How to free up RAM

[redpikachu12]

Hey guys, i have a computer with 1024 mb of ram, a on board radeon x200, and a pcie slot with a geforce 8400
when i go to my computer specs it tell me i have .98 gbs of ram.... my suspicion is that couple of mb of ram is being taken up by the on board video card... does anyone know how to fix this?

 

[captaincranky]

Hey guys, i have a computer with 1024 mb of ram, a on board radeon x200, and a pcie slot with a geforce 8400
when i go to my computer specs it tell me i have .98 gbs of ram.... my suspicion is that couple of mb of ram is being taken up by the on board video card... does anyone know how to fix this?

Some of the RAM is used by/ reserved for, the computer's BIOS.

Also, the GB to MB conversion is not as exact as you think. (It goes by 8s, not by 10s)

 

[red1776]

Hi redpikachu12
adding to Caps advice, there is no way to 'fix' it because nothing is broken. you can try a program like this http://www.majorgeeks.com/Cacheman_d308.html , but the better solution is to get another ram module to add to your 1gb. the program can be set to keep a predetermined amount of ram free, but remember that having to little, or keeping some of it from being used will both slow the performance of your computer.

 

[Broni]

Since you have on-board video, it uses your computer regular RAM, so you have to deduct whatever on-board video uses from 1024MB (normally, power of 2 - 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and so on...)
BIOS doesn't use any RAM. BIOS is a chip with its own memory.

 

[redpikachu12]

well thanks guys, that helps and makes me sure that its not the onboard cards fault. do u guys if know if there is a ram device that allows to ram cards in one?

 

[Broni]

if there is a ram device that allows to ram cards in one?

Say again?
What Windows version is it and what are your exact issues?

 

[captaincranky]

Since you have on-board video, it uses your computer regular RAM, so you have to deduct whatever on-board video uses from 1024MB (normally, power of 2 - 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and so on...)

If you would be kind enough to reread the original post you would perhaps notice that the OP alleges that an 8400GT add-in video card is installed.

Accordingly, unless the onboard video is still enabled, that memory shouldn't be mapped to video. Save of course for the hardware address itself. But then that wouldn't affect anything until the system hit about 3+ GBs of installed RAM. This of course unless ATI chipsets are so poorly designed that they don't return the RAM to available system memory when the onboard graphics are disabled.

 

[Broni]

that the OP alleges that an 8400GT add-in video card is installed

Mea culpa ...didn't notice that...

 

[redpikachu12]

im pretty sure the onboard video card is disabled

 

[Broni]

when i go to my computer specs it tell me i have .98 gbs of ram

Where do you read the above?

 

[Flannelwarrior]

Make sure your onboard graphics chip is disabled in BIOS.

I notice often the computer (not from My Computer, but from system monitoring programs) shows to have a few MB less RAM than the full amount you see listed elsewhere. The difference between .98GB and 1GB is not significant enough to worry about.

Regarding your odd question "is there a RAM device that allows two cards in one", no, there isn't. You can install one RAM module per slot on your motherboard.

Depending on what you're doing, 1GB of RAM is really not a whole ton. RAM isn't the cheapest thing around, but it's also not the most expensive, and it's typically a viable and immediately noticeable upgrade. Hell, I wish I could upgrade my brain's RAM...
Anyway - pop open the side of your computer. Your RAM is the long skinny chips near the CPU. Are there two slots for RAM, or are there four? How many RAM chips are there in your motherboard?

 

[Broni]

I don't think, this is on-board video issue.
0.98GB=980MB
1024MB-980MB=44MB
On-board video can take only power of 2 amount of RAM and 44MB is not a power of 2.

 

[Flannelwarrior]

I don't think, this is on-board video issue.
0.98GB=980MB
1024MB-980MB=44MB
On-board video can take only power of 2 amount of RAM and 44MB is not a power of 2.

incorrect. .98GB is 98% of one gigabyte. 1 gigabyte is 1024 megabytes, so .98GB is closer to 1003MB. Not that this makes your point any less valid - just an observation.

 

[Broni]

1 gigabyte is 1024 megabytes, so .98GB is closer to 1003MB

True

 

[Flannelwarrior]

It's normal for software to register slightly less than the physical RAM you have, though. When it's a matter of a few MB, it's nothing to worry about. However if you want to speed up your computer, you could buy another gig of RAM (pending your motherboard supports it)