Computer Trouble

bombtrack07 · Post by **bombtrack07** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 3:08 am

Okay everyone, I'm having an odd problem with my computer. I received 4 sticks of G.SKILL 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory for Christmas. I'm running an ASUS A8N-E 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard with an AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego 2.4GHz Socket 939 89W Single-Core Processor. The Phoenix AwardBios recognizes all 4GB (I upgraded to bios version 1013 in January 2006) but WindowsXP (I have all the latest updates) will only see 3Gb of memory. Even all of my programs (like Registry Easy, for example) will recognize 4Gb. The motherboard supports 4Gb of memory and I have tested all of the sticks individually and they register in the bios and Windows will boot and run. This is the most baffling problem that I have EVER had. Does anyone have any idea what could cause the bios to see 4Gb but Windows to only see 3Gb?

(and yes, I copied all of the descriptions from my account at newegg.com

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Jenni · Post by **Jenni** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 5:18 am

Hmm - if your scantools tell you that you have 4GB - why believe windows? Maybe windows can only see 3GB in this version? What sais google?
When you start the computer and enter the BIOS - will you see there the 4 GB or also just 3?
The BIOS is all that counts - if you see there 4 GB - everything is fine. If you see in BIOS only 3 GB - maybe one of the sticks is broken.

cbjones26 · Post by **cbjones26** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 5:39 am

is it a 32 bit system? if its 32 bit that is the reason. ex. 32 bit vista will only see ~3.2gb when 4 gb is installed. vista 64 bit will see 4 gb when 4 gb is installed. dont ask me why idk; i just know that 32 bit systems dont rec all 4 gb of ram.... anything over 3 gb they dont see.. i think this is true for xp aswell

this was what was told to me on a tech website.

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Vista and Windows XP SP2 will limit you to around 3 GB of RAM in their 32-bit flavours. You may be able to access a little more or a little less but it'll be around 3 GB.

ZeroChad · Post by **ZeroChad** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:07 am

^Yup all 32bit operating systems will not be able to see the 4gb.

32^2 = 4,294,967,296

4,294,967,296 / (1,024 x 1,024) = 4,096

That is the maxiumum number of memory bits that the OS can address. You won't be able to see that much RAM though since addressing is taken up by Video card RAM as well as BIOS ROM, cpu cache and other system resources.

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:17 am

easy fix:
Install Linux or Mac OS X Leopard

bombtrack07 · Post by **bombtrack07** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 8:19 am

Well I guess that solves it. Thanks for the help guys!

Here's another question. How do i fix memory dumps?