when is 3gb not 3gb

cyclopopcicle · 21 Jan 2006 at 01:09

when windows reports it as 2.5gb?
im running win XP with 3gb in the system my bios reports it has 3gb but windows refuses to accept i have 3gb

how do i retrieve my lost .5gb?

XP64 3500 venice on an asrock 939dual-SATA2 (ULi M1695)
i have 3gb of ram in it but only 2.5 is recognised in windows
bios does though
programs i have used like sandra and everest show that the ram is installed (2 sticks of 1gb and 2 512mb sticks) but usable is only 2.5gb??

"edited to include specs"

crashuk · 21 Jan 2006 at 01:32

you dont.

marc2003 · 21 Jan 2006 at 01:34

right click my computer, select manage, goto storage>disk management. how big does windows see the drive here? is the whole disk partitioned with no unallocated space?

tom_e · 21 Jan 2006 at 03:54

marc2003 said:
right click my computer, select manage, goto storage>disk management. how big does windows see the drive here? is the whole disk partitioned with no unallocated space?

I think he means RAM

Zefan · 21 Jan 2006 at 04:12

Made me chuckle

If it's an older board (ie an old socket A) it may not support 3gb. Hard to know without full system details. It could just be windows being awkward though.

marc2003 · 21 Jan 2006 at 04:25

just testing you all....

cyclopopcicle · 21 Jan 2006 at 07:53

oops sorry it was late when i posted
its an XP64 3500 venice on an asrock 939dual-SATA2 (ULi M1695)
i have 3gb of ram in it but only 2.5 is recognised in windows
bios does though
programs i have used like sandra and everest show that the ram is installed (2 sticks of 1gb and 2 512mb sticks) but usable is only 2.5gb??

Pickers · 21 Jan 2006 at 08:27

At a guess, could it be to do with dual channel memory? I know that my board would only support 3 slots of dual channel. Maybe thats whats happening?

cyclopopcicle · 21 Jan 2006 at 09:03

it does support 4 slot running in dual channel memory, and is, thats not the issue

lordedmond · 21 Jan 2006 at 09:17

cyclopopcicle said:
it does support 4 slot running in dual channel memory, and is, thats not the issue

it may do but you wont see it all even in the bios

I have 4gb installed and only see approx 3.3gb

its something to do with cache on the mb for pci cards or some thing

yes before some one says my system is stable and 3dmark06 returns the same score give or take a couple of points diff between 2 gb and 4 gb

amd 64x2 4800 asus a8r-mvp

cyclopopcicle · 21 Jan 2006 at 09:22

bios does see it, all 3072 of it, i also have win XP64 installed (but cant get all my stuff to work on it but thats another story) and this version of windows sees and 3gb so i know its not a motherboard thing

lordedmond · 21 Jan 2006 at 09:27

funny 64 bit should see 3gb ok

i to run 64bit but as my mb will not see all the mem i do not expect xp to

99.9% of my stuff run ok on 64 bit BTW

VeNT · 21 Jan 2006 at 09:56

check that the motherboard supports 4 sticks in dual chan at that speed as some don't at full speed

lordedmond · 21 Jan 2006 at 10:04

ok but it still would report the full cap would it not

VeNT · 21 Jan 2006 at 10:06

lordedmond said:
ok but it still would report the full cap would it not

I dunno, IIRC it will just disable one of the slots.

also maybe you've put them in the wrong set of slots?

lordedmond · 21 Jan 2006 at 10:16

only got four slots two sets of pairs tried new set only in blue slots reports 2 gb correctly
old set ( month old ) in blue 2 gb

old set in blue new set in black reports less , but it may be a bios prob.

not to worried tho as photoshop cs2 now is ok with the extra mem as is autocad

i do not want to hijack this thread with my problems

VeNT · 21 Jan 2006 at 10:28

try putting them in alternet slots (ie not in the pairs) just to see what happens.
I think maybe one of the smaller chips is not compatable with dual chan,

lordedmond · 21 Jan 2006 at 10:29

mine are all 1 gb sticks unlike the OP

VeNT · 21 Jan 2006 at 10:31

then you've got a bad chip in there, or maybe the motherboards not compat with the mobo?

Dennisthemenace · 21 Jan 2006 at 11:28

Some motherboards just can't see certain amounts of memory. My first Asus couldn't handle 4gb, the Intl crap i use now has a problem with 3gb, but not 4. It's all to do with the phase of the sun, the position of the moon, and what i chant.