I had 9GB of RAM, took my computer apart and now have 6GB?

[777]

I h ad 9gb of ram. I took my computer apart to move. I removed the ram, graphics card and hard drive.

When I put everything back together it says I now have 6gb of ram. Im kind of confused because I have 6 sticks of 1gb. So Im not sure how I had 9.

I definitely had 9gb . On the side of my computer it has a sticker with the specs and says 9gb ddr3 memory.

I should also mention I wrote down the ordered I took the sticks out but when I unpacked them I was talking to someone and got 3 mixed up. I assume thats the issue. Is there anyway to know how to fix it?


Sorry for the error in the title.

 

[captaincranky]

OK, unless you were using the "memory boost" function in Win 7 or Vista, then you couldn't have had 9GB of RAM. "Memory Boost" or whatever it's called, uses a flash drive to extend the on board memory.

Have you tried using a system information program to figure out exactly what RAM modules you have, who made them etc.?

SIW is a good program for this: http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html

Be certain to download ONLY this version: "SIW Without Installer (English-Only)"

It's the last download toward the bottom of the page.

 

[red1776]

I'm curious what board would have six, much less nine DIMMS, that would accept...or that you would put 1GB memory modules in? is this thing an old dual xeon? or a X58?

 

[captaincranky]

I'm curious what board would have six, much less nine DIMMS, that would accept...or that you would put 1GB memory modules in? is this thing an old dual xeon? or a X58?

I was curious about that also, but I thought the OP wanted to keep it a secret.

 

[777]

I dont know a lot about computers. Its a gateway fx6803-35. I looked it up and it has a X58.

Using SIW it says I have 6gb but I know I had 9gb.

 

[LookinAround]

I'm not a hardware guy (the other guys can tell you much more about your memory and hardware then i can) but i was curious and did look up the Gateway spec HERE which shows 6 slots up to 2MB each.

Why don't you run SIW again, click Hardware->Memory. Then right click on the memory information in the right pane, select Copy to Clipboard and paste into a post. It might at least help confirm if each stick is 1mb each or not

/* edit */
Here's an interesting aside: When i google fx6803-35 9gb i find your Gateway is commonly sold configured with 9GB!?

 

[red1776]

I'm not a hardware guy (the other guys can tell you much more about your memory and hardware then i can) but i was curious and did look up the Gateway spec HERE which shows 6 slots up to 2MB each.

Why don't you run SIW again, click Hardware->Memory. Then right click on the memory information in the right pane, select Copy to Clipboard and paste into a post. It might at least help confirm if each stick is 1mb each or not

/* edit */
Here's an interesting aside: When i google fx6803-35 9gb i find your Gateway is commonly sold configured with 9GB!?

It has 3x2GB & 3x1GB sticks....I was curious as the OP said he had 6 x 1 GB sticks...but I think you solved the mystery......Ram was obviously cheap when they built these things.

 

[LookinAround]

It has 3x2GB & 3x1GB sticks....I was curious as the OP said he had 6 x 1 GB sticks...but I think you solved the mystery......Ram was obviously cheap when they built these things.

One mystery down, maybe one to go...

i thought all those ads for that Gateway model showing it came with 9GB at least lent some credibility to the OP's claim that once upon a time they saw 9GB on the machine. But, of course, the math doesn't add up if they really have 6x1GB sticks as OP also said.

So maybe SIW memory detail for each slot might also be interesting.... (if 3 sticks are really 2GB, could slot order make any difference???) in any case, am curious to see what SIW slot detail reports

 

[LookinAround]

Oh.

I just noticed a memory upgrade site describes those "6 slots" as 2 banks of 3

Upgrade memory on Gateway FX6803-35 (DDR3-1333MHz) upto a maximum of 9GB PC3-10666 DDR3-1333 240pin SDRAM DIMM, with maximum per slot in 6 (2 banks of 3) ...

@777
You must really have 3 sticks of 2GB and 3x1GB and i'm guessing you need all 3 2GB sticks in the same bank to be recognized as 6GB plus your 3x1GB in the other bank will hopefully give you back your 9

 

[captaincranky]

........Whoops....

 

[captaincranky]

Oh.

I just noticed a memory upgrade site describes those "6 slots" as 2 banks of 3


@777
You must really have 3 sticks of 2GB and 3x1GB and i'm guessing you need all 3 2GB sticks in the same bank to be recognized as 6GB plus your 3x1GB in the other bank will hopefully give you back your 9

You lost me a bit here, I was thinking that since this is X58 we're dealing with, wouldn't tri-channel RAM be 3 banks of 2 slots each... Time to download an X-58 manual of any brand, just for the board layout diagram.

This of course unless the 2 banks of 3 are really split pairs. Such an arrangement might go something like this:

Channel 0 Bank A
Channel 1 Bank A
Channel 2 Bank A

Then:

Channel 0 Bank B
Channel 1 Bank B
Channel 2 Bank B

You're probably right about the placement, but we still haven't gotten the SIW slot report, have we?

 

[777]

Are you guys ready to laugh?


I guess this happened when I moved it from one room to another. I had put the computer back together in a different room. When I used the SIW program I noticed it had a '!' on slots or similar. Saying there was only 5 when I know there is 6. I also noticed I had some sticks that were 2gb of ram, I made the mistake thinking all were 1gb.


So I opened up my computer and one had popped out! I put it back in and now I have 9gb of ram.

I thought the issue was what LookinAround brought up. I just stuck them in randomly but I guess I got lucky!


Thanks everyone for your help. Im really surprised how many replies I got

 

[Tedster]

OK, unless you were using the "memory boost" function in Win 7 or Vista, then you couldn't have had 9GB of RAM. "Memory Boost" or whatever it's called, uses a flash drive to extend the on board memory.

Have you tried using a system information program to figure out exactly what RAM modules you have, who made them etc.?

SIW is a good program for this: http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html

Be certain to download ONLY this version: "SIW Without Installer (English-Only)"

It's the last download toward the bottom of the page.

unless he was using a 64 bit OS.

 

[captaincranky]

OK, unless you were using the "memory boost" function in Win 7 or Vista, then you couldn't have had 9GB of RAM. "Memory Boost" or whatever it's called, uses a flash drive to extend the on board memory.

unless he was using a 64 bit OS.

Well no Ted. He has to be using a 64 bit OS to be reporting 6GB in the first place.

The, "you can't have 9GB of RAM without the "Memory Boost" function", was based on the OP's original assertion that he had 6 (six) sticks of RAM @ 1GB each.

Feel free to read the original post which describes it thus:

I h ad 9gb of ram. I took my computer apart to move. I removed the ram, graphics card and hard drive.

When I put everything back together it says I now have 6gb of ram. Im kind of confused because I have 6 sticks of 1gb. So Im not sure how I had 9.

I definitely had 9gb . On the side of my computer it has a sticker with the specs and says 9gb ddr3 memory.

 

[nfiniti9]

Well no Ted. He has to be using a 64 bit OS to be reporting 6GB in the first place.

The, "you can't have 9GB of RAM without the "Memory Boost" function", was based on the OP's original assertion that he had 6 (six) sticks of RAM @ 1GB each.

Feel free to read the original post which describes it thus:

Actually the System properties will show the exact ram installed even on 32bit. Now when you go into task manager you will see what the system has available. On XP it reported how much was usable but on SP1 Vista they made it report the ram installed so people would stop freaking out about why their system only reported 3GB of ram when they had 4.

 

[captaincranky]

Actually the System properties will show the exact ram installed even on 32bit. Now when you go into task manager you will see what the system has available. On XP it reported how much was usable but on SP1 Vista they made it report the ram installed so people would stop freaking out about why their system only reported 3GB of ram when they had 4.

Oh dear, think of all the stupid questions we won't have the pleasure of answering. No worry, there's plenty of XP boxes around to take up the slack.

Whether or not the system properties shows installed RAM or available is sort of moot.

Say what you like about manufacturers intellect, but I'm fairly certain they wouldn't install 9GB of RAM into a system, then ship it with a 32Bit OS.

I suppose that might not hold true for Dell, since the buyer is presumably free to screw up a system order in any way he or she feels fit.