Windows 7 showing far less RAM than should be....

[Spice Boy]

Hiya people, lurker speaking for the 1st time

I have a RAM issue that a little baffling...

Now I know that the 32-bit OS wont show all of my 4GB as usable but its showing alot less than 4GB.... See pic

Any ideas what I can do?

 

[pparks1]

Do you have an integrated video card on your machine with "shared memory"?? My guess is that a certain amount of your main memory is being reserved for the video card....thus leaving about 2.75G

 

[Spice Boy]

I have an external graphics card so I dont think that any of the RAM should be used for graphics... but Im not that tech savvy so could be wrong! lol

 

[logicearth]

Open Resource Monitor (start, type: "resource monitor") then go to the memory section. Take a screenshot of the "Physical Memory" block.

 

[Spice Boy]

Ok, here is what you asked for (I think)

 

[logicearth]

Well as you can see from the graph, 1282 MB is going for hardware reservations. There might be an option in the BIOS to limit that. Memory mapping or something similar sounding. I really know nothing of the GeForce 9800G, but does it have 1 GB of onboard memory?

http://www.asisupport.com/ts_4GB_memory_info.htm (A little old but still contains good information)

This behavior is due to "memory mapped IO reservations". Those reservations overlay the physical address space and mask out those physical addresses so that they cannot be used for working memory. This is independent of the OS running on the machine.

 

[Spice Boy]

no its only got 512mb onboard memory, could that be a factor?

I shall take a look at the bios settings shortly ansd have a play

 

[pparks1]

Not all standalone video cards have their own dedicated memory, it all depends upon the particular card that you have. Here is a thread from a gaming forum discussing this same issue.
GameSpot Forums - PC Hardware Discussion - Windows 7 64 Bit Not using 4 GB of Ram

 

[Spice Boy]

I searched through the whole BIOS menu but nothing anywhere that even sounds a little like Memory Mapping... so Im lost there

I have an nVidia GeForce 9800GT as my graphics which has 512MB of onboard memory...

Sorry but I cant see any helpful stuff in that Gamespot link? Also would what they are talking about be relevent for the 32-Bit OS?

 

[pparks1]

Check out this thread:
Nvidia 9800gt - 191.07 - Odd message - NVIDIA Forums

Run, dxdiag and see if you have shared memory as well. This thread shows a 9800GT with 512MB dedicated and 1.2gb shared.

 

[Spice Boy]

Yip looks like my graphics card is sucking over 1GB of RAM... this is not acceptable!! lol

Ive looked through the BIOS again and still nothing showing up there to help... Im almost at a loss... checked and Im using the latest driver for the card aswell...

Depression is starting to set in

 

[H2SO4]

Yip looks like my graphics card is sucking over 1GB of RAM... this is not acceptable!! lol

Ive looked through the BIOS again and still nothing showing up there to help... Im almost at a loss... checked and Im using the latest driver for the card aswell...

Depression is starting to set in

No need to be depressed. 64-bit to the rescue

 

[Spice Boy]

No need to be depressed. 64-bit to the rescue

Damn, does that mean I gotta buy the 64-Bit windows? Doesn't that mean that I can't use my printer etc? or games?

 

[mickey megabyte]

No need to be depressed. 64-bit to the rescue

Damn, does that mean I gotta buy the 64-Bit windows? Doesn't that mean that I can't use my printer etc? or games?

as far as your printer goes, all you need to do is to find a 64bit driver for it. if it's from a decent manufacturer and not too old you shouldn't have trouble finding one.

the same goes for the rest of your hardware.

and games run fine on 64 bit - a lot of gamers are moving onto it, to take advantage of extra memory use...

 

[Spice Boy]

Sounds like it could be a good move... is there a way I can find out if there are drivers for everything I use Hadware and software wise?

Sorry for all the questions but Im trying to learn as quick as I can lol... I can build them but cant programme them!

 

[H2SO4]

Sounds like it could be a good move... is there a way I can find out if there are drivers for everything I use Hadware and software wise?

Sorry for all the questions but Im trying to learn as quick as I can lol... I can build them but cant programme them!

64-bit drivers are available for virtually all hardware from reputable manufacturers made in the past (say) couple of years. The only time you might run into driver availability problems is if you've got relatively old (>3 or 4 years) hardware and the manufacturer would rather you spend the money to buy their new model, instead of them spending the money to write a 64-bit driver for their old model which you already own.

In short, everything will be fine on 64-bit unless you own a 300DPI scanner from the early 90s which you're desperate to continue to use

 

[Spice Boy]

Thanks H2SO4!!

All my gear is less than 1 year old (all bought in 2009) so really I shouldnt have any issues...

However, I do have an interesting question.....

If x64 uses more RAM and (from what I have read) is better to use with multi-core processors, then will all OS eventually be x64 only or will they forever use x86 and if they do keep x86, then why?

Can of worms anyone?

 

[H2SO4]

Thanks H2SO4!!

All my gear is less than 1 year old (all bought in 2009) so really I shouldnt have any issues...

However, I do have an interesting question.....

If x64 uses more RAM and (from what I have read) is better to use with multi-core processors, then will all OS eventually be x64 only or will they forever use x86 and if they do keep x86, then why?

Can of worms anyone?

Ah, where to start

It's true that x64 "uses more RAM", although the difference is marginal and nowhere near the "double" multiplier that many talk about - it's more like 10%. However, the benefits outweigh the slightly bigger footprint because data is passed around somewhat quicker and the amount of addressable memory space is vastly greater.

x86 has been bumping up against architectural limitations for several years now. My own estimate is that new systems with a 32-bit OS installation will be few and far in between ~18 months from now. The hardware is already all 64-bit capable, and has been for several years. It's really only the (un)availability of 64-drivers for older hardware periperhals that's kept x86 alive this long.

There is absolutely no doubt that x64 will prevail.

 

[Spice Boy]

Thats what it seems like to me...

Looks like I will be forking out for x64 to replace my x86! Good thing to get on the x64 bandwagon now I suppose...

Infact, hope I can get ultimate 64 the same way I got 32!

 

[logicearth]

Going x64 probably is not going to help. It appears as if this card is setting 1+ GB of reserved space regardless. Before getting too excited, download a copy of Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Eval. Either see about dual booting, or without messing with HDD partitions try Booting to VHD.

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/InstallWindowsImage