Vista 64bit showing only 2gb RAM

[Zul, Y]

Hey all.

I have 3 x 1gb RAM installed but my Vista Home Premium 64bit is only displaying 2gb RAM. When I reboot the computer, or when I run a memory diagnostic tool, only occasionally it'll display properly but most of the time, it's at 2gb. Listed below are my computer specs. Any ideas?

- Windows Home Premium 64bit
- Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz
- 3x 1gb Corsairs DDR3 installed (triple-channel)
- 160gb OS Drive
- nVidia GeForce 8400 SE

[Gavin Greenwalt]

Is one of your sticks in the 'B' slot maybe?

[Paul Leeming]

Hey all.

I have 3 x 1gb RAM installed but my Vista Home Premium 64bit is only displaying 2gb RAM. When I reboot the computer, or when I run a memory diagnostic tool, only occasionally it'll display properly but most of the time, it's at 2gb. Listed below are my computer specs. Any ideas?

- Windows Home Premium 64bit
- Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz
- 3x 1gb Corsairs DDR3 installed (triple-channel)
- 160gb OS Drive
- nVidia GeForce 8400 SE
Check your slots to make sure that the three memory sticks are all in the same colour slots. If you tell us which motherboard model you have it may make diagnosis easier, including BIOS firmware revision and info like whether your CPU is C0 or D0 stepping.

Use CPU-Z (http://www.cpuid.com/) to find this out if you are confused, as well as a ton of memory info that will help figure out the issue.

HTH

Paul

[Zul, Y]

Sorry that I haven't been able to reply asap. Here are more info on my CPU:

OS Name Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Version 6.0.6001 Service Pack 1 Build 6001
System Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model EX58-UD3R
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz, 2793 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Award Software International, Inc. F1, 10/12/2008
SMBIOS Version 2.4
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) Not Available
Total Physical Memory 2.00 GB
Available Physical Memory 779 MB
Total Virtual Memory 4.23 GB
Available Virtual Memory 2.64 GB
Page File Space 2.29 GB

Qn: Why is "Installed Physical Memory" - Not available? I have 3 sticks installed correctly in their slots.

[Gavin Greenwalt]

Does that mean "Yes I checked and all 3 sticks are in the A slots"?

[Zul, Y]

yep, that's a positive

[Zul, Y]

I re-booted my computer a couple of times without modifying any settings and this is what comes up under System Information:

OS Name Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Version 6.0.6001 Service Pack 1 Build 6001
System Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model EX58-UD3R
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz, 2793 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Award Software International, Inc. F1, 10/12/2008
SMBIOS Version 2.4
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 2.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 2.00 GB
Available Physical Memory 866 MB
Total Virtual Memory 4.23 GB
Available Virtual Memory 2.79 GB
Page File Space 2.29 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

I've also downloaded CPU-Z and according to it, it does detect 3x ddr3 memory slots installed, with 3072MBytes and running in triple channel. Am I missing something? Could it be the BIOS settings?

[Jeff Kilgroe]

If all the RAM is installed properly, it's possible you have a bad module. Or possibly a defective motherboard. I would remove and inspect all connections on the memory modules and the sockets. Re-install them and begin running some serious diagnostics. It may possibly be a BIOS settings issue. What does your system report on boot-up, before the OS begins to load?

If the system will boot and show only 2GB in the BIOS, does your BIOS system show which slots are supposedly populated? If it does, then swapping a couple modules around should make it easier to determine if it's a problem with the memory or the motherboard.

All things considered, if the RAM is installed properly, it's most likely a defective module. Sadly, that's a pretty common thing.

For memory diagnostics, take a look at Memtest86. I haven't used it in a while, so don't know how up to date it is these days. But it's free and very good (or was a couple years ago). You can download an ISO image and burn a bootable CD with it so your system will boot right into the diagnostic tool. Just google it, you'll find it.