4GB RAM on 32bit OS

[vinifera]

yeh I know it cannot be, but I don't mind having 3 and half gigs being used

my question is, why is Windows 7 (sp1) so stupid ???

I havent changed any component in... 6 years
yet few months ago before format and 4 gigs, it reckognised 3.5 GB RAM
and now few weeks ago it only sees 3.25 GB RAM (as I changed slot)

so who's stupid here ? -_-

[Tripredacus]

Need make and model of motherboard to start.

What did you change the slot?

[vinifera]

its MSI K9N Neo v1.0 (MS-7260)
 

think RAM slot 1 died as the OS doesn't detect any stick init

[Tripredacus]

So you have 1 4GB RAM stick in slot 2 then? The board was designed to have slot 1 populated. The manual states that memory needs to be in slot 1 in order for Cool'n'Quiet (AMD CPU Overheat protection) to function properly. Since you are operating on (presumed) faulty hardware, it may be difficult to say exactly why you have seen a change in the reported memory. It might have to do with an internal fault, a voltage difference, the memory failing, or an electrical difference within the system when using RAM in a different slot than designed especially if you have anything extra on the PCI bus.

I tried to see if there was a Spec sheet for that board, but there doesn't seem to be one available. Without having additional hardware for testing, and another of the same board with the same BIOS version, you may never know for sure.

[vinifera]

no no, i have 4 slots

1-empty

2-has stick of 2GB

3-has stick of 2GB

4-empty

when i put stick in slot 1, its ignored by OS, and this isn't some stuff brand, its Transcend

Edited May 9, 2016 by Tripredacus
language

[Tripredacus]

Ah ok. Put your RAM into slot 3 and 4 instead, leaving 1 and 2 empty, and see how that goes. The manual shows that as a supported dual-channel population.