Vista Ram Problems

[stalker23]

I just recently installed 2, 1 gig sticks of ram, to have a total of 4 gigs of ram (all one gig sticks) but i cannot tell if my computer is using it because when i go in the system under the control panel, it says i only have 2 gig's, but when i go into the Bios, it seems to be registering all 4, 1 gig sticks of ram.

I am running Windows Vista 32 bit, and i have read many places i should get at least 3 gig's or memory. My computer does not seem to run any faster, especially when playing games (which is why i upgraded).

thankyou for any help.

 

[worshipme]

First please post your complete specs. I couldn't tell by your first post if you knew or not, but 32 bit OS can't see more than 2.75GB-3.25GB of RAM. As for the performance, what games are you playing exactly? Only a few games such as Crysis and Bioshock will benefit from 4GB over 2GB, or it could be another component bottlenecking your entire PC.

 

[99nasha]

Im pretty sure only vista 64bit supports 4 gig!

 

[mayorredbeard]

Post your other specs also. You probably have a bottleneck in your processor or GFX card which is why your not seeing the expected increase in gaming. More RAM won't help if another component lags behind.

Windows Vista 32-bit officialy supports 4 gigs 'address space'. Which doesn't translate to 4 gigs of ram. It translates to about 3 gigs, or just under 3 gigs. So you are correct in thinking that.

Most programs only utilize 2 gigs of ram, so your not missing out on much. But still you should be seeing 3 gigs.

Go into your BIOS and try enabling Memory Remapping. If it is enabled try disabling it. Also try installing VistaBootPro and enabling PAE (Physical Address Extension) mode. See if that helps to get you some more. You should be able to use just under 3 gigs of ram. (Technically your using 3, but certain hardware components utilize some of that ram, making it more around 2.9)


EDIT: He said that he realized vistsa32-bit only supports 3gb's of space; however he is only seeing two. Meaning their is a full 1gb missing. Try doing the things I said above.

 

[stalker23]

o sorry.


Operating system and version:
Windows Vista home edition 32 Bit

Motherboard make and model: intel corporation OEMD975XBGG1

CPU chip: intell core 2 quad @ 2.4 GHz (Q6600)

Memory type and how much. Single channel or dual.
4 gig of ram (pc2-5300 @ 667MHz) DDR2 dual channel

Video card make and model, and whether it's an AGP, PCI, or onboard video chips.
Nvidia BeForce 8800 GTX (factory overclocked....)

Sound card make and model, and whether it's a soundcard or AC97 onboard sound.

Creative SB X-Fi [NoDB]

Any other pci cards make and model.
TV Tuner

Hard drives make and model.
(NTFS)@ WDC WD35 00JS-00NCB1 250 GB (SATA300, NCQ, 8MB cache)

Optical drives make and model
(EATAPI DVD W DH16W1P (ATAPI66, 48x CD-R, 48x CD-W, 6x DVD-r, 6x DVD-w, 2mb chache)

(FATAPI DVD C DH48C1P (ATAPI33, 48x CD-R, 48x CD-W, 6x DVD-r, 2mb chache)


Power supply make and model. ?????


thanks

 

[mayorredbeard]

Let us know if the two things I recommended were any help. I really do not see any bottleneck there.

 

[worshipme]

You could also try resetting your BIOS.

 

[stalker23]

I tried enabling the PAE and that didnt work, and i have to check with gateway to do anything ot the Bios because i have a stupid warrenty thats invalidated really easily. thanks for all yourhlep. ill let you know how it goes.

 

[mayorredbeard]

I tried enabling the PAE and that didnt work, and i have to check with gateway to do anything ot the Bios because i have a stupid warrenty thats invalidated really easily. thanks for all yourhlep. ill let you know how it goes.

Use gateways online chat, one of the best tech supports i've ever used. Their not the brightest of people, but they have a book with all the answers in it. And they're very prompt at getting back to you.

 

[stalker23]

Thats who i've been talking to (Gateway online Chat) and they keep telling me they cant help me because i didn't buy the RAM from them, and if i do ANYTHING to the Bios it voids my warrenty. NOt to happy with them right now.