Memory is broke?

[Kaimel]

Just built a new computer. Purchased 6gb of ram and windows sees 6gb in some programs, but when I'm loading, my bios screen says 4gb, and my CPU usage gadget says 4gb.

Being that some programs recognize my memory and some don't, I'm a bit confused.

Do I have bad memory or what?

 

[Leeky]

How many sticks do you have, also, what is the manufacturer and part numbers of the RAM.

What motherboard are you using?

What operating system are you using, and is it 32 bit or 64 bit?

 

[Kaimel]

Windows is 64-bit.
Three sticks of corsair (receipt says 1600 mhz ddr3)
Processor is intel i7 950 lga 1366
Mobo is gigabyte (has a 58a in the name)
Two nvidia gts 250 1gb in sli

Sorry for vagueness but I'm at a coffee shop trying to relax before getting back to work.

 

[Leeky]

Thanks for the information.

So it uses triple channel RAM, motherboard information is not really needed right now.

I would advise that you remove all 3 of the sticks, and then reseat them again. If CPUz and BIOS still report the RAM as only 4GB, which with both programs to see which slots are populated, and then remove those that are identified completely.

Try booting Windows with just the one that isn't recognised and see if its working. If it works OK, I would advise downloading memtest and burning it to a CD and then running it directly from the CD on startup, and running each stick individually overnight for several passes to ensure they're OK.

You can then identify which stick is faulty.

 

[Kaimel]

So I reflashed the bios by removing the battery powering on and then turning off the pc.

Took all three sticks out. Plugged in one into slot 1, bios read 2gb, slot three, bios read 2gb, slot 5, didn't start.

Kept the good stick in the 5th slot and put the other two in slots 1 and 3, and bios reads 4gb.

I think my mobo is bad actually.

It is the gigabyte board is this: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58.

I'm tearing down the pc and going to microcenter as we speak. If you can think of anything else let me know, or if there is a fix specific to this motherboard because some programs read that I have memory in slot 5. I'm still messed up by the pc not being all bad or all good.

 

[DjKraid]

why not test the memory using a (ex.) ubuntu live cd? it's fast and easy...and you will atleast know it the ram works or if it's broken...

 

[Kaimel]

Because I don't know what that is exactly, could you elaborate please?

Thank you.

 

[Kaimel]

Here is what I'm thinking:

The memory is not bad, because all three sticks work in slot one.

The motherboard isn't totally bad because SOME programs show I have physical memory of 6gb but available of 4gb.

Therefore I think it's one of the following: 1) A bios issue 2) The memory isn't compatible. (Model number: CMX6GX3M3A1600C9) 3) My power supply isn't sufficient anymore. Can 600 watts power Core i7, Two GTS 250 in SLI, and 6gb of ram?

 

[Kaimel]

Wanted to give a update if someone has the same problem I did. Turned out the problem was with the motherboard. Three pins that go into the CPU were bent. Had to RMA the board when I found that out.