64bit 4GB (3.25 Usable). Waste of an update?

[fseal]

Yeah, most modern motherboards can remap the hardware to addresses outside the 4, 8 or 12 gig address space normally used by RAM if youhave windows x64 installed. My machine at home has 12 gig of ram and all of it useable (0 hardware reserved). My work machine has 8 gig and strangely 5 meg of hardware reserved (almost nothing).

Because the OP has a core 2 quad motherboard, it /may/ be old enough that it does not support moving the hardware reserved area outside the 4 gig line (Specifically the video memory mapping). A BIOS upgrade /may/ fix it, or it may just be time for a new MB/CPU. I usualy use OS upgrades as an excuse to uprgade my HW at the same time

 

[Darkstryder360]

Click Start. Type in Resource Monitor in the Search bar. Click it. When Res Mon opens click "Memory" tab.

Use Snipping tool and post resulting picture.

Posting attachment info is here if needed. Ooops you already have that. I didn't have my coffee yet.
http://www.sevenforums.com/852738-post3.html

At least you will be able to see where and what the memory is allocated for.
Mike

Changing the video card to use less memory is a bad idea. System may have more but video card will be short changed on games etc.

Been beavering away with my new 64bit and have been bashing out final year coursework, and now I am getting to the Rendering phase of it (3DSMAX+Vray) I am now realising I need to sort the issue out now as its becoming tadge laggy .

I thought I would reply to this post first to see if anything else people have said is still applicable.

I have done.. a multitude of tests

Resource Monitor, dxDiag file, CPU-Z check, msConfig, and went on Crucial to find out about Ram upgrade as I am looking to get 6 or 8 GB RAM in total, thats why I need to know whether me updating my current setup is possible, considering the answer "possibly" on Crucial haha.

I have also looked into Remap Memory thing, everywhere says check BIOS. I have checked the BIOS (Enter when booting?) and nothing comes up regarding remapping. I am hoping it isn't that though...

And also the:

Msconfig>Boot>Advanced options...>

doesnt work for me, its already unlimited, annoying as it seems to be the problem for everyone else

Edit: To update my BIOS I have to pay for it, thanks for Phoenix Technologies "Partners"...?

 

[stormy13]

Motherboard,

Foxconn - Products: Motherboard

chipset,

Intel® G31 Express Chipset - Overview

Basically what you see is what you're going to get due to the chipset only supporting up to 4 GB. fseal explained it fairly well in post #21. If you want to read more about it go here,

The system memory that is reported in the System Information dialog box in Windows Vista is less than you expect if 4 GB of RAM is installed

To update my BIOS I have to pay for it, thanks for Phoenix Technologies "Partners"...?

No you don't. You get the bios from the motherboard manufacturer only which CPUz conveniently isn't showing. The latest from Foxconn for it is version 773F1P14,

Foxconn Support - Download

 

[marcusj0015]

there are two reasons windows dosent use all of your ram

the first being x86, that dosent apply because you have x64, the other reason, your graphics card is using your system ram as video ram.

that's the answer. your graphics card is using it. get more ram.

and you should just consider getting a Intel i5 -i7

you could get a prebuilt OEM i7 6-8GB DDR3 RAM computer for $800-$1000

and you should get a recent Grpahics card as in NVIDIA 200 or later or ATi 4700 or later.

if you are using Photoshop CS4 Or CS5 you will notice a big upgrade in photoshop performance with an upgraded graphics card. (i personally use Photoshop CS5 Extended with NVIDIA GT 220)

if you upgrade your hardware you will notice how much faster newer hardware is.

 

[pallesenw]

chipset,

Intel® G31 Express Chipset - Overview

Basically what you see is what you're going to get due to the chipset only supporting up to 4 GB. fseal explained it fairly well in post #21. If you want to read more about it go here,

The G31 chipset supports 36-bit addressing.

 

[cluberti]

Correct, but Foxconn's implementation on this motherboard supports 4GB max, regardless of bitness of OS. The video memory will be shadowed, as will the PCI slots and a few other things. The 4GB boundary is moved down by the BIOS to support this, hence the system will have 4GB of RAM but the amount of available memory will be dependant on how much the BIOS reserves. In this case, it seems about 770MB, so I'm guessing the video card is at least a 512MB 9800, and more likely a 768MB card?

 

[mikele]

bla bla bla You can unlock all memory you want with W8 and W7 with this GENIUS bootkit.

Go ahead make your day I DID IT :

x86 4GB memory limit from a technical perspective

 

[Rebirth68]

Hey Darksteyder,

If you are using programs like 3DS Max and photoshop and 3D modeling programs like that (which is cool because I use max, maya, Bryce, and poser) you really want to get as much as your board can handle in my opinion. Especially on a complex scene those programs will eat memory fast so it never hurts to have a little extra under the hood.
In my opinion there really isn't that big of a gain in running 4GBs on a 64bit system because a 32bit system can handle that amount on its own. We've all had that setup at some point or another. But switching to a 64bit OS calls for a larger amount of ram otherwise you won't see much of a performance gain if any in those programs.
I have Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit with 8 GB and I have my page file turned off (which I don't recommend under normal conditions but it works quite well for me) and a PNY GeForce 9800 GT EE 1GB video card and it works great as far as those programs are concerned.