Ram question

[Tylerl]

Just built a pc with 6 GBs of ram, but when I go into my computer properties in windows 7 64 bit it says 6 GBs of ram but only 4 usable. Not sure what this means and what to do about it. Thanks.

[Jurgen]

If your motherboard/CPU only support dual-channel RAM, that might be why it is only recognizing 4GB. Do you have 2 3GB sticks or 3 2GB sticks?

[Tylerl]

3 2GBs and my MB/cpu support it

[Pikarya]

Few things here to look at.

First off, what type of Processor, Motherboard, RAM.

#1 Do you have the latest BIOS (stable) for it.
#2 Are you using a Videocard (dedicated) or Onboard (Shared system memory)?
#3 Have you tried clearing CMOS/reseating the RAM?
#4 Memtest? Do 8 passes give or take overnight.
#5 In BIOS is "Memory Remapping" disabled or enabled by default?
#6 In BIOS, is memory configured manually (timings, etc.). Or is it running on "Auto", or something of the sort.

All I can think of for now.

[Tylerl]

Few things here to look at.

First off, what type of Processor, Motherboard, RAM.

#1 Do you have the latest BIOS (stable) for it.
#2 Are you using a Videocard (dedicated) or Onboard (Shared system memory)?
#3 Have you tried clearing CMOS/reseating the RAM?
#4 Memtest? Do 8 passes give or take overnight.
#5 In BIOS is "Memory Remapping" disabled or enabled by default?
#6 In BIOS, is memory configured manually (timings, etc.). Or is it running on "Auto", or something of the sort.

All I can think of for now.

MB- GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
cpu- Intel i7 930
ram- G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ

#1 pretty sure bios are up to date
#2 xfx 5850 gpu
#3 havent tried to reseat the ram but it says i have 6GBs installed but only 4 usable
#4 i'll look into this tomorrow if need be
#5 what should it be at?
#6 what should it be at? lol

[Pikarya]

@ #5 It should be enabled if nothing else works.
@ #6 Check manufacturer specs and choose them in the BIOS for each module instead of letting the BIOS do it automatically.

[Kylewhataru]

On my motherboard 6GB didn't work till I updated bios. It was an ASrock x58, but in my case they didn't show up in windows at all, it just booted up with 4gb.

[objekt]

Hey Tylerl,

Sorry, not trying to hijack your thread. was creeping and notice that you and I have the same build.

Wanted to ask you a question: When you change your power scheme from Balanced to Performance(in Windows 7 X64), do you hear a whine in your case? I have noticed it just the other day and have been reading online - apparently it is known problem with the Gigabyte X58A UD3R and intel processors. I'm not sure if I should return my motherboard or not worry about it.

Edit:

As for your problem with the RAM, I did not have an issue at all. I'm using Corsair ram though. I am using 3 x 2GB sticks. Where are you seeing that it says only 4 are usable?

Edit #2:

Found the solution for the whining on another forum. They say to disable C1E (power saving). I did this and the whine has stopped. So, if you do try the power options and you get it - disable C1E

[Tylerl]

Well last night i went to sleep after my post, started up my pc today and now i have 6 gbs of ram not sure what the deal was i'll keep checking my ram each restart and see if it goes back down to 4 or stays at 6. Not really sure what this means 1 minute i have 4 now i have my 6. Thoughts?

[Binkie]

Maybe if you hadn't done all the windows updates, an auto update fixed it or something. Just a guess.

[Tylerl]

Well it went back down to 4 again so I just restarted my computer and it was back to 6 really would like to fix this so I don't have to restart all the time

[Tylerl]

http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/426/ramra.png

[Tylerl]

Well I went into my bios and it says i only have 4096 MBs of memory

went in and looked at my timings
Channel A
Cas latency time 7
trcd 7
trp 7
tras 20
Channel B is the same as A

Channel C was all blank but cas latency time which was 7

Now that I think about it my timings aren't even right its supposed to be 9-9-9-24
What should i do from here?

[levish]

set them manually, and check to make sure ram is seated in all the way

[Tylerl]

any idea why channel C was blank other then cas latency?

[Tylerl]

I went in and set my MHz to 1600 and my standard timings to 9-9-9-24 and now my ddr leds on my motherboard are on. There are three 1 green 2 orange 3 red not sure. guess i need to change it back?

[Kylewhataru]

Have you tried just testing the sticks 1 by 1?

[Skyfoxx]

If both the BIOS / Windows are recognizing all 6GB of RAM and Windows is reporting only 4GB are usable, means 2GB are being reserved by other devices... Enabling Memory Remapping in your BIOS will fix that as Pikarya sugested.

If that doesn't work, I'd go with Kylewhataru's suggestion, test the sticks 1 by 1 and run memtest to rule out any bad sticks.

[Tylerl]

I can't find remapping in my bios. So when I run memtest I only install one stick at a time? i tried to run it with all 3 sticks in earlier lol

[Skyfoxx]

Apparently... it's possibly a bent pin in your CPU socket...This seems to have worked for some people.

Hope it works for you as well.