Windows 7 - Windows wont use over half of my memory

Hello all

I just ordered and built my new custom PC a few days ago i have 8 gigs of Gskil ram in it and it shows that it can read it but it only is allowing 3.55 to be used. i checkd the MSconfig to make sure the max ram box isn't checked. i have read before that some of your parts will use ram like an on-board sound card or video but the only thing i have on board is the sound. and i dont think it would use over 4 gigs of my ram. is there any other ways to check or fix this problem.

thanks

OS Windows 7 64bit CPU Intel i5 2500k Motherboard GIGABYTE|GA-P67A-UD4-B3 P67 R Memory 4Gx2|GSKILL F3-10666CL9D-8GBRL Graphics Card(s) EVGA 01G-P3-1460-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) Sound Card N/A Monitor(s) Displays LG E2360V-PN Glossy Black 23" 1080p 5ms Screen Resolution N/A Hard Drives Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s PSU CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V Case Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Test memory with memtest.
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/topic...ing-memtest86/

Please provide screenshots from CPU-Z, from the tabs for CPU, Mainboard, Memory, and all the SPD slots.

Also, can you please provide a screenshot from task manager: Start -> Run -> Taskmgr, then select Performance tab, and push Resource Monitor button. Then select the Memory tab, and take the screenshot of the bottom of the screen where it shows the color-coded and numeric value memory allocations... including "hardware reserved".

here are the first five screenshots

and the last one.

Welcome StarKiller. where did you get your figures from. I.e, 3.55 available and 8GB read?

i got it when i right clicked on computer and selected properties

You are absolutely correct... that Task Manager -> Memory picture shows "4.5GB hardware reserved!!!" That's why only 3.5GB is available for Windows 7.

We need to get to the bottom of that.

I wonder, have you tweaked your BIOS for anything other than motherboard defaults?

I haven't looked closely at your peripheral cards and other hardware, but nothing I can think of would normally need 4.5GB of system memory.

i had a friend help me setup it up and am about to check the bios to see if he changed anything.

Well, I'm baffled. That EVGA 01G-P3-1460-KR GeForce GTX 560 video card has its own 1GB memory, so it shouldn't be taking anything from RAM I wouldn't think.