Only 3.37GB of RAM on x64 when BIOS says 4GB

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vvildcard

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Can anyone help me understand why Windows reports "4.00 GB (3.37 GB usable)" under Installed Memory?

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate Build 7100 x64
Installed RAM: 4 GB (2 x 2GB)

When I installed Win7 originally (I started with the initial beta build), it reported 4.00 GB without specifying a lower 'usable' amount... I never bothered checking again and just happened to notice the change last night.

I've tried checking the interwebs for answers but everything I can find refers to having 32-bit... blah, blah. I understand all that, but I have 64-bit so I'm under the impression that I should be able to use all of it. I also don't think this is a limit on my motherboard... it specifies it's able to handle up to 8 GB.

Any help would be great. Thanks.

Vvildcard
 

My Computer My Computer

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Windows 7
OS
Windows 7
Can you please paste back the results of running this from a CMD prompt:

systeminfo |find "Memory"
 

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Win7x64
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Multiple machines in various stages of decomposition.
OS
Win7x64
Do you have a video chip onboard your motherboard that takes up 512MB for itself? You can disable it if you have a video card.
 

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Windows Vista Home Premium -> Windows 7 Home ...
OS
Windows Vista Home Premium -> Windows 7 Home Premium
Systeminfo |find "Memory"
Total Physical Memory: 3,455 MB
Available Physical Memory: 2,452 MB
Virtual Memory: Max Size: 6,908 MB
Virtual Memory: Available: 5,149 MB
Virtual Memory: In Use: 1,759 MB

No onboard video. I have a GeForce 8800 GTS that shouldn't be getting any of the system RAM. That said, I'm not 100% sure how to check that.
 

My Computer My Computer

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Windows 7
OS
Windows 7
Check your BIOS for a option called memory mapping, or something to that effect, and enable it.
 

My Computer My Computer

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Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1Intel Core i7-260012 GB Patriot Extreme DDR3-1333Nvidia GTX 470
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
CPU
Intel Core i7-2600
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3P-B3
Memory
12 GB Patriot Extreme DDR3-1333
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GTX 470
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell UltraSharp 2209WA
Hard Drives
OCZ Agility3 240 GB, WD5001AALS, WD7501AALS
PSU
OCZ ModStream 700W
Case
CoolerMaster HAF 912 Advanced
Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus
Check MSCONFIG.
Boot
Advanced Options
Maximum Memory

Make sure there is no check mark.

.
 

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Okay, I think I have it all figured out... Apparently my motherboard and/or BIOS is a pile of [badword] and doesn't actually have the 64-bit compatibility I thought it had. I built it a long time ago and was looking at the wrong online manual. Basically, after some research, I've discovered Intel's 945 chipset "appropriates" a certain amount of RAM to itself. In my case, this is 640 MB, leaving me with the 3.37 GB for the OS.

I'm going to check for a BIOS update, but I'm not crossing my fingers. Worst case scenario, I'm happy knowing why this is happening.

Thank you all for your help... I'm very happy to have found this forum.

Vvildcard
 

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Windows 7
OS
Windows 7
Not that I'm encouraging you to spend more money, but you could get a good 965 board very cheap these days. I know this, because I have a few to sell, and have been disappointed in what their value is.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1Intel Core i7-260012 GB Patriot Extreme DDR3-1333Nvidia GTX 470
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
CPU
Intel Core i7-2600
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3P-B3
Memory
12 GB Patriot Extreme DDR3-1333
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GTX 470
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell UltraSharp 2209WA
Hard Drives
OCZ Agility3 240 GB, WD5001AALS, WD7501AALS
PSU
OCZ ModStream 700W
Case
CoolerMaster HAF 912 Advanced
Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus
Yep - I have the same 'problem'. I have a Lakeport 945P chipset in my Dell:

List of Intel chipsets - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And as the Note on the Wikipedia page states:

'Lakeport chipsets lacks support for remapping memory; the size of addressable memory space may be less than 4 GB, regardless whether the processor operates in 64-bit mode.'

For me, Windows actually reports 4GB installed physical memory, but then goes on to state 'Total Physical Memory = 3.581GB'.

Not that it affects me. The 945 chipset is the same reason I can't run anything more than a Pentium D. I have maxed out this PC, but the performance is more than enough to give a very good experience with Win 7, particularly now I have fitted my SSD :D
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium x64Pentium D 9454GB 667MHz DDR2NVidia 8800GT
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
CPU
Pentium D 945
Motherboard
Dell DXP051
Memory
4GB 667MHz DDR2
Graphics Card(s)
NVidia 8800GT
Sound Card
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS
Monitor(s) Displays
1680 x 1050
Screen Resolution
1680 x 1050
Hard Drives
1 x Intel MX-25 G2 SSD, 1 x 7200RPM Western Digital
PSU
Stock Dell
Case
Stock Dell XPS400
Cooling
Stock Dell XPS400
Internet Speed
13.4Mbps Throughput / 15.3Mbps Synch
ceejay said:
For me, Windows actually reports 4GB installed physical memory, but then goes on to state 'Total Physical Memory = 3.581GB'.
Click to expand...

It was Vista SP1 that introduced the practice of reporting an "installed" value which could be different to the amount actually accessible by the OS. I think the white lie is primarily meant to assuage consumer concerns over a highly technical problem that's difficult to explain to most people - "I paid the store for 4.0GB, how come Windows says there's only 3.x in my machine?!?"
 

My Computer My Computer

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Win7x64
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Multiple machines in various stages of decomposition.
OS
Win7x64
I thought I would look into my own specs and this is what mine is reporting.

Total Physical Memory: 6,078 MB
Available Physical Memory: 4,562 MB
Virtual Memory: Max Size: 12,154 MB
Virtual Memory Available: 10,476 MB
Virtual Memory: In Use: 1,678 MB

So where is the missing 1,500 MB or so at?
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bitIntel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8300 @ 2.50GHz 2...8.00 GB DDR3 (4 GB PC3-8500F 500 MHz, 4GB PC3...NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/GTX+ 512MB
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell XPS/Dimension 430
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8300 @ 2.50GHz 2.49GHz
Motherboard
Intel X48
Memory
8.00 GB DDR3 (4 GB PC3-8500F 500 MHz, 4GB PC3-10700h 667 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/GTX+ 512MB
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell S2009W
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
Hard Drives
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black
Case
Stock
Cooling
Stock
Keyboard
Dell XPS/Dimension 430 Stock
Mouse
Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000
Internet Speed
6 meg service
YEA i have the same problem...
 

My Computer My Computer

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windows 7
OS
windows 7
its not a problem if you have a laptop as most laptops have video cards built into the motherboard, and they are allocated memory from RAM, unlike PC's video cards that have on-board memory. My adaptor only has 128 on-board memory, so it borrows 750mb or so from my RAM

My system reports 4gb ram, (3.37gb usable)gb usable)
My on-board video adaptor is an ATI Radeon, which is mainly used by AMD systems
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

windows 7 RTMAMD Athlon x 2 644gb
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Toshiba Satelite
OS
windows 7 RTM
CPU
AMD Athlon x 2 64
Memory
4gb
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