Only 3,99 GB of 8 GB RAM usable

[Rukjor]

Hello everyone,

 

I am new to this Forum. I'm from Germany, so my english might not be perfect. I am sorry for this.
Hopefully you are more likely to help me, then the german tech Forums.

The problem is an old one. Most of you have already read about it or faced it even by him/herself.

Windows 10 Pro (64 bit) says my PC is only able to use 3,99 GB of my 8 GB DDR3 RAM.
But my BIOS detects all RAMs I install (I tried different ones).

System:

i7 860
ASRock H55M-LE

Sapphire RX460 2 GB
2x 4 GB DDR3 Samsung RAM M378B5173DB0-CK0
500 GB HDD WD
Thermaltake 430 Watt
Windows 10 PRO 64bit

I already tried:
1) Updating the BIOS

2) Checked "msconfig" Start-Configuartion. The Check-Box on usable RAM is empty (was by Default). Turning it on 8 GB didn't help as well.
3) Used other RAM Sticks (Corsair)
4) Used only 6 GB of RAM (1x 4 GB + 1x 2 GB)
5) Made Windows Updates (now fully updated)
6) Set BIOS on Default
7) Set BIOS Video Settings on PCI Express (it was on "PCi" by Default)

I found tons of threads regarding this Problem and it could have been solved with one of these Points above.
But not in my case.

Do you have any more ideas for me?
Maybe new Installation of Windows 10? But it is Fresh. Installed it yesterday.

Or do I have a broken Mainboard? I know it is an old LGA1156 Mainboard, but I could get it really cheap on eBay and I wanted to have little fun with it.

Thank you in Advance!!

 

Andy

[nick name]

Hello and welcome.  

 

Did you install Windows 32 bit or 64 bit?

[Rukjor]

64 Bit. See Text and Screenshot in my first Post

[Letgomyleghoe]

4 minutes ago, Rukjor said:

64 Bit. See Text and Screenshot in my first Post

Remember to quote or tag people.

 

open up task manager and go under ram.

 

your probably using up 4.1gbs of ram, and only have 3.9 gigabytes that are usable atm.

[Ashiella]

7 minutes ago, Rukjor said:

64 Bit. See Text and Screenshot in my first Post

If you didn't set 4096MB as igpu dedicated vram then It's likely hardware reserved.
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-performance/why-is-half-my-ram-hardware-reserved-and-how-do-i/a2cf2c25-72b7-48ca-9071-9c8a160fd5da

or

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/627368/half-of-my-32-gb-of-ram-is-being-hardware-reserved/

[Rukjor]

13 minutes ago, scuff gang said:

Remember to quote or tag people.

 

open up task manager and go under ram.

 

your probably using up 4.1gbs of ram, and only have 3.9 gigabytes that are usable atm.

Task Manager says: 8 GB installed. 4 GB usable. The processes only use up to 4 GB. I can't see anything reserving the RAM.

 

12 minutes ago, Ashiella said:

If you didn't set 4096MB as igpu dedicated vram then It's likely hardware reserved.
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-performance/why-is-half-my-ram-hardware-reserved-and-how-do-i/a2cf2c25-72b7-48ca-9071-9c8a160fd5da

or

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/627368/half-of-my-32-gb-of-ram-is-being-hardware-reserved/

Where can I check the igpu Settings? I coudlnt find any. It seems the i7 860 doesn't have any?
I am sorry for this stupid Question.

I tried the solution in your first link. But the System Claims that I am not the Admin... lol Right. I only have one User on this Windows. Of Course I am the Admin.

The Solution of your second link seems to my Point 2) in my first post. Isn't it?

Thank you so far for the fast asnwers!!

[Guest]

Search - Type MsConfig and run it. (shows as "system configuration")

Go to the Boot tab and select it.

Click the advanced tab.

Un-tick "maximum memory"

If already un-ticked, check it and manually enter 8gb or "8192"mb

Apply changes and restart the system.

[Beerzerker]

It's possible you have a pin in the socket out of place, probrably off ot the side a tiny bit, just enough it's not letting the system use all available RAM channels even though it detects the sticks.

Just remove the CPU and look carefully at the pin rows in the socket to see if there isn't one that doesn't "Quite" line up like the rest. If it's off to one side a little just move it back over so it lines up again but do be careful when you do that, the pins are fragile and only takes a very small amount of effort to move one. A hint you can use is to just look at the pin tips, if one is out of alignment you'll notice and know what to do from there.

 

 

Got an older AMD (FX-8320) that does the same thing except I know it's due to the IMC being damaged in that one.

[Rukjor]

On 2/22/2020 at 1:47 AM, Beerzerker said:

It's possible you have a pin in the socket out of place, probrably off ot the side a tiny bit, just enough it's not letting the system use all available RAM channels even though it detects the sticks.

Just remove the CPU and look carefully at the pin rows in the socket to see if there isn't one that doesn't "Quite" line up like the rest. If it's off to one side a little just move it back over so it lines up again but do be careful when you do that, the pins are fragile and only takes a very small amount of effort to move one. A hint you can use is to just look at the pin tips, if one is out of alignment you'll notice and know what to do from there.

 

Thank you for this idea. I checked the Pins. Everything is fine. Nothing bend. 

I just noticed, that the Mobo starts to forget all BIOS Settings.
Changed the batterie, but this didn't help.
So something is strange with it....

I grabbed another Mobo on ebay and put the i7 and the RAM on it.
And now everything is working just fine!

I will try to claim the defective Mainboard by the seller.
He told it is working fine, but obviously this is not the case.

Thank you all for your help!! :-)

And sorry for my late response.