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to 13thmonkey
Maxwellg19   02-13-2009 at 02:34:34 PM

13thmonkey wrote :

were you using vista 64 with sp1, or an early disk of vista. Prior to a patch there was a problem with how it reported large amounts of memory when gpus with large amounts of memory were installed.




Vista was a early version, but it was the same with the XP 64bit after all the updates, IDC now i can see 4 GB of ram i'ma stick with windows 7 untill the ful version comes out

Reply to Maxwellg19
NarMattaru   03-26-2009 at 03:49:05 AM

What I had did was enable the memory hole in the bios and wallah, it now shows 4gigs, cause I too am running xp pro64.

Reply to NarMattaru
gockmaster   03-26-2009 at 10:59:40 AM

i have the dame problem. i had a 32 bit operating system and upgraded to a 64 bit professional xp.i later bought 8Gb of ram in pairs trying to be precoshis.when i instaled the ram i started up my computer and looked at the bios and said i had 8gb of ram,
when i got on my computer i checked preferences of "computer" and said i only had 3Gb of ram.I'am hoping that someone can help me on this.

u can contacted me at "Gockball@yahoo.com" if u would like to inform me of a solution

Reply to gockmaster
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