3GB usable on x64 with P5LP-LE and GT440

halomademeapc

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Hi, I have 4GB of RAM installed, but Windows tells me that only 3GB is usable. This seems rather odd, since I'm running a x64 system, leading me to think that there may be a problem with the new RAM I bought. however, when I swapped the 1GB module and tried 2 different 512MB modules, Windows displayed "3.5GB (3GB Usable)". I'm no expert, but I think it could be a limitation by either the Asus P5LP-LE motherboard (even though HP states that it can take 4GB), the MSi GT440 graphics card (even though it has its own DDR3 RAM), or the Pentium D 820.
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That ASUS P5LP-LE (Limestone-GL8E) motherboard in the HP Media Center Desktop PC uses the Intel 945G chipset which tells me that it has the Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950.

Check the BIOS settings to see if there is an option to change the amount of system RAM that is allocated for video memory and set it to its lowest setting. If it can be disabled that would even be better.

In the BIOS disable any ports that you're not using like the parallel port, IEEE 1394 controller so that system resources don't get reserved for them.
 

halomademeapc

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hmm... the only option I appear to have a graphics option for [PCIe or PCI] (set to PCIe) in my bios. if the parallel port is the printer port, then I don't use that, and I can also disable the ethernet since I use wifi, but I need the IEEE connections.

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after disabling parallel and ethernet, it's still at 3.00GB

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toggling between PCI-e and PCI does not solve problem.

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would the 945G be affecting the RAM if I have a GT440 in my PCI-e slot?
edit: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Operating-systems-and/Upgrading-RAM-to-4GB-on-HP-m8020n/td-p/181946
it looks like it is the 945G northbridge. So, I suppose we need to figure out what is taking up that whole gigabyte of memory. Since it handles PCI, could it be that it can't adress that RAM because of the graphics card's 1GB DDR3?
 

With those OEM motherboards and their crippled BIOS' you can never be too sure what screwed up resource allocation is going on behind the scenes.

I would go as far as to say that the crippled OEM BIOS is the major limitation.
 
The Intel 945 Chipset has a maximum memory limit of 4GB. Next if you set Memory Remapping -> Enabled {64-bit} you should be able to recapture 'some' memory. Less that of the BIOS Reserved and if equipped iGPU 'shared' memory; if the iGPU cannot be Disabled in the BIOS then reduce the memory to its lowest value and in the Device Manager Disable the iGPU -- IF you have a Discrete GPU.

Good Luck! :)
 

halomademeapc

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Even in "advanced" mode, the HP BIOS is too crippled to have any of those options.

Also, my PC died twice. In one week. So, I went ahead and dl'd 32-bit windows and installed it, so now I have decent working drivers (yay for getting full functionality of my TV tuner back) and the Pentium D seems to be performing a little better. I returned the RAM I just bought seeing as I wouldn't be able to use it anyways.