# How to check RAM slots?(missing a gig of RAM)



## absentlySocial (Jul 9, 2004)

i know, right click my computer, that'll show you how much ram you have.

i have 4 one Gb sticks of ram(pc 3200) in my computer. when i do that, it says i only have 3GBs. 

i was thinking windows just wasnt displaying it all. but it also only says 3GB in my bios.

anyone have any ideas?

first thing that comes to mind is that one of the sticks were dead. but these arent that old at all. only about 2-3months old, tops. and yes, it did work before(though, windows still wouldnt show it all. it only said 3.74 or something).

anyone know of any programs that will let me see what is coming from each one of my four slots? or something that that?

you might say "well 3gb is still alot", but if you paid for 4gb, wouldnt you want all 4?

*edit*
I have found that i can set my paging file size to 4GB(well, 4096MB). i dont know if that has anything to do with what im talking about. maybe it means that i do have full usage of my four sticks?

thanks in advanced!
Vern


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## greenjedi (Nov 16, 2004)

Probely ESD Electric Static Discarge

It meens its damaged with static electricitie zo it wil brake down one day or another
so just hope the warenty isn't expired


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## blackduck30 (Sep 7, 2004)

if you want to find out if they are all working you could take them out and try one at a time this will isolate the problem child and you could try a warrenty


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## absentlySocial (Jul 9, 2004)

soooo, i ran D-A-L.

i got this for my memory.

Bank Label BANK0 
Capacity 1073741824 

Bank Label BANK1 
Capacity 1073741824 

Bank Label BANK2 
Capacity 1073741824 

Bank Label BANK3 
Capacity 1073741824 

Total Memory Deteced in Hardware: ~4096 MB
Memory Reported to Operating System: 3070MB


so that can find all of them, but why are only 3 gbs being reported?


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## batty_professor (Jul 29, 2004)

Is the missing memory being dedicated to video memory? This would explain the conflict. In Bios does it show the correct total with some 900? MB shared?


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## absentlySocial (Jul 9, 2004)

well, in my bios the only place i found anything about memory it said 3gb. so i dont know if any is being dedicated to video.


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## greenjedi (Nov 16, 2004)

ESD Electric Static Discarge

It meens its damaged with static electricitie zo it wil brake down one day or another and it may be half broken so that you dont have the full ram
so just hope the warenty isn't expired


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## Sgt_Grim_Reaper (Nov 11, 2004)

Check the motherboard manual. What is the max it supports? You will have all sorts of weird problems if you try to go over it.
cheers


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## absentlySocial (Jul 9, 2004)

Sgt_Grim_Reaper said:


> Check the motherboard manual. What is the max it supports? You will have all sorts of weird problems if you try to go over it.
> cheers


its a asus p4p800-e deluxe, max is 4gb.




greenjedi said:


> ESD Electric Static Discarge
> 
> It meens its damaged with static electricitie zo it wil brake down one day or another and it may be half broken so that you dont have the full ram
> so just hope the warenty isn't expired


i have never heard of half a stick of ram being broken.


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## w00t (Jun 30, 2004)

OMGD what do you need 4gigs of ram for.

I second the idea of dedicaing the ram to video, but no onboard video you have. see pic, but with no onboard video I now second the idea of damage done to your RAM. do you still have your waranty?


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## absentlySocial (Jul 9, 2004)

w00t said:


> OMGD what do you need 4gigs of ram for.
> 
> I second the idea of dedicaing the ram to video, but no onboard video you have. see pic, but with no onboard video I now second the idea of damage done to your RAM. do you still have your waranty?


  i dont.

but if damage was done to the ram, would D-A-L still see it and be able to identify it?


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## batty_professor (Jul 29, 2004)

If it were me, I'd remove all but one stick, boot to make sure it passes post, turn off and repeat with each stick. this will verify ram is OK. Maybe repeat test with one ram stick moving slot to slot. If all passes either your bios has an issue, or your chipset has a problem where it can no longer manage that much. Have you tried defaulting the Bios? Is there a flash update available? Also if it were a chipset problem it may rear it's ugly head in the form of poor performance even with less memory in place. and check the PC health in bios keep in mind clock speeds are critical in this system and the fanout of the data and address lines for four Gigs of memory suffers 25% more interelectrode capacitance than with 3 Gigs for instance. Meaning a reduced reliable clock speed.


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## karpediempmp (Nov 22, 2008)

hi all,
I have the same issue as absentlySocial. been searching online for a solution but no results. Since XP 32 bit could not address the whole 4gb i switched to a dual boot xp32 / xp64... still the system reported only 3gb. Also thinking it could have been a Bios update issue... i could not find a way to update or flash the Phoenix bios.
Here is my D.A.L

-------------------------------------------------------

OS Information:
PropertyValue
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition|C:\WINDOWS|\Device\Harddisk0\Partition1
Service Pack 2.0
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS


Processor:
PropertyValue
Current Clock Speed 1663
Description EM64T Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 6
Manufacturer GenuineIntel
Name Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T5500 @ 1.66GHz

Current Clock Speed 1663
Description EM64T Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 6
Manufacturer GenuineIntel
Name Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T5500 @ 1.66GHz


Memory (RAM):
PropertyValue
Bank Label Bank 0
Capacity 2147483648

Bank Label Bank 1
Capacity 2147483648

Total Memory Deteced in Hardware: ~4096 MB
Memory Reported to Operating System: 3070MB

Disk Drives:
PropertyValue
Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model FUJITSU MHW2120BJ G2
Media Type Fixed hard disk media
Size 120031511040 (~112 GB)
Number of Partitions 3

Motherboard:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Intel Corporation
Model 
Name Base Board
Part Number 
Product MPAD-MSAE Customer Reference Boards
Serial Number Not Applicable
Version Not Applicable


BIOS:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Phoenix Technologies LTD
Name Default System BIOS
Release Date 20060830******.******+***
Version UNKNOWN


Monitor:
PropertyValue
Description Default Monitor
Name Default Monitor
Screen Height 800
Screen Width 1280

Description Default Monitor
Name Default Monitor
Screen Height 
Screen Width 


Keyboard:
PropertyValue
Description Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard


Pointing Device:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Microsoft
Name PS/2 Compatible Mouse


Sound Card:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Realtek
Description Realtek High Definition Audio
Device ID HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0861&SUBSYS_11791205&REV_1003\4&1E09AF89&0&0001

Manufacturer Logitech
Description Logitech Mic (Ultra Vision)
Device ID USB\VID_046D&PID_08C9&MI_02\6&4B52CC4&0&0002


Video Card:
PropertyValue
Adapter Compatibility NVIDIA
Adapter RAM 268435456
Description NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300
Installed Display Drivers nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version 6.14.11.5685
Driver Date 12/10/2007 8:03:00 AM
Video Mode Description 1280 x 800 x 4294967296 colors

Adapter Compatibility LogMeIn, Inc.
Adapter RAM 
Description LogMeIn Mirror Driver
Installed Display Drivers 
Driver Version 2.50.596
Driver Date 7/25/2008 12:45:20 AM
Video Mode Description 


DirectX Installation:
PropertyValue


Modem:
PropertyValue
Model Agere Systems PCI Soft Modem
Name Agere Systems PCI Soft Modem


Network Adapters:
PropertyValue
Description Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection - Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection - Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description Microsoft TV/Video Connection

External Ports:
PropertyValue
External Reference Designator COM 1
External Reference Designator Parallel
External Reference Designator Keyboard
External Reference Designator PS/2 Mouse

Expansion Slots:
PropertyValue
Slot Designation PCI Slot J11
Slot Designation PCI Slot J12
Slot Designation PCI Slot J13
-------------------------------------------------------

I am a total novice on hardware and drivers matter so any enlightment would be great
Thanks


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

I don't know why no-one told you guys but the only windows OS (to my knowledge) that supports OVER 3GB of Ram is Vista ... XP, which you are using, can only support up to 3GBytes

edit ..

I am not totally right .. the truth is out there at Microsoft here

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778.aspx


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## mike2020learnin (Feb 28, 2007)

Hello , 

about 32 bit ram support & 64 bit support in software 

I have been saying that also / about windows only supporting 3 to 3.5 gigs for a long time 

but every one thinks differnt 

i say it is the software issue of support / now when you have to much ram installed it just sits there being wasted / and it also cause weirdness in the software 

how do i know / been their and pulled my hair out over it / remove 1 modual and replaced with a 512 / it saw it all but still had the weirdness / removed 512 / ran like a beast on a case of energy drinks 

live & learn 

at least you have a back up stick 

now 64 bit does support up to 10 gig but you have to have the mobo for it 

i have mobo that maxs out at 8 gig in my naz box but it really weird out at 6.5 so i only have 6 gig in it with 64 bit software cost of board $800 used ??

and they say it will support 16 gig total ??

hope this helps


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

from what I remember the problem is that there is a max limit to the TOTAL amount of memory that is usable .. so you put 4 gigs inside but your VGA maybe has 512MB .. so you MUST lose that top area of memory where there is overlap or you'll be having conflicting memory readings from the memory location .. in two different physical places.


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