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RAM usage question


jwhyrock

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Hi there. I'm new to the forums and hardly a pc guru. I'm literate and can handle myself around some hardware/software tinkering. I recently upgraded to 6gb RAM and a faster dual core AMD processor 3.0ghz. I did this so that I could play the games I do with max settings/60 fps solid. I was pretty close under XP with 2.0ghz processor and 2gb RAM. I tried Vista 64 and it was a disaster, insanely slow installations, crappy performance in all apps etc. Don't go all defensive for Vista I'm just saying what my experience was. I decided to give XP 64 a try and it's been awesome. I noticed, however, in the BIOS it is only recognizing some of the RAM as usable. I will post a link to an in depth forum I found on the subject. This may have less to do with 64 as it does with my chipset etc, but I wanted a second opinion. I have tested all sticks in the different slots in mobo and they are fine. Here is a breakdown of what RAM the computer recognizes and what it considers usable:

w/ 6gb RAM - 6144 recognized 5119 usable (approx 17% missing)

w/ 5gb RAM - 5120 recognized 4095 usable (approx 20% missing)

w/ 4gb RAM - 4096 recognized 3327 usable (approx 19% missing)

Here is the address for the in depth article that goes into more detail (I would have posted there, but the thread is closed) - http://blogs.msdn.com/hiltonl/archive/2007...am-problem.aspx

Any further insight or discussion would be great. If that's just the way it is with the RAM that's fine. I am still trying to figure out if I'm running where I should be with fps/performance. I have Lost Coast Half Life which has a performance test & also 3dMark06 so I will run those and post here when I do.

Glad to be here on the forums. Thank you!

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Seems to me that the obvious conclusion based on the lack information would be on-board video using 1GB of your ram.

Not quite, most integrated graphics controllers use RAM dynamically as needed (usually capped around 256MB.), others allow the value to be modified in the BiOS, however I believe in most cases that is capped as well.

As for the issue, there isn't anything you can do, the problem exists with your chipset (and most) and is completely unrelated to your OS.

Edited by James Hamilton
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As for the issue, there isn't anything you can do, the problem exists with your chipset (and most) and is completely unrelated to your OS.
The issue is not related to his chipset. If it were the case, the memory available would not vary as it does in his case.
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As for the issue, there isn't anything you can do, the problem exists with your chipset (and most) and is completely unrelated to your OS.
The issue is not related to his chipset. If it were the case, the memory available would not vary as it does in his case.

He never said the amount varied.

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I think #1's link to blogs.msdn.com is different to this situation...

This link's contents are talking about the Windows Virtual Memory structure...

It has been described in Windows Internals, 4th Edition, too.

I agree with James, this problem is related to the chipset.

Could jwhyrock explain the RAMs' details?

(For example, how many and how do you install these RAMs...

or RAM and Mainboard's model?)

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If the BIOS did not recognize more then 4GB of RAM, the following would NOT be the case.

w/ 6gb RAM - 6144 recognized 5119 usable (approx 17% missing)

w/ 5gb RAM - 5120 recognized 4095 usable (approx 20% missing)

w/ 4gb RAM - 4096 recognized 3327 usable (approx 19% missing)

This demonstrates that a fixed portion of RAM is being reserved. Typically, the only thing that will reserve that much RAM will be on-board video. The chipset is not at cause then.

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w/ 6gb RAM - 6144 recognized 5119 usable (approx 17% missing)

w/ 5gb RAM - 5120 recognized 4095 usable (approx 20% missing)

w/ 4gb RAM - 4096 recognized 3327 usable (approx 19% missing)

You're not determining RAM missing the right way - instead of percentages, check the *amount*. Note that when you add more that 4GB of RAM, you *always* lose the ability to address 1025MB, and you are unable to address 768MB when you have 4GB in the system.

Also, if the *BIOS* is not recognizing all the RAM, I need to know more about what it fails to recognize. Is it not seeing all the RAM during POST, or is it simply not reporting all of the available RAM as "available" to Windows? If the latter is true, then jcarle is correct and your video card and BIOS are reserving memory for their usage, and Windows cannot touch this. However, if the BIOS simply doesn't see it, then that is a BIOS/chipset issue.

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However, if the BIOS simply doesn't see it, then that is a BIOS/chipset issue.
Based on the lack of information, I'm assuming that the BIOS is seeing it since he's reporting "available" amounts, and one, again based on assumptions, could conclude that the "available" amount is the amount that he's seeing as reported in Windows.
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