6GB RAM (Only 4GB useable) - How do I solve this?

Jimbolad

Jimbolad

Jimbolad

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6GB RAM (Only 4GB useable) - How do I solve this?
Okay so I know there are a lot of threads on this but literally none of them have helped me resolve my problem. My windows 7 64 bit is showing that I have 6GB of ram (yet only 4gb useable)...

I checked the 'resource monitor' and there is 2 gb reserved for something and I would like to know why and how I can unreserve it. I downloaded a program called CPU-Z and checked that my full 6GB was getting recognised and it is.

I have seen on other forums that one solution would be memory remapping. I then found out that on my Gigabyte X58A-UD3R mobo, there is no memory mapping feature in the BIOS. So now im kinda stuck and dont know what to do, its just really fustrating as I would like to utuilise the full 6GB of ram.

I have also unticked the maximum memory option in system config advanced options so im just out of ideas.

MY specs just incase....

Windows 7 64 bit
i7 950
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R
Radeon HD 5570
3x2gb DDR3 corsair RAM CMX6GX3M3A2000C9
2tB Raid 0

Please someone help
 
or try..
in start search type msconfig -> boot->Advanced options-> uncheck all number of processors and maximum memory-> ok ->restart comp
 
i can tell you 100% its either heatsink too tight,bent cpu socket pins or not enough qpi/vtt voltage

how much qpi/vtt voltage you using?

btw non should be reserved it should all be available,
 
What speed are you trying to run the memory at? I see it's 2000mhz memory but the i7 950 memory controller only officially supports 1066mhz, therefore you might be pushing the memory controller too far resulting in a channel dropping out.
 
wazza300 said:
i can tell you 100% its either heatsink too tight,bent cpu socket pins or not enough qpi/vtt voltage

how much qpi/vtt voltage you using?

btw non should be reserved it should all be available,
Click to expand...

mmj_uk said:
What speed are you trying to run the memory at? I see it's 2000mhz memory but the i7 950 memory controller only officially supports 1066mhz, therefore you might be pushing the memory controller too far resulting in a channel dropping out.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry I should have said the OP the only thing I know about in depth motherboard and ram issues is ...... Well absolutely nothing .

Please could let me know how I find out what speed my ram is running at and how i would go about checking the other potential problems .thanks for your reply though :)
 
Download CPU-Z and click the memory tab, it will tell you your DRAM frequency.

It would also be helpful if you could post a screenshot of that tab so we can look at your memory timings.

You shouldn't need to mess with voltages if everything is running within spec.
 
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Hope this helps :)

motherboard-spec.jpg

memory-timings.jpg

memory-spec.jpg
 
I don't see why that shouldn't be working.

You could try enabling the XMP memory profile in the BIOS, this will set all of the correct timings for your memory, straight after enabling it manually set the memory to 1.5V and QPI/VTT to defaults (XMP will increase them) and bring the memory back down to 1066Mhz (XMP will set it to 2000mhz), that should maintain the correct timings for the memory whilst keeping everything in spec.

You could also try setting the memory to 1333mhz instead of 1066mhz but if that doesn't make the extra 2GB appear then the problem must be elsewere.
 
You'll probably have trouble running at 2000mhz,I would set spd system memory multiplier to give you 1600mhz or 1800mhz and set dram voltage to what's printed on your ram,either 1.5v or 1.66v,then set qpi/vtt voltage to 1.315v(might need more)
 
mmj_uk said:
I don't see why that shouldn't be working.

You could try enabling the XMP memory profile in the BIOS, this will set all of the correct timings for your memory, straight after enabling it manually set the memory to 1.5V and QPI/VTT to defaults (XMP will increase them) and bring the memory back down to 1066Mhz (XMP will set it to 2000mhz), that should maintain the correct timings for the memory whilst keeping everything in spec.

You could also try setting the memory to 1333mhz instead of 1066mhz but if that doesn't make the extra 2GB appear then the problem must be elsewere.
Click to expand...

wazza300 said:
You'll probably have trouble running at 2000mhz,I would set spd system memory multiplier to give you 1600mhz or 1800mhz and set dram voltage to what's printed on your ram,either 1.5v or 1.66v,then set qpi/vtt voltage to 1.315v(might need more)
Click to expand...

sorry guys that was latin to me..... wouldnt have a clue where to start with either
 
It tells you how to set up ram speed in mb manual,1066mhz is just default speed,you need more qpi/vtt voltage for the memory controller built into CPU,the more and faster the ram the more qpi/vtt voltage you will need
 
Do you have a friend you can borrow memory off? or 3 spare sticks of DDR3? it's hard to walk you through messing around in the bios over the internet... if you can test it out with some different memory it will become clear if it's a memory problem or not.

I still think it might be down to motherboard/memory incompatibilty, Gigabyte may not have added a profile for 2000mhz memory on that motherboard because frankly it's way too extreme for the platform.

You should have bought some 1333/1600 stuff it's far more widely supported, that said your problem might still lay elsewhere (bent pins/faulty dimm socket etc).
 
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mmj_uk said:
Do you have a friend you can borrow memory off? or 3 spare sticks of DDR3? it's hard to walk you through messing around in the bios over the internet... if you can test it out with some different memory it will become clear if it's a memory problem or not.

I still think it might be down to motherboard/memory incompatibilty, Gigabyte may not have added a profile for 2000mhz memory on that motherboard because frankly it's way too extreme for the platform.

You should have bought some 1333/1600 stuff it's far more widely supported, that said your problem might still lay elsewhere (bent pins/faulty dimm socket etc).
Click to expand...

ok thankyou ... I was thinking before I even noticed this issue of updating my RAM to say 12gb (overboard i know :) ) , just because I have a bit of spare cash to flaunt
 
Is the GPU built into the i7 reserving ram for some reason? If i go into Resource Monitor i have 108Mb reserved. I have a GT540M using 2Gb of dedicated ram, but the i7 GPU is being used by Windows and if i go into the Intel control panel and view resources i see the HD3000 GPU has exactly 108Mb of ram available to it...
 
LGA 1366 processors don't have any onboard GPU but good thinking. :)

This used to be a common problem with the LGA 1366 platform usually it was a dodgy stick of ram, bent pins or just faulty motherboard/dimm socket, sometimes other strange reasons like the heatsink being mounted too tight.
 
Any chance that this missing 2GB of memory could just a misunderstanding of how Win7 memory management works/is reported?

In the performance tab of task manager what are the phyiscal memory values (total, cached, available and free)?
 
does it say total 6144gb ram in the bios? it should say that or right click windows taskbar/task manager/resource monitor and it should say 6144 total memory installed,im using 8gb so mine will be different

regardless of any software if your not seeing the full amount in bios or resource monitor chances are you have one or two slightly bent cpu socket pins

241mf4h.jpg
 
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