Pc only recognizes 8gb of 16 gb of ram

bigboi972 · 03 Aug 2014

Layback Bear said:

Good find David. That information should shine some light.

@bigboi972
Because I know you are going to keep your motherboard manual as long as you have that motherboard. A little one of my rules of the thumb.
Always write down the bios # down inside the front cover of the manual and the # of all bios you have used on that system. Just might come in handy.

How you know im going to keep the manual. haha kidding i found that funny the way you said it so I write down the bios number? Where do I get that ? And write down how many bios updates was done on this motherboard?

DavidE · 03 Aug 2014

Check what version of BIOS you have on the CPU-Z Mainboard tab.

This page lists all the BIOS versions for your MB: ASRock > H81M-HDS

bigboi972 · 03 Aug 2014

Thank you I will look into the bios update later today I may do some research and watch some youtube videos on doing a bios update. I know the website you gave for the support page tells you how to do it I just wanna make sure I do it right considering I may not be able to boot up my system if it goes wrong.

Layback Bear · 04 Aug 2014

Now don't be a loose cannon on deck.
The first thing you need to be sure of is what BIOS you now have.

You can go into the bios to get the bios number and version or you can use a little program like Speccy.

https://www.piriform.com/speccy

The motherboard came with bios from the factory. If no one has changed them they are still the same. If and when you change the bios then make a note in your motherboard manual.

No I'm not kidding about the motherboard manual. It is the bible of your system and should always be kept, read and understood. If you would of read your motherboard manual and researched Windows operating system you would of never used the combination of ram in your system specs. You must do your homework.

You never change bios just to be changing them. It is one of the last things I do when having a problem.

You have to know what you got so you can investigate if a newer one is need for the problem you are having.

I do not update drivers or bios just because their is a new one. New is not always better. I do those updates only when they state that they are designed to fix the exact problem I have and nothing else tried worked.

LMiller7 · 04 Aug 2014

A BIOS flash is a relatively safe procedure. But failures do occur, and this can happen even if you do everything right. A failed BIOS flash is a very serious matter, in some cases requiring physical replacement of the BIOS chip by a trained technician. Newer motherboards tend to offer better recovery facilities but you need to confirm this ahead of time.

Considering the very serious nature of a failure, a BIOS flash should not be taken lightly. It should only be done when the update explicitly addresses a problem you are having, not just because a newer version is available.

bigboi972 · 04 Aug 2014

LMiller7 said:

A BIOS flash is a relatively safe procedure. But failures do occur, and this can happen even if you do everything right. A failed BIOS flash is a very serious matter, in some cases requiring physical replacement of the BIOS chip by a trained technician. Newer motherboards tend to offer better recovery facilities but you need to confirm this ahead of time.

Considering the very serious nature of a failure, a BIOS flash should not be taken lightly. It should only be done when the update explicitly addresses a problem you are having, not just because a newer version is available.

I understand well if the update could solve my ram issue I would really like that it sucks only having 8gb of ram

Lady Fitzgerald · 04 Aug 2014

Unless the description of the update says it addresses a RAM problem, then it probably doesn't.

bigboi972 · 04 Aug 2014

Lady Fitzgerald said:

Unless the description of the update says it addresses a RAM problem, then it probably doesn't.

This is the description of the update
1. Improve system compatibility.
2. Patch Crucial DDR3-4G-1600 and APACER DDR3-1G-1333 memory.
3. BIOS [Case open] option default set to disabled.
4. Improve Windows compatibility.

ASRock > H81M-HDS

another thing will this update work for me? My ram is G.Skill Ares Low Profile F3-1600C9D-16GAR DDR3-1600. But the patch is for Crucial DDR3-4G-1600 and APACER DDR3-1G-1333 memory.

Mellon Head · 04 Aug 2014

The patch probably won't do anything for your RAM, since it's for different brands. Your RAM isn't on the manufacturer's supported RAM list, so it's unlikely that they offer any kind of support for it. That usually means nothing though. I frequently use RAM which is not "supported" by my motherboard manufacturer and it works fine. What's on the manufacturer's QVL list is just the RAM that they've tested to work, and they can say does work for sure. That doesn't mean that every type of RAM will work on a given mobo model though. Some RAM that isn't on the list may not work correctly on your model, and that might not be the problem that you're seeing here.

bigboi972 · 04 Aug 2014

Mellon Head said:

The patch probably won't do anything for your RAM, since it's for different brands. Your RAM isn't on the manufacturer's supported RAM list, so it's unlikely that they offer any kind of support for it. That usually means nothing though. I frequently use RAM which is not "supported" by my motherboard manufacturer and it works fine. What's on the manufacturer's QVL list is just the RAM that they've tested to work, and they can say does work for sure. That doesn't mean that every type of RAM will work on a given mobo model though. Some RAM that isn't on the list may not work correctly on your model, and that might be the problem that you're seeing here.

so basically there is no point in doing the update because it wont effect my ram considering my ram is not on the list of ram models that the bios update was tested on and its possible my ram is just incompatible with the motherboard itself instead of what I am assuming which is slot 2 on my motherboard being defective.