How do I Utilize all of my RAM?

[ChuckFerrera]

Hello all,

Thank you beforehand for any help you can give.

So I completed my first build a couple of weeks ago and have been running benchmarks to see how everything is doing. Before I ran those benchmarks however, I went into my BIOS and realized the timings for my G.Skill Ripjaw Xs' were not what they are supposed to be (8-8-8-24). Instead they were 11-11-11-28. I don't know why this is because I had XMP enabled...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445

So I changed those timings and I haven't gotten a BSOD. I then ran memtest86 for 1.5 hours with zero errors.

https://twitter.com/ChuckFerrera/status/244514802146357248/photo/1/large

Next I ran Performance Test 7.0 and realized my computer is not utilizing all of my memory. Below are my system's specs.

https://twitter.com/ChuckFerrera/status/244507434482294784/photo/1/large
https://twitter.com/ChuckFerrera/status/244509328625778689/photo/1/large

If you could help me figure this out I would really appreciate it.

 

[sirstinky]

Is your OS 32 or 64 bit? A 32 bit OS will only "see" up to 3 GB. You need a 64-bit OS in order to utilize all of the RAM. Do you have onboard (integrated) or an add-on video card? The onboard card allocates a portion of the RAM in order to run smoothly.

 

[ChuckFerrera]

Is your OS 32 or 64 bit? A 32 bit OS will only "see" up to 3 GB. You need a 64-bit OS in order to utilize all of the RAM. Do you have onboard (integrated) or an add-on video card? The onboard card allocates a portion of the RAM in order to run smoothly.

Were those links to the images not good? I ask because all of my system information was on there. I am somewhat of a noob. I've been an Apple guy for a looong time, but there is no customization with them so when I decided I wanted a gaming rig obviously I went with a PC.

But I do have 64bit and an EVGA GTX 550 Ti in my PCIe. I think I just noticed that everything is fine with Win7 utilizing my 8 Gigs. I kinda freaked myself out. Haha. Thank you very much for the reply!

My bigger worry is whether or not I changed the timings in my BIOS correctly. As I said above, they were being noticed (through XMP) at 1600 (which is correct) and 11-11-11-28. I went in and changed only those numbers to 8-8-8-24. Is that all I need to change to maximize their suggested performance specs?

 

[poweruser_24]

Yep, your picture links work.

Windows is not utilizing the 8GB of ram you have, but that is probably because you aren't running enough applications for it to be needed. It is all recognised and available to be used if needed, so thats all normal.

As for the timings, yes, if you set them in the bios to the rated settings, and it appears stable after running memtest86 then it may be ok, although other people may recommend you also run other test apps too like prime95 to be sure. From your description it sounds like you got it right.

edit: actually there may be another setting to set the bus speed of the ram e.g. 1333mhz, 1600mhz etc. check your MB manual for where to set this, and check to see if it is correct for the RAM you have.

edit2: doh!, see that you already mentioned the bus speed was correct.

 

[ChuckFerrera]

Yep, your picture links work.

Windows is not utilizing the 8GB of ram you have, but that is probably because you aren't running enough applications for it to be needed. It is all recognised and available to be used if needed, so thats all normal.

As for the timings, yes, if you set them in the bios to the rated settings, and it appears stable after running memtest86 then it may be ok, although other people may recommend you also run other test apps too like prime95 to be sure. From your description it sounds like you got it right.

edit: actually there may be another setting to set the bus speed of the ram e.g. 1333mhz, 1600mhz etc. check your MB manual for where to set this, and check to see if it is correct for the RAM you have.

edit2: doh!, see that you already mentioned the bus speed was correct.

Alright, I'll run that other test tonight. I haven't gotten a BSOD yet and I have been using it since yesterday.

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[ChuckFerrera]

Best answer selected by ChuckFerrera.