Got new ram, only shows that im using 3.25

[adecoy95]

so i got some new sticks of ram for a total of 4 gigs, but it is only showing 3.25 gigs in there, i am using a core 2 duo computer which i assumed was capable of reading more than the memory limit for ram. what did i do wrong?

 

[Indy-Go]

have you ran CPU-Z or memtest? if not they are a free D/L and i suggest you do just that.

 

[adecoy95]

i ran it it said the memory was ok

 

[4745454b]

i am using a core 2 duo computer which i assumed was capable of reading more than the memory limit for ram. what did i do wrong?

You assumed wrong. Why would a CPU magically be able to "read more then the memory limit?"

3.25GBs tells me you have a 32bit copy of windows. That's all your going to get. You'll have to get a 64bit copy if you want all four gigs. The difference between the two is real world nothing so I wouldn't worry about it to much.

Edit: Just looked at your pic, you have a 64bit copy. Look in your bios for something called memory remap or something like that. It should get you want you want.

 

[photonboy]

That's odd...

1) Open Task Manager and see what's reported under "Total" (should be just below 4096MB)

2) run Memtest or start the Windows 7 memory tester and reboot (see how much RAM is reported)

*The ONLY thing that makes sense to me would be that you have ONBOARD GRAPHICS which shares your System RAM. Otherwise I'm stumped.

 

[adecoy95]

total says 3327

and i just ran the windows memory tester it found no errors.

im currently using a 9600gt nvidia card which i HOPE is not using the ram, but i dont know for shure. is there a way to check to be shure? i doubt it is tho

my motherboard is a GA-945P-S3 (rev 2.0)

it says here that Due to standard PC architecture, a certain amount of memory is reserved for system usage and therefore the actual memory size is less than the stated amount.

i figured i would see a small number reserved, but 750 megs? it also seems really odd that the number it just happens to reserve down to is also the 32bit limit.

 

[4745454b]

Read my edit. You need to flip that setting in your bios. Every bios might call it something else but it should be something similar.

 

[adecoy95]

Read my edit. You need to flip that setting in your bios. Every bios might call it something else but it should be something similar.

ok, it wont let me edit just about anything in the bios, but i did find something that said that my base memory was 640k, and then my extended or something memory was the rest of it.... how do i change the base memory to something smaller? why is it holding this much memory?

 

[4745454b]

Not it. That sounds like the basic info page. Should be elsewhere in your bios. I'll look at my bios to see what section it might be under, but we probably run different types.

 

[Jim_L9]

I looked at your motherboard manual and there isn't a way to see more of the memory. It is limited to 4GB of physical memory and reserves some of the address space above 3 GB.

 

[Bigmac80]

sounds like you have windows 32 bit...

 

[adecoy95]

I looked at your motherboard manual and there isn't a way to see more of the memory. It is limited to 4GB of physical memory and reserves some of the address space above 3 GB.

is it possible that it could be reserving 750 megs? is there a way i can lower this without impacting performance?

 

[4745454b]

Assuming Jim is right its your bios thats not setup for 64bit. It will run 64bit windows ok, but the memory controller found in your NB located on your motherboard can't. Its a 32bit only controller? Something newer then a 945 will probably allow you to use all 4GB. I vote that you don't worry about it. The performance difference between 3.25 and 4.0GBs is nothing.

 

[adecoy95]

Best answer selected by adecoy95.