Windows wont allow me to use all of my ram. Help!

[Cameron84311]

Hello, i recently installed new ram sticks into my pc bumping it up to 20gb. Heres the problem, i've tried to allow it more than what i had (8gb) and its stuck at that. Would appreicate it if anyone could help me out here, im not too tech heavy so understanding this would help me in the long run too. Thanks :)

[Necrovarius]

How much ram does your Motherboard allow? 

It recognizes the 20Gb, but 12GB of that is in use according to the picture.

[Cameron84311]

2 minutes ago, Necrovarius said:

How much ram does your Motherboard allow? 

It recognizes the 20Gb, but 12GB of that is in use according to the picture.

I have a Gigabyte 970a ds3p, it says it allows a maximum of 32gb. 

[ckinfos]

how did you reach 20gb....8gb+4gb+8gb?

[Cameron84311]

Just now, ckinfos said:

how did you reach 20gb....8gb+4gb+8gb?

Yes, exactaly that

[ckinfos]

do you have graphic card that is using the shared method of ram?

[Cameron84311]

1 minute ago, ckinfos said:

do you have graphic card that is using the shared method of ram?

not too sure what you're talking about but i have a AMD R9 270

[Tan3l6]

I think if integrated graphics was enabled. But hat would not take 12GB in any circumstances.

Maybe try 2x8GB sticks in dual channel?

[GoldenLag]

how does taskmanager view the unusable Ram?

 

i would suggest reseating the Ram. 

 

 

[ckinfos]

Just now, Cameron84311 said:

not too sure what you're talking about but i have a AMD R9 270

sometimes (especially in laptops) they use gpus that can take up some ram for their use. but it seems this is not your case.

Try this. Update bios to the latest for your motherboard.

try removing the 4gb or 8gb and see if windows correctly reports the memory. try different slots etc. and see if this fixes the issues every time

Check if bios shows 20gb. and then....do the folloiwng

 

Quote

 

In the BIOS setup, search for iGPU, Internal Graphics or Onboard Graphics. The name and location of this setting can once again vary according to your system’s manufacturer so you will have to search for it. Once you find it, make sure it is Disabled or turned Off.

Also in BIOS, there is a Memory Map Feature that can give Windows full access to the RAM installed. Search for it and make sure it is Enabled or turned On.

In addition to the feature mentioned above, if you can find the below features, make sure they are in their respective states as mentioned next to them.

Feature                           State

Render Standby         Enabled
iGPU Memory             Auto
Multimonitor             Disabled

 

 

[shaz2sxy]

try this video i found on youtube

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe34DiexXzk

[Necrovarius]

Help me understand this, maybe Im not seeing it. 

The OS recognizes the correct amount of RAM but something is using a bunch of it meaning only 8 GB usable out of 20?

[DildorTheDecent]

35 minutes ago, Cameron84311 said:

Hello, i recently installed new ram sticks into my pc bumping it up to 20gb. Heres the problem, i've tried to allow it more than what i had (8gb) and its stuck at that. Would appreicate it if anyone could help me out here, im not too tech heavy so understanding this would help me in the long run too. Thanks

Always reset the BIOS when making a hardware change. Try that if you haven't.

[Cameron84311]

15 minutes ago, ckinfos said:

sometimes (especially in laptops) they use gpus that can take up some ram for their use. but it seems this is not your case.

Try this. Update bios to the latest for your motherboard.

try removing the 4gb or 8gb and see if windows correctly reports the memory. try different slots etc. and see if this fixes the issues every time

Check if bios shows 20gb. and then....do the folloiwng

 

 

Opened the bios, and it looked really confusing. Although it is showing that the 20GB is in there. 

[Cameron84311]

1 minute ago, DildorTheDecent said:

Always reset the BIOS when making a hardware change. Try that if you haven't.

I’m not too sure how to reset my bios. As I didn’t see any option. Could you help with that?

[Cameron84311]

4 minutes ago, Necrovarius said:

Help me understand this, maybe Im not seeing it. 

The OS recognizes the correct amount of RAM but something is using a bunch of it meaning only 8 GB usable out of 20?

Apparently so. But I don’t see what windows is doing to use that much.

[Necrovarius]

Just now, Cameron84311 said:

Apparently so. But I don’t see what windows is doing to use that much.

What does Task Manager Report for Usage? 

[Cameron84311]

Just now, Necrovarius said:

What does Task Manager Report for Usage? 

im guessing you mean this.

[Necrovarius]

Interesting, 

800Mhz speed ram?

Hardware Reserved 12 GB, might explain why we are seeing the results we are seeing, but if you look at the graph it shows max avail is 8Gb.

That speed dont look right either....

[Cameron84311]

1 minute ago, Necrovarius said:

Interesting, 

800Mhz speed ram?

Hardware Reserved 12 GB, might explain why we are seeing the results we are seeing, but if you look at the graph it shows max avail is 8Gb.

That speed dont look right either....

I hope I don’t have to replace my motherboard or something. I have absolutely no idea how to do it. Besides I don’t have the money for it either.

[DildorTheDecent]

Just now, Cameron84311 said:

I’m not too sure how to reset my bios. As I didn’t see any option. Could you help with that?

It's either an on board button or a jumper on the motherboard.

 

Use your motherboard manual as guidance. It'll outline the steps required.

 

You should have a CLR_CMOS jumper above the front panel headers. Shut down your PC, short the pins, remove the short and press the power button. Enter BIOS to confirm that all ram is detected and boot into Windows.

 

Your motherboard manual has the steps outlined. Read them.

[The1Dickens]

34 minutes ago, Cameron84311 said:

I have a Gigabyte 970a ds3p, it says it allows a maximum of 32gb. 

What slots are the sticks in? Can you put the 2 8GB sticks in slots marked DDR3_2 and DDR3_4, and put the 4GB stick in the slot for DDR3_1?

 

Also, what stick is the new one, one of the 8GB, or the 4GB?

[Cameron84311]

5 minutes ago, DildorTheDecent said:

It's either an on board button or a jumper on the motherboard.

 

Use your motherboard manual as guidance. It'll outline the steps required.

 

You should have a CLR_CMOS jumper above the front panel headers. Shut down your PC, short the pins, remove the short and press the power button. Enter BIOS to confirm that all ram is detected and boot into Windows.

 

Your motherboard manual has the steps outlined. Read them.

im not too sure what you mean by this, again im not too tech heavy and i barely know stuff like this. Also, i dont have the motherbaord manual as i bought this from a friend last year.

4 minutes ago, The1Dickens said:

What slots are the sticks in? Can you put the 2 8GB sticks in slots marked DDR3_2 and DDR3_4, and put the 4GB stick in the slot for DDR3_1?

 

Also, what stick is the new one, one of the 8GB, or the 4GB?

i think the sticks are in slot 1 and 3 and i have my old one in slot 2. The new ones are both 8gb.

[The1Dickens]

3 minutes ago, Cameron84311 said:

i think the sticks are in slot 1 and 3 and i have my old one in slot 2. The new ones are both 8gb.

Can you pull the 4GB stick out, and move the 8GB sticks to slots 1 and 2?

[Cameron84311]

Just an update to this: i took out the kingston 4gb stick that was in slot 2 and its now showing up with all 16gb without a problem. Im just gonna leave them two in for now. If you guys have any idea on what that could mean i'd leave to hear what you all have to say. Thanks for all helping me though :))