# Usable RAM issue.



## Ukiah (Nov 24, 2011)

First of all, good day everyone!

Now i'm having an issue with the build I just assembled. First and foremost I am running Windows 7 Professional x64 bit. 

System Information is telling me that I have 8GB installed ram, 4GB usable, and only 2.39GB available. Now what also struck me as odd was that my BIOS only detects 4GB of ram. So my ultimate goal is obviously to figure out what's wrong and utilize all 8GB of ram I have installed! 

Here are my hardware specs:
+Motherboard - ASUS M5A88-V EVO
+CPU - AMD Phenom II 970 Black Edition
+GPU - Diamond Radeon HD 6870
+RAM - 2x4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 (I believe @1600Mhz)

Thank you in advance! :winking:


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

Do you have the two memory chips installed in the same color slots. Ie: they have to be installed in either the blue or the black slots.


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## Ukiah (Nov 24, 2011)

Yes, I've tried having them both installed in the blue slots (a1 and b1) as well having them both installed in both black slots (a2 and b2). 

Either way it's still been having the same outcome.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

First, go to Control Panel>System and Security>System to determine if you actually have the 64-bit version of Windows installed (the retail package comes with both 32- and 64-bit versions).

Secondly, as AMD_Man said, make sure that your RAM is in the correct slots. If one set of slots doesn't work try the other color.

Now, check your BIOS revision. If you don't have at least version Version 0504, which addresses memory compatibility, you should flash to the latest version.

Your RAM timings may not be set right in the BIOS. Look at LED near the MemOK button (Chapter 2 of your manual) while booting up your system, if it lights up during boot use the MemOK function as specified in Chapter 2 of your manual or set the timings for your RAM manually.

If you are overclocking, set your system back to it's stock settings. 

One or more RAM sticks may not be working properly, or if you have different types of RAM sticks this may be a problem -- try booting your computer with each stick separately in the slot specified for one RAM stick to test them.


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## Ukiah (Nov 24, 2011)

Alright then, thanks for the replies!
Lemme answer each of your points.

+I do have 64 bit Windows 7 Professional.

+I have tried installing both sticks of RAM in both sets of slots (e.g. Both in blue, both in black).

+My bios is up to date (version 0801).

+The Bios does have the right timings set at 9-9-9-24, I also manually set those timings with no difference. During boot (POST) the DRAM_LED DOES Light up very briefly, however using MemOK properly doesn't have any observable effect (other than giving a confirmation screen saying that MemOK ran and the boot was successful).

+I am not currently overclocking

+And i'm using the same type of RAM, and I have successfully booted with each individual stick.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

With each stick installed individually, does the Bios show 4GB for each stick?
Was the RAM purchased as a matched pair?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

D/L and run CPUz give us a screen shot of both slot on the SPD tab.

Also hit the Start Button type Winver in the search box and hit enter, attach a screen shot of the popup window.


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## Ukiah (Nov 24, 2011)

BIOS does show 4GB for each stick when installed individually.
The RAM was purchased together (in the same package).

Attached are the CPUz screen shots as well as Winver as requested.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

Cpu-z shows me that you have 8 gigs of memory installed. 4 gigs in slot 1 and 4 gigs in slot 2. Download speccy from my signature, run it and post the results back here .


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Are you using the two Blue colored RAM slots?


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## Ukiah (Nov 24, 2011)

Alright, here's the attached results from Speccy. (figured you'd prefer an accessible wall of text rather than a forced wall of text).

And yes, currently, both RAMs are installed in the light blue slots (a1/b1), but i've ran my computer with the same results in both black slots (a2/b2).


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

You have to have the memory in the wrong slots as it's reading as single channel as oposed to dual channel. Can you take a pic of your setup and post?


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## Ukiah (Nov 24, 2011)

Here we go, I haven't gotten around to sorting the wires. :uhoh:


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

On bootup enter BIOS and on the top right of your screen you will see the version number of the BIOS. I ask because there is a BIOS revision (update) that addresses memory compatibility.


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## Ukiah (Nov 24, 2011)

My BIOS version is 0801. Is this turning into the cold-case of RAM issues? xD


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

You do have the latest BIOS version so that`s good. I don`t know why it`s reporting dual channel as single channel and why it shows 8 gigs but only 4 useable. It`s late here now so I`ll sleep on it and keep thinking of a reason for this.


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## Ukiah (Nov 24, 2011)

Thank you, I truly do appreciate everyone's effort on helping me solve this matter!


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

1 more thing to check, Start right click on Computer, select properties, in the properties window what is listed for Installed ram and system type?


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## Ukiah (Nov 24, 2011)

"Installed Memory (RAM): 8.00 GB (4.00 GB usable)
System type: 64-bit Operating system"


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Pull the first stick of ram out and test the second 2 slots only (one slot at a time) make sure that it boots, and that 4 gig is recognized.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

If all of your slots test OK, with both sticks installed, open task manager then resource monitor and see how much memory of what types it reports. One thing to note is the amount in hardware reserved memory, which won't show up as usable memory (though this shouldn't be an entire stick's worth).

The usable memory may be less than the installed memory on Windows 7-based computers

Were your 4 GB sticks a matched pair kit or did you buy them separately?


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## Ukiah (Nov 24, 2011)

wrench - which slots are you referring to exactly by the "second 2 slots"?

MPR - Task manager reports 4095 total, aprox 2600 in both cached and available and 20-50 free. My sticks were a part of a matched pair kit.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

secondary channel the 2 slots farthest from the CPU.


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## Ukiah (Nov 24, 2011)

Hello!

Firstly, sorry to necro this thread, but i've been busy with alot of things lately so never got around to responding.

Secondly, i really want to solve this problem.
-So to get started i did some searching and found this from microsoft which describes the issue: The usable memory may be less than the installed memory on Windows 7-based computers. Went through the things to try, none of it really worked.
-but i did stumble upon the resource monitor tool and figured out that all my RAM is there and being registered (still not by the BIOS) but windows is showing at as reserved.

Help me try and reclaim my reserved RAM. (attaching a screeny)


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Hit start, in the search box type msconfig hit enter.
On the boot tab, click the advanced options button, in the advanced window make sure the Max memory box is not checked.


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## Ukiah (Nov 24, 2011)

I checked and it isn't


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

In the bios on the main tab under system information what is reported as installed memory and usable memory.
What bios version are you running?


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## Ukiah (Nov 24, 2011)

The BIOS reads 4096 for both.
and i'm running BIOS M5A88-V EVO version: 1001.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

The first challenge is to get the bios to recognize all the ram, the bios passes the ram quantity to the operating system on boot if the bios says 4 gig that all windows will report as usable.

What slots are the ram sticks currently installed in the Blue or the Black slots?


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## Ukiah (Nov 24, 2011)

The RAM is currently installed into both the blue slots.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Try the black slots and recheck the bios system info.
Then try 1 stick in the second blue slot only and again check bios.
Then 1 stick in the first blue slot


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