8GB ram installed only 3.5gb available

[nightkylar]

hi guys i have just bought and installed a pair of cosair vengence 2x4gb ddr3 ram sticks so i should be getting 8gb ram but in system it is telling me i have 8gb installed but only 3.5gb available ive been reading up in forums but not getting very far i had windows 7 32 bit installed but have just upgraded to windows 7 ultimate x86 sp1 and still getting the same my system info is

 

 

OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate

Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601

Other OS Description Not Available

OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation

System Name NATH-PC

System Manufacturer System manufacturer

System Model System Product Name

System Type X86-based PC

Processor Pentium® Dual-Core CPU E5800 @ 3.20GHz, 3203 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)

BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 0604, 22/07/2010

SMBIOS Version 2.5

Windows Directory C:\Windows

System Directory C:\Windows\system32

Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1

Locale United Kingdom

Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.1.7601.17514"

User Name nath-PC\nath

Time Zone GMT Standard Time

Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB

Total Physical Memory 3.50 GB

Available Physical Memory 2.67 GB

Total Virtual Memory 7.00 GB

Available Virtual Memory 6.21 GB

Page File Space 3.50 GB

Page File C:\pagefile.sys

 

alot are saying to turn memory remapping off in bios but i cant seem to find it any help would be much appreciated ive been trying to find some answers in other forums but am not getting anywhere please help if u know this problem or have any ideas ive tried msconfig / memory andvanced setting and turned off maximum memory there thanks for your time

[Starbuck]

Hi nightkylar and welcome to FPCH.

 

i had windows 7 32 bit installed but have just upgraded to windows 7 ultimate x86 sp1 and still getting the same

That's because it isn't really an upgrade.... you've only added a service pack.

x86 is 32 bit.

You are still running a 32bit system.

This should explain everything:

 

All 32-bit client versions of Windows (not just Vista/XP/7) have a 4GB

address space (64-bit versions can use much more). That's the

theoretical upper limit beyond which you can not go.

 

But you can't use the entire 4GB of address space. Even though you

have a 4GB address space, you can only use *around* 3.1GB of RAM.

That's because some of that space is used by hardware and is not

available to the operating system and applications. The amount you can

use varies, depending on what hardware you have installed, but can

range from as little as 2GB to as much as 3.5GB. It's usually around

3.1GB.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/how-much-ram-will-win7-32-64-bit-address/4420c835-4792-45e7-b8fe-cccec8320c96

 

so basically you are doing well to get the 3.5GB.

In all honesty, you may as well remove a ram stick.... it's only going to waste.

[nightkylar]

hey thanks for quick reply starbucks

if i upgraded to 64 bit windows would that work or am i limited to 32 bit on my system would be nice to get more as i play alot of games and have just bought the ram and a new 4gb gfx card to try get more from my computer would be nice to be able to use them hopefully i dont need to buy new core package to get use from it all lol starting to cost alot just for better framerate in games lol thanks for all the help

[KenB]

if i upgraded to 64 bit windows would that work or am i limited to 32 bit on my system

You are not limited to 32 bit as your CPU is 64 bit.

 

Do you have the original ( full ) installation disk for Win 7 ?

If so - you have the option of installing 32 or 64 bit on your system.

An OEM version will only have either one or the other.

[nightkylar]

ah cool yea i have the disc still probably a good time to format and fresh install now hope this solves it. thanks kenb and startbuck for your help i normally figure it out myself but this 32bit / 64bit kinda confused me should of looked it up before buying all the new parts thanks again;)

[KenB]

Glad we could help - let us know how you get on :)