OS showing 1.92GB RAM usable, have 4GB

[Pikka]

PROBLEM: Control Panel / System shows I have 4GB RAM but only 1.92GB usable.

I tried Googleing the problem, there's more people with the same problem but no working solution.

CPU (brand, model, speed): Intel i5 2400
RAM (amount, type, speed): 2x2GB Corsair DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 dual channel
Graphics Card (brand, model): Radeon HD 4870
MBO: AsRock Z68 Pro3, UEFI
Power Supply (brand, model, wattage): 450W Corsair
Operating System: Win7 Ultimate 32bit

- DXDiag shows 4096 RAM, 1198 used / 2726 available.
- CPU-Z shows I have two graphic cards (onboard and Radeon 4870), and it says my onboard Memory size is 1024 MBytes.As for RAM it shows two 2GB RAM slots working perfectly.
- msconfig / Boot / Advanced options has "Maximum memory" non-checked and said zero, so I checked it and set it to 4096, but the problem persisted after reset (also max memory box was gain non-checked and said "0")
- BIOS / UEFI is up to date. Also, it doesn't have the option in the Advanced / Northbridge configuration / Onboard VGA share memory - that option is missing, the booklet says it should be there but it isn't.
- When idle CPU Meter gadget shows memory usage is 44% and doesn't go down (meanwhile CPU usage is 2%).

I know Win7 32bit show like 3.6GB RAM (or something) and not full 4GB but this is ridiculous, it's as if I have 2GB RAM and Win7 Starter OS. Can the issue be that a lot of memory is reserved for the CPU graphics? I have freshly installed OS with no weird programs, only MS Office, WoW, Skyrim, a firewall and MS Security Essentials.

Cheers,
Pikka

[Mister K]

Reseat your RAM, might be either not seated probably or failing.

[Deleted]

Operating System: Win7 Ultimate 32bit

well, there is your problem.

[chris1554]

Try take the sticks out and put it back in firmly, make sure they are clipped in correctly. This happened to me after I had cleaned my pc and it just needed re-seating.

[Vorenos]

Win7 Ultimate 32bit

there's your answer. 64 bit OS will let all the RAM be utilized, i believe.

[chris1554]

well, there is your problem.

32 bit can handle 4gb..

[Chrysia]

32 bit can handle 4gb..

Including your VRAM in that total.

[Deleted]

32 bit can handle 4gb..

nah, 32bit can handle 3.5gb. Thats still more than 1.92 tho.

[Cronch]

Including your VRAM in that total.

Bingo. System memory includes ALL memory, even the insignificant amount on your sound card. 32-bit systems lump it all together, and anything over 4GB gets taken out of the total RAM. You would need a 64-bit system to utilize a full 4GB of RAM as well as the other memory in the system.

[Spritely]

32 bit can handle 4gb..

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/c...confusion/3124 How much is showing depends on other factors. It'll show 4 as long as you don't have a video card or anything.

That said, I'd follow what other people said and make sure the sticks are seated properly. Otherwise try reading through the article I just posted and see if it helps explain anything for you. Looks like some versions of your card have 2gb built in, so if you have that one that's where the reduction is coming from. Changing to 64bit will resolve it.

[Saisen]

"If a computer has many installed devices, the available memory may be reduced to 3 GB or less. However, the maximum memory available in 32-bit versions of Windows Vista is typically 3.12 GB."

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605

This may help you

[Karnige]

What happens when you just try 1 stick? see what happens. Wonder if 1 of your sticks is doa or the slot itself

[Cronch]

What happens when you just try 1 stick? see what happens. Wonder if 1 of your sticks is doa or the slot itself

I doubt it's a hardware issue. I can guarantee he's just running into the 32-bit memory limitation. It always happens, and it's not described very well in Windows itself so it's not surprising that people get confused by it.

[Karnige]

I doubt it's a hardware issue. I can guarantee he's just running into the 32-bit memory limitation. It always happens, and it's not described very well in Windows itself so it's not surprising that people get confused by it.

Well seeing how it's reading under 2 gig that seems strange.

[Poinen]

32 bit can handle 4gb..

Wrong Wrong and Wrong again... need 64bit windows if you want to use more then 3gb of ram.

[Cronch]

Well seeing how it's reading under 2 gig that seems strange.

The under 2GB reading is the memory used, not available. There's 2.7GB available in his system.

It makes sense if the 4870 in his system is a 1GB model. That alone takes it down to 3GB of RAM available. The sum of the remaining components with integrated memory can make up for the extra MB taken out, especially when you consider that very rarely do 2 2GB sticks of RAM actually add up to 4GB. Usually there's several MB missing from the total from the start.

[Pikka]

Thank you all for so many replies in so little time.

I've tried reseting the RAM sticks, even in the other slots (slots 2&4, they were in 1&3), but nothing changed.

My graphic card has 1GB RAM.

Also, by accident I came into System Information, and I found the next information about memory:
Installed Physical Memory (RAM): 4,00GB
Total Physical Memory: 1,92GB
Available Physical Memory: 1,04GB
Total Virtual Memory: 3,83GB
Available Virtual Memory: 2,87GB
Page file space: 1,92GB
Page file: C:\pagefile.sys
(I can't see that file, not even with enabled "See hidden files and folders")

Damn, does all of this mean I have to reinstall OS? :/ But all of the articles say 32bit should support 4GB RAM, I don't understand how such a new OS can be limited to 2GB...

Edit (after Cronch's reply): so if I reinstall OS to 64bit I should have more RAM available (and with it a fastaer system) or will I end up with the same speed, but with better numbers on the paper?

[Deleted]

Check if you have some strange options in bios activated

[Cronch]

Unfortunately if you want to see all 4GB of your RAM, it will mean a reinstall with a 64-bit OS. The inherent limitation of a 32-bit OS is that it can only handle 2^32 bytes of system memory, which equals out to 4096 MB, or 4GB. A 64-bit OS can handle 2^64 bytes, which is... well let's just say it's a lot of bytes.

[TheRabidDeer]

Thank you all for so many replies in so little time.

I've tried reseting the RAM sticks, even in the other slots (slots 2&4, they were in 1&3), but nothing changed.

My graphic card has 1GB RAM.

Also, by accident I came into System Information, and I found the next information about memory:
Installed Physical Memory (RAM): 4,00GB
Total Physical Memory: 1,92GB
Available Physical Memory: 1,04GB
Total Virtual Memory: 3,83GB
Available Virtual Memory: 2,87GB
Page file space: 1,92GB
Page file: C:\pagefile.sys
(I can't see that file, not even with enabled "See hidden files and folders")

Damn, does all of this mean I have to reinstall OS? :/ But all of the articles say 32bit should support 4GB RAM, I don't understand how such a new OS can be limited to 2GB...

Edit (after Cronch's reply): so if I reinstall OS to 64bit I should have more RAM available (and with it a fastaer system) or will I end up with the same speed, but with better numbers on the paper?

It isnt the OS, it is the fact you are using 32bit instead of 64bit. The OS is new, 32bit is ancient.

If you reinstall to 64bit you will have more ram available, but not a faster system (unless you are always maxing out your memory usage with the current limitation).