Not the right amount of RAM

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lilllis
  • Start date Start date
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Lilllis

I just installed 4 GB of Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2 on a Asus P5K motherboard.
The BIOS discover the right 4 GB of RAM but Windows says 3,25 GB. Whats up
with Windows?
 
"Paul" wrote:

> Lilllis wrote:
> > I just installed 4 GB of Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2 on a Asus P5K motherboard.
> > The BIOS discover the right 4 GB of RAM but Windows says 3,25 GB. Whats up
> > with Windows?
>
> Try this document, then come back if you have questions.
>
> http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/4GB_Rev1.pdf
>
> Paul

Okay, so too be able to use all my RAM I should install another OS? Maybe
Vista?
 
How old are all your peripherals and programmes? The chances are a
number would not work in Vista!

Do you want the expense of buying Vista?

What benefit do you think you would get from having Vista?

Why do you need so much RAM?

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Lilllis wrote:
> "Paul" wrote:
>
>> Lilllis wrote:
>>> I just installed 4 GB of Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2 on a Asus P5K
>>> motherboard. The BIOS discover the right 4 GB of RAM but Windows
>>> says 3,25 GB. Whats up with Windows?
>>
>> Try this document, then come back if you have questions.
>>
>> http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/4GB_Rev1.pdf
>>
>> Paul
>
> Okay, so too be able to use all my RAM I should install another OS?
> Maybe Vista?
 
Lilllis wrote:
>
> "Paul" wrote:
>
>> Lilllis wrote:
>>> I just installed 4 GB of Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2 on a Asus P5K motherboard.
>>> The BIOS discover the right 4 GB of RAM but Windows says 3,25 GB. Whats up
>>> with Windows?
>> Try this document, then come back if you have questions.
>>
>> http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/4GB_Rev1.pdf
>>
>> Paul
>
> Okay, so too be able to use all my RAM I should install another OS? Maybe
> Vista?
>

Try reading the linked paper, in particular this bit, right at the
beginning:
"These memory ranges[the ones missing from what Windows reports], while
unavailable to the OS, are still being utilized by subsystems such as
I/O, PCI Express and Integrated Graphics and are critical to the proper
functioning of the PC."

If you find that lack of RAM is causing excessive paging, and impacting
performance, then you might want to consider a different OS. Otherwise,
don't worry about it.
 
What I would get? To use all of my memory, is that possible or can I fix it
in some way in XP?

"Gerry" wrote:

> How old are all your peripherals and programmes? The chances are a
> number would not work in Vista!
>
> Do you want the expense of buying Vista?
>
> What benefit do you think you would get from having Vista?
>
> Why do you need so much RAM?
>
> --
>
>
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Gerry
> ~~~~
> FCA
> Stourport, England
> Enquire, plan and execute
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
> Lilllis wrote:
> > "Paul" wrote:
> >
> >> Lilllis wrote:
> >>> I just installed 4 GB of Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2 on a Asus P5K
> >>> motherboard. The BIOS discover the right 4 GB of RAM but Windows
> >>> says 3,25 GB. Whats up with Windows?
> >>
> >> Try this document, then come back if you have questions.
> >>
> >> http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/4GB_Rev1.pdf
> >>
> >> Paul
> >
> > Okay, so too be able to use all my RAM I should install another OS?
> > Maybe Vista?
>
>
>
 
You are getting all that you can using Windows XP. What made you buy 4
gb? Why do you need so much RAM?


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lilllis wrote:
> What I would get? To use all of my memory, is that possible or can I
> fix it in some way in XP?
>
> "Gerry" wrote:
>
>> How old are all your peripherals and programmes? The chances are a
>> number would not work in Vista!
>>
>> Do you want the expense of buying Vista?
>>
>> What benefit do you think you would get from having Vista?
>>
>> Why do you need so much RAM?
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>>
>> Hope this helps.
>>
>> Gerry
>> ~~~~
>> FCA
>> Stourport, England
>> Enquire, plan and execute
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>>
>> Lilllis wrote:
>>> "Paul" wrote:
>>>
>>>> Lilllis wrote:
>>>>> I just installed 4 GB of Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2 on a Asus P5K
>>>>> motherboard. The BIOS discover the right 4 GB of RAM but Windows
>>>>> says 3,25 GB. Whats up with Windows?
>>>>
>>>> Try this document, then come back if you have questions.
>>>>
>>>> http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/4GB_Rev1.pdf
>>>>
>>>> Paul
>>>
>>> Okay, so too be able to use all my RAM I should install another OS?
>>> Maybe Vista?
 
Lilllis wrote:
>
> "Paul" wrote:
>
>
>>Lilllis wrote:
>>
>>>I just installed 4 GB of Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2 on a Asus P5K motherboard.
>>>The BIOS discover the right 4 GB of RAM but Windows says 3,25 GB. Whats up
>>>with Windows?
>>
>>Try this document, then come back if you have questions.
>>
>>http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/4GB_Rev1.pdf
>>
>> Paul
>
>
> Okay, so too be able to use all my RAM I should install another OS? Maybe
> Vista?
>

The 32-bit version of Vista will not increase the amount of usable RAM. The
64-bit version would, but it has problems of its own (few drivers) and has
all of the problems of any Vista OS (stability, limited choice of apps).

Again we ask: what do you do that requires that much RAM?
--
Cheers, Bob
 
Lilllis wrote:
>
> "Paul" wrote:
>
>> Lilllis wrote:
>>> I just installed 4 GB of Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2 on a Asus P5K motherboard.
>>> The BIOS discover the right 4 GB of RAM but Windows says 3,25 GB. Whats up
>>> with Windows?
>> Try this document, then come back if you have questions.
>>
>> http://dlsvr01.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/4GB_Rev1.pdf
>>
>> Paul
>
> Okay, so too be able to use all my RAM I should install another OS? Maybe
> Vista?
>

There is a Microsoft KB article, that claimed Vista 32 bit will show a max
of "3.12GB" of RAM. Which is less than you are getting with WinXP 32 bit.

You can switch to a 64 bit OS. But for there to be an advantage there,
you have to enable "Memory Remap Feature" in the BIOS (section 4.4.4 of the
P5K manual). You'll have all the issues of using a 64 bit OS (driver support),
and in return, you'll get back the 0.75GB of memory you are missing. (Take
my word for it, it isn't worth it.)

The "Memory Remap Feature" is described in section 4.1.2 of the 4GB_Rev1
document, and lifts the inaccessible chunk of RAM, to a place where it
can be used. But only with a 64 bit OS (because a 32 bit OS cannot reach
up there). Otherwise, you get 3.25GB or 3.12GB etc. The 4GB_rev1 document
does a better job of explaining it than I can.

HTH,
Paul
 
Paul wrote:

>
> You can switch to a 64 bit OS. But for there to be an advantage there,
> you have to enable "Memory Remap Feature" in the BIOS (section 4.4.4 of the
> P5K manual). You'll have all the issues of using a 64 bit OS (driver
> support),
> and in return, you'll get back the 0.75GB of memory you are missing. (Take
> my word for it, it isn't worth it.)

I ran Vista64 with 4gb of ram and was able to find 64bit drivers for all
my hardware except the HP laser printer. It all depends on what hardware
you have. My mb is P5K too.
 
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