hey all. I’ve tried different ram, a different windows version, I’ve messed around in bios and updated it as well. How can i get my pc to register the rest of my ram??
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If a big chunk of ram isn’t available this is usually because your system is using at as video memory, typically in the absence of a full GPU card. If you don’t do a ton of gaming or video editing you can probably go into the BIOS and reduce your video memory to 1-2GB, or if you have a separate GPU then set it to as low as possible.
Does the GPU have 8GB of memory?
This sounds like a problem we had back in the 32bit days. Video memory from the GPU is mapped into the normal memory space. Systems with 4GB could never use all of it because of that.
This still happens with 64bit systems, but the address space is so big the video memory doesn’t overlap with system memory addresses anymore.
I think there is a BIOS setting to force that mapping into back into the first part of addresses. Might want to find that setting and make sure it is off.
Where would that be in bios? I’ve got an asus but unsure currently what specs
Mine is under the advanced tab and video memory. Of course my computer is 10 years old though so it has an actual BIOS, newer computers have a similar UEFI menu.
What other hardware do you have installed in your system?
Can you take a screenshot of the Memory tab of Resource Manager?
It looks like the BIOS is reserving the memory for something. Reserving memory is pretty normal, but 8 GB isn’t. Have you tried resetting your bios to default settings.
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Are you absolutely sure that your RAM is installed according to the motherboard’s instructions?
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Have you tried swapping the two RAM modules between the slots that they are in?
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Have you tried using both RAM modules independently from each other?
Edit:
- Do both of the modules have the same speciations? Unlikely that this will cause issues (I think, I haven’t tried it but, y’know, in theory) but it may.
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I know this might not be helpful… but umm… have you tried nit using windows?
Since the PC shows the full 16gb it must be registering it. So something inside windows must be occupying the rest of the space.
I’ve seen windows alone go up to 4+ GB so the ~8GB your missing here aren’t unrealistic depending on what programs are running in the background.
Only issue is most of what I use it for is gaming. Do you know any Linux distro that would be best for that? I would also like forge launcher for games with the partner
You’ll find that 80-95% of your games work in Linux. Proton is amazing.
Is it still true that proton has issues with multiplayer games? From what I read last time I looked anti-cheat doesn’t work with proton.
there might be hidden ram drives that helps offset some I/O to the slower SSD/sata drives. (Edit: like my Radeon replay buffer I config it to save to Ram instead of to disk, I have 128GB so I can afford keeping those buffers in ram.)
I remember an old HP driver that would just take up all the unused RAM, until it was needed. Then it usually used enough less RAM to let whatever happen. This is some time ago, but I wonder if some Windows application is “reserving” RAM.
I’d recommend a more detailed look at per app and per process RAM usage. Maybe look at Process Explorer? See how RAM usage changes under load?
Once upon a time I read that this can happen when your CPU isn’t correctly seated but that always sounded weird to me so idk
The memory controller is part of the CPU die nowadays.
What’s weird about it? CPU seated wrong means that some pins may not be making proper electrical contact inside the socket. Pins not making proper contact means that they can’t energize the electrical traces that connect to those pins, or only do so intermittently, so whatever part of your system they control won’t work right either.
The memory controller is part of the CPU die nowadays.
I’ve had this happen on a system where it was either the chipset or the cpu that was unable to allocate more ram.
However that was an older system and I’m infamiliar with ryzen processors on this issue.
Okay, I’m back and I have slept. Have a look at your CPU. I’m 90% sure that’s where the problem was when I had this issue. I think in my case, one of the pins was slightly bent, and once it was very carefully straightened, the problem went away. But it could also be just not seated properly, or is overheating, or has dust on it.
Tried but did not work unfortunately
I saw in another post that you borrowed your partner’s RAM. Is it possible for you to borrow their CPU (assuming it’s compatible with your mobo)? If all the RAM is usable when you’re using their CPU, that would point to your CPU having an issue, as there is the potential for a failure there that’s not visible to the naked eye. If the problem still happens with your partner’s CPU, then at least you’ve eliminated one possibility, which is useful for diagnostic purposes.
I’m inclined to agree that the CPU might have been set incorrectly / have a bad pin, especially after the black screen and BIOS errors after updating.
Unfortunate, but it happens to the best of us.
OP try this one! Please!
I had this exact issue a couple of years ago. Exactly the same problem: 16gb installed (and recognised by the BIOS), but Windows wouldn’t use more than 8gb, even though it could detect its presence. And right now, I’m really annoyed with myself for not being able to remember what the fix was. It was… definitely something hardware-related, not software/configuration. I’m off to bed now, so if it comes to me overnight, I’ll pop back in tomorrow.
Same - had exactly this problem. I’m not exactly sure if I found a real fix in the end, it just eventually inexplicably started working. Think I tried changing ram slots and having to change some options in the bios - might be worth trying there as a start!
If you reseated the CPU and tried different RAM already it could be you have a defective motherboard. I read some other threads where that was the case.
I once had a TV tuner card use up 4GB of address space taking me from 8GB down to 4GB. Do you have any add-in cards that can be removed for testing? Or maybe any unnecessary onboard devices that can be disabled in the BIOS/firmware.
My wifi card is all I can think of
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Unlikely, but your motherboard might have an extremely low max RAM capacity.
Search for your boards specifications and check how much RAM/Memory it can suppport. If you don’t know your motherboards name, open CMD and type: “wmic baseboard get product”
The amount of RAM your system can support is determined by your processor, not your motherboard, and it’s been this way ever since the memory controller was moved from the motherboard’s northbridge to the processor over a decade ago.
When did the issue start? Did you install new RAM? Are both the new sticks identical or of mixed make? A new CPU? Did you unseat and reseat the CPU or anything before this started?
You tried different RAM? Was it properly addressed or no? Did you try the current or different RAM stick by stick to verify each one is working on its own and then in the recommended slots as per your motherboard manual?
These steps/questions are necessary to determine whether the issue is a bad memory stick, something funky going on with the memory controller wrt slots, timings, combination of different modules, etc, or even the possibility of a defective memory controller or a bent/broken pin on the CPU.
Randomly one day I was playing a game and it started stuttering so it worked at one point. Got ram installed into the right slots. Tried a different set, then my old ram stick then tried with new ram and old ram. At that point it states 24gb available 7.9gb usable.
It is detecting your ram with what I can tell from the screenshot. What program is that anyways? But it a large portion is being used. I believe windows itself uses aroung 4gigs and you might just have programs in the background using the rest, even a web browser could use a decent chunk
What does task manager show?
That looks like a snippet the system properties menu in Windows. It’s detecting all of the RAM but it isn’t that only 7.92GB is free – rather only 7.92GB is capable of being addressed, due to something going wrong.
I’m not sure that’s entirely correct. It could be that some is reserved for video (that’s how it shows on my cheap work laptop)
There is no iGPU in this system.
I don’t think it should be reserving 8GB in any case.
Edit: plus it’s a Ryzen 2600. No iGPU.
Hit ctrl-shift-esc to quick open tasks/performance. Are apps using a total of 8 gb? What are you running?
That’s not a free vs used thing, that’s a message from the OS that it can’t be addressed, so something is wrong with the configuration.
msconfighas a maximum memory option. Worth checking that to make sure it’s not set to 8gb.Could also be that you’ve installed the sticks in a weird configuration. Often if you have 4 slots the board actually wants you to populate slots 2 and 4 if you’re only using 2 sticks. Details are usually printed on the board.
Or could be reserve for the iGPU, have a look in the bios.
Checked and the option is not ticked. No igpu
