Another RAM question

Status
Not open for further replies.

vale46

Posts: 159   +0
Hi all, thanks for taking the time to read this post.
I have windows 32bit Vista and 3 gig of DDR 2 ram, 1x2gig and 1x1gig strips.
I basically got another 2gig strip for nothing so i thought i would swap the 1gig for it and max out the system with 4gig.
My pc has the service pack 1 for vista on it so upon installing the RAM my pc can now detect i have 4GIG and clearly says so in the "My Computer properties" but...................
When i had 3 gig, the task manager window stated i had 3069mb physical memory, now that i have 4 gig it states i only have 3005mb of physical memory !!
Now to me thats a loss but then i dont know what i am on about either lol
I appreciate my system wont use 4gig and probably MIGHT only use upto 3.5gig of the 4gig installed but why has the physical ram value gone down by 64mb !! ??
Hope someone can shed a bit of light on this for me.
Regards,
Vale.

P.S. The new 2gig ram strip matches exactly the 2gig original strip.
 
32 bit operating systems are limited to max capacity of 4 gb. After Windows eats it's share you'll see a max of around 3.5

There is no way to get around this. If you wish to use humongous amounts of ram, upgrade to a 64 bit flavor of an OS like XP 64, or Vista 64 or Windows server 64.
 
Thanks Tedster for the reply......i knew this !!! you HAVEN'T answered my question lol
Cheers.
 
Hi Vale,
there are a couple of things in play here. first the new 2gb stick is different than the 1gb stick, and reads it differently. secondly when you replaced the 1gb with the 2gb stick you probably activated dual channel mode. depending on what configuration of ram i put in my machine (with a 32 bit OS) it will see anywhere between 3.2 and 3.45 gb of ram when I have 4gb installed.
 
Thanks Tedster for the reply......i knew this !!! you HAVEN'T answered my question lol
Cheers.
this is because the stick of ram is addressed as a block. Since the sizes of the sticks are different, the amount that can be addressed over the OS limit is adjusted.

cheers for what? Buy'n me a beer? ;)
 
OK, i sort of already knew about the maximum amount i could expect....its the 65mb loss that i need an answer on !?
I guess i didnt make myself clear doh !!!! why have i lost 65mb of physical memory by installing 1gig of extra ram ???
If you answer me that i will buy you a beer lol
;)
 
when you bumped your system up to 4gb of ram, you triggered.'memory mapped IO reservations'. its an chipset arcitectural design with 32 bit os's.newer chipsets support memory remapping with 64 bit os's and do not have this limitation. your memory is there but part of it is masked because it has been designated for hardware in your system including bios,pci bus,pcie and other devices installed, and is not availible for working memory. how much gets reserved depends on what devices you have installed,and your chipset and bios. depending on those items you will see physical working memory reported of 2.75gb-3.5gb. ...........I prefer Killians Vale..:)
 
Thanks red1776, i dont know what killians is lol, but please can you explain why i am missing 64mb of physical ram since i have added 1gig of extra ram!!!!
I must be missing something in your answers....have you answered why i am missing the ram since upgrading or am am just not getting it ?
I thought i would see my physical ram got from 3069mb to some where around 3500mb max but instead i had lost 64mb even though my system tells me i have 4gig installed !!!
AARRGGHHHHHH please help me understand where the 64mb went ?
hahahaha
 
likely shared Video memory in system Bios
You can access your Bios settings from originally turning on your computer and pressing a certain key (usually DEL)
 
i think what you cant get past is that you added more ram....and have been left with less working memory. when you had 3gb of ram, 'memory mapped I0 reservation' was not enacted....so it reported all of your ram as working memory, and it was. but when you put the maximum amount of ram (4gb) on your system, MMI0 was 'enacted for lack of a better term. and it reassigned over 1gb of ram (included in there is your missing 64mb) to system hardware leaving you with only 3005mb of 'working' memory. i know it doesnt make much sense to add more ram and be left with less reported,or working memory,..but thats the way it is. ....oh yeah....killians is a lager.
 
Cool, so i guess the point is, reported or not do i actually have more ram now with 4gig then i did with 3 gig ? and is there any settings / configurations i can do to optimise this if any at all extra ram, like kimsland said, is there something in the bios i can manually set higher ?

I know i am been a pain, but unless you ask you never know lol

Oh and red, i am more a stella man, never heard of killians lol :) cheers all the same peeps.

All your input is appreciated. Thanks ;)
 
Yes you have more Ram. Probably not massively noticeable on update from 3Gig to 4 Gig. Do you see a difference? (it would be interesting to know :) )
 
yes you do, some of it is hidden though in the hardware assignment. the reality is that anything over 2-2.5gb on a 32 bit os is not going to have a noticable performance increase, that has been documented. the more important issue is to make sure its running in dual channel, that you will notice a 10-15% overall system
performance gain.

Cheers Vale :)
 
Hey MASSIVE thanks peeps for the input. as far as performance goes...YES i have noticed a difference, not massive......just different, things open more instantly, what i mean is, the window/page just pops into view rather then a split second animated opening if you follow.
I use a few ram hungry 3D programs like 3DsMAX, VUE and Poser so untill i do some intensive rendering i wont know exactly how much difference the extra ram has made, at the end of the day for £20 anythig extra is a bonus lol

1 last question peeps, how do i check its running in dual band or is it the fact that i only have 2 ram slots and both those slots have exactly the same ram modules in them that clarifies it is now running in dual band ?
 
Wow, thanks red, this is really healpfull mate.....i mean it..thank you.
I copied the cpuz file cos the only thing i can see regarding the ram is single channel....what do you see ?
i have uploaded it for your knowledigble inspection lol ight need to check my spelling now.

What do you think of the cpuz file ?
 
any time mate,
yeah it says its running @ 64 bit bandwidth...should be 128. the most obvious question is are the modules identical? if they are,check to see if your motherboard dual channel is set up as
1&2 3&4, or 1&3 and 2&4. know what i mean?
 
Code:
DIMM #1

General
Memory type		DDR2
Module format		Regular UDIMM
Manufacturer (ID)	[B]Micron Technology[/B] (2C00000000000000)
Size			2048 MBytes
Max bandwidth		PC2-5300 (333 MHz)


DIMM #2

General
Memory type		DDR2
Module format		Regular UDIMM
Manufacturer (ID)	[B]Crucial Technology[/B] (7F7F7F7F7F9BFFFF)
Size			2048 MBytes
Max bandwidth		PC2-5300 (333 MHz)
Crucial System Scanner tool
 
the ram modules are both identical in secification just different makes. i went to a lot of trouble to get the new 2gig stick to match the original lol so i just need to know how to change the mobo thing your on about ;)

Cheers red.
 
Thanks Kim, i did a scan and it couldnt determine all the nessasary info but it did come up with this..

Maximum Memory Capacity: 1048576 MB
Currently Installed Memory: N.A.
Available Memory Slots: 2
Number of Banks: 2
Dual Channel Support: N.A.
CPU Manufacturer: GenuineIntel
CPU Family: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz Model 15, Stepping 11
CPU Speed: 2400 MHz



??? what do you reckon ?

i did say i only had 2 ram slots ? is this nothing to do with DIMM things ? ;)
 
Hi, sorry for delay, I suspect red1776 is better answering anyway
But please download your motherboard (or computer branded) manual, and confirm if "Dual Channel" is an option (it may not be :( )

oh he just did :/
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back