Missing 1Gb of Ram?

jazzy

I have recently purchased a new desktop pc. The specification of the pc was 4Gb of ram however when I check the specification through 'my computer' it shows
Installed Memory RAM 4GB (3GB usable)
So where is this missing 1Gb of ram?

Painkiller

If you are using a 32bit operating system then it can only see/use a maximum of 3GB RAM.

KiwiCrazy

You will need to post the specs of your machine.

Without knowing more I think this might be because you are running a 32-bit operating system which wont be able to recognise the 4Gb of RAM.

If you are running a 64-bit OS then it might be limited by your motherboard chipset.

So more info needed for anyone to be able to solve this.

Painkiller

This thread might help explain;

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/281053-12-usable

Inner_Zone

Installed Memory RAM 4GB (3GB usable)


It not missing as above you are running a 32bit OS and some of the memory is also being used for the on-board graphics.

prowla

I thought you should get 3.5 GB usable (that's what my machine has).

The reason the remainder is disabled is (I think) because Windows uses memory-mapped devices, or in other words it uses what would be memory addresses to talk to the system hardware, which makes things easy for programmers. But the downside is that the memory addresses used for that can't also be used to talk to RAM.

jazzy

The system specification is:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
CPU Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper TX3
Operating System: Windows 7
Motherboard: Asus M4N68T-M
Memory: 4.0GB Corsair DDR3 1600mhz DHX CL9 (2x 2GB)
Hard Drives: 1TB S-ATAII 3.0Gb/s
Optical Drive: 22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA
Graphics card: ATI Radeon HD 4550 512MB
Sound card: Onboard 7.1 Audio
Case: Piano Black ATX

I installed the Windows 7 O/S myself, there was an option when I installed Windows 7 if I wanted to set up with a 32 bit or 64 bit. I decided to use the 32 bit option just in case there were some software incompatibility problems.

Perhaps I should have used the 64 bit option, would there have been much difference, speed wise?

jonnypb

Should have gone for 64bit as it can utilize more memory than 32bit

I haven't had any issues with 32bit applications not working on a 64bit PC

Richie-from-the-Boro

32bit you waste £6.75 worth of the cost of your memory and the benefit of the 25% extra RAM.

jayme1

everything that is certified for windows 7 fully works on both 64 bit and 32 bit.

the argument about 64bit not being very compatible is a bit of a myth nowadays, I have tried many a software and all works fine under 64bit, perhaps if you havd some super important corporate software then it might be an issue but for the consumer there shouldn't be a problem.

KiwiCrazy

jazzy wrote: »

The system specification is:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
CPU Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper TX3
Operating System: Windows 7
Motherboard: Asus M4N68T-M
Memory: 4.0GB Corsair DDR3 1600mhz DHX CL9 (2x 2GB)
Hard Drives: 1TB S-ATAII 3.0Gb/s
Optical Drive: 22x DVD±RW DL S-ATA
Graphics card: ATI Radeon HD 4550 512MB
Sound card: Onboard 7.1 Audio
Case: Piano Black ATX

I installed the Windows 7 O/S myself, there was an option when I installed Windows 7 if I wanted to set up with a 32 bit or 64 bit. I decided to use the 32 bit option just in case there were some software incompatibility problems.

Perhaps I should have used the 64 bit option, would there have been much difference, speed wise?

There is a difference in speed with the 64 and 32-bit OS and obviously the 64-bit is faster.

That is your issue and you wont get that 1Gb back untill your reinstall your OS.