Ram Upgraded

Gandalf

Gandalf

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Andy
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Hi,

I have just added another 2GB Ram to my system, making a total of 4GB.

However I am running windows vista SP2 32bit and it only recognises 2GB.

Question.

Even though it doesn't recognise the additional memory is it still using it, or is it just sitting there idle?

Do I have to upgrade to a 64bit copy of Vista, Is there such a thing?

Do I need to upgrade to Windows 7?

I have a Pentium 4 processor running at 3.2ghz.

Any advice would be welcomed.:bang:
 
The limit for 32bit Vista is 3gb which is the same for XP. I presume you've got 2x2gb in your pc so it's only seeing the one piece of memory. The 64bit version of Vista would see the full 4gb and more.

Cheers,

Adam.
 
might be a hardware limit you have if youre not seeing more than 2gb, i know i had an old laptop that had that restriction.

you cannot "upgrade" from 32 to 64 bit versions of windows, you have to wipe and reinstall.
 
If your going to upgrade do yourself a fvour and get a copy of Windows 7 64bit, home premium will suffice. :D
 
Hey Guys, Thanks.

I have 4 slots of 1GB installed.

Q1. Would I have to buy a 64bit version of vista, if so any idea how much?

Q2. Am I right in assuming that windows 7 discs come with both the 32 & 64bit on them.

Cheers.
 
Gandalf said:
Hey Guys, Thanks.

I have 4 slots of 1GB installed.

Q1. Would I have to buy a 64bit version of vista, if so any idea how much?

Q2. Am I right in assuming that windows 7 discs come with both the 32 & 64bit on them.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

If you are only seeing 2Gb, changing to 64bit won't solve the problem.

Q2.........Yes.
 
It's a little strange that you only seeing 2GB, the limit on 32bit OS is 4,096 MB AFAIK. Now the RAM limit is shared between all the components so for example if you have a 1GB graphics card then you will only see 3GB of RAM. Try installing something like Speccy and seeing if it recognises all the sticks.
 
Mike what versions of 7 comes with both 32bit and 64bit, mine certainly didn't and clearly states 64bit ?
 
Gandalf said:
Hey Guys, Thanks.

I have 4 slots of 1GB installed.
Click to expand...

It sounds as though you've installed two unmatched pairs of RAM and the system is only recognising the first of each pair.

As Neil and the others have said, you're only going to see a max of up to 3.5Gb in total anyway.

If you go onto your computer manufacturer's website there should be a user manual which will describe how to match the sets. Alternatively you need to take a snap shot of your RAM slots and post it on here with details of each of the chips that you have, and we can try to talk you through it.! :D
 
Gandalf said:
Hi,

I have just added another 2GB Ram to my system, making a total of 4GB.

However I am running windows vista SP2 32bit and it only recognises 2GB.

Question.

Even though it doesn't recognise the additional memory is it still using it, or is it just sitting there idle?

Do I have to upgrade to a 64bit copy of Vista, Is there such a thing?

Do I need to upgrade to Windows 7?

I have a Pentium 4 processor running at 3.2ghz.

Any advice would be welcomed.:bang:
Click to expand...
If windoze can't see it, it isn't being used!

First thing to do is determine what is visible to the bare machine. Easiest way of doing this is probably to enter the BIOS setup screen (will be something like DEL of one of the F keys when you turn the PC on). One of the pages should tell you what RAM you have and what speed it is. It is possible that there is a hardware limitation in the system or that you have the wrong speed of memory in there. To be able to debug further, we'd need to know the motherboard make/product or if a laptop, the make/model. Also need to know which memory you bought and what was already in there. It is also possible you haven't snapped the memory in far enough (sometimes takes a bit of pushing to make sure the memory is seated properly).

As to 64 bit OS, you need to find out if your system is 64 bit capable as some (many) of the Pentium 4 processors are only 32 bit capable. Follow the instructions here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/...and-64-bit-Windows-frequently-asked-questions by clicking the link "How do I tell if my computer can run a 64-bit version of Windows?" That will tell you if you will get access to the full 4Gbytes should you get the RAM visible.
 
I ran Speccy and got the information below.

Operating System
MS Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2
CPU
Intel Pentium 4 640
Prescott 90nm Technology
RAM
4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR @ 129MHz (2.5-3-3-6)
Motherboard
775V88+ (CPUSocket)
Graphics
SAMSUNG LCD @ 1440x900
256MB GeForce FX 5500 (Undefined)
Hard Drives
244GB Maxtor Maxtor 6 L250S0 SCSI Disk Device (Unknown)
Optical Drives
SONY CD-RW CRX320EE ATA Device
Audio
VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller

so it looks like the computer knows it's there. I think.
 
Gandalf said:
Intel Pentium 4 640
Click to expand...
OK, that'll run a 64 bit OS if you need it to.
Gandalf said:
4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR @ 129MHz (2.5-3-3-6)
Click to expand...
129MHz is awfully low. Which memory did you buy? It may be your memory config is not quite right.
Gandalf said:
so it looks like the computer knows it's there. I think.
Click to expand...
Yup. And should be using it. You mention in your original post that Vista says it is only using 2Gb. Where does Vista tell you this?
 
PS. What memory configuration do you have for 4Gbytes? 2x2Gb, 4x1Gb, 2x1Gb+1x2Gb?
 
assuming thats an ASROCK motherboard going on the model number their site states:

Dual Channel DDR memory technology
- Supports DDR400/333/266 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
- DIMM slots: 4
- Max. capacity of system memory: 4G
Click to expand...

presumably the memory you added is compatible? looking at this:

4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR @ 129MHz (2.5-3-3-6)
Click to expand...

id say either your memory is not compatible with the board and/or the other existing sticks of memory.

edit - where are you getting that 4gb @ 129mhz from? is that the bios?
 
Last edited:
PS. The manual for the board says this:

ASRock said:
775V88+ motherboard provides four 184-pin DDR (Double Data Rate)
DIMM slots, and supports Dual Channel Memory Technology. For dual channel
configuration, you always need to install identical (the same brand, speed,
size and chip-type) DDR DIMM pair in the slots of the same color. In other words,
you have to install identical DDR DIMM pair in Dual Channel A (DDR1 and
DDR3; Blue slots; see p.8 No.5) or identical DDR DIMM pair in Dual Channel B
(DDR2 and DDR4; Black slots; see p.8 No.6), so that Dual Channel Memory
Technology can be activated. This motherboard also allows you to install four
DDR DIMMs for dual channel configuration, and please install identical DDR
DIMMs in all four slots. You may refer to the Dual Channel Memory Configuration
Table below.
Click to expand...

Basically, you have to have exactly the same memory in all 4 slots for it to work.
 
ChrisH said:
Mike what versions of 7 comes with both 32bit and 64bit, mine certainly didn't and clearly states 64bit ?
Click to expand...

All the so-called "Upgrade" DVDs for Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate have both 32 and 64 bit on them, according to the MS website.

My mate certainly had both with his Win7 DVD.
 
I Have 4 slots each with 1GB PC3200 in it, Slots 1 & 3 where bought first when I made up the PC and I have just added 2 & 4. Both are matched pairs.
 
Are they matched pairs with each other (i.e. same CAS latency - the numbers in the brackets). Also the manual says:

ASRock said:
4 DDR DIMM Slots: DDR1, DDR2, DDR3, and DDR4
2 DDR DIMM Slots Supports PC3200 (DDR400), Max.1GB,
4 DDR DIMM Slots Supports PC2700 (DDR333) /
PC2100 (DDR266), Max. 3.5GB,
Click to expand...

You may have to force the memory bus to run slower than 3200 when using the 4G in the BIOS. I'll reask my original question though: You mention in your original post that Vista says it is only using 2Gb. Where does Vista tell you this?
 
@ arad85. When you go into my computer, properties. It shows as 2GB. Yet when you go into bios it does show 4GB.

Would it be better to upgrade my motherboard to accept the memory?

Thanks for your help.
 
To slow down (or in fact speed up) the bus, press F2 after power on self test, navigate to the advanced screen->chipset configuration-> DRAM Frequency and set to 166MHz (although the 129MHz might be a fallback to the 133MHz which is also settable).

It looks like everything is working OK....
 
Gandalf said:
@ arad85. When you go into my computer, properties. It shows as 2GB. Yet when you go into bios it does show 4GB.
Click to expand...
Hmm... But speccy sees 4Gb?

Motherboard upgrades is a long and costly process as you'll want to change processor (P4 is so 2006), graphics card (AGP is so 2002, PCIe is where it's at now), and memory is DDR3/DDR4 now.... I'd stick with what you've got!

What does the Task Manager say you have for memory (taskbar->right click->start Task Manager then navigate to the Performance Tab and what does Physical Memory Total say?
 
The Task Bar Manager says total 2046.
 
Gandalf said:
The Task Bar Manager says total 2046.
Click to expand...
Hmm... Weird. Can you confirm that windows sees 2G whilst speccy sees 4G at the same time.

Does altering the BIOS bus speed from Auto (which I assume it is on) to 166MHz make any difference?
 
Hmmm, very interesting !!!

Just took all the Ram out and then put the new ram in first in slots 1 & 3 and then the old ram in slots 2 &4. Computer, Properties now shows 3GB system Ram while speccy shows 4GB.

Task Manager also now shows 3070.

So have at least got 3GB recognised. Some small measure of success. YEAH....

Changed the Bios bus speed to 166Mhz also. So maybe combination of both things worked.

Thanks Andy for your help.
 
Last edited:
No problems.... glad it's been of some help and it definitely looks like a hardware compatibility issue somewhere. You might also like to try memtest86 to see what that makes of the RAM too. You can leave it on test and it will read/write random data to check the memory out...
 
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