RAM decreases

[tl288]

I have 2 2gb sticks in my #1 and #2 slot and I get 4 gigs.....when I insert 2 more sticks that are 1gb each into slot #3 and #4 hopefully for 6 gigs total I get only 3 gigs reading in system properties.......originally I had 4 1gig sticks in for 3.96 gigs of ram,.... any Ideas?

 

[gamerk316]

32 bit OS?

 

[tl288]

yes 32 bit

 

[mcnumpty23]

you need 64bit operating system if you want to use 6gb

thats assuming your motherboard supports that much ram

 

[13thmonkey]

you may also need to use PAE in the bios, else the bios may not recognise >4GB. Not sure why its decreased, but the extra 2GB is useless without the 64 bit OS.

 

[gamerk316]

^^ Probably decreased due to addressing changes with an extra 2 sticks in. Some mobos also may not work well with 4 sticks running in 32-bit mode...