ECC ram issues

[filotei]

Ok so i have this older Dell t7400 workstation i bought years ago and i decided to pull it out of sleep and get it running again! I managed to get everything working other than ram. My system for some reason likes to allocate 2gb to processes on the OS the rest likes to be reserved into the hardware. No matter how much ram i put in or take out it only allowes those two gigs to come through that i can use.

Specs 

4x1GB ECC (White slots) 2x2GB ECC (black slots)

i shoved in a GTX 770, had it lying around

two ES430 xenon @2.66GHz 

windows 7 pro OS

RW199 precision motherboard

[filotei]

i should add it wont let me run less than 4 gigs without beeping error codes at me

[dalekphalm]

I would start by running Memtest86+ on your system, for at least 12 hours, letting it complete as many passes as it can within that time frame, and see if it comes up with any errors. Is your copy of Windows 32-bit or 64-bit? Checking System Properties should tell you (Right click "My Computer", select "Properties").

[filotei]

 

1 minute ago, dalekphalm said:

I would start by running Memtest86+ on your system, for at least 12 hours, letting it complete as many passes as it can within that time frame, and see if it comes up with any errors. Is your copy of Windows 32-bit or 64-bit? Checking System Properties should tell you (Right click "My Computer", select "Properties").

Its windows 7 pro 64 bit

[filotei]

2 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

I would start by running Memtest86+ on your system, for at least 12 hours, letting it complete as many passes as it can within that time frame, and see if it comes up with any errors. Is your copy of Windows 32-bit or 64-bit? Checking System Properties should tell you (Right click "My Computer", select "Properties").

i let the scan run over night last night and nothing came up

[dalekphalm]

1 minute ago, filotei said:

 

Its windows 7 pro 64 bit

Windows will often reserve RAM for programs you frequently open. That RAM is freed up if needed though. So it's possible you only think it's not accessible.

 

Can you post some screenshots of the Task Manager? And then I would run Memtest, as I suggested.

[filotei]

 

resource manager, task manager, properties. Its running idle

I can also get the ram up to 100% and nothing frees up

[dalekphalm]

Okay, so this is either a BIOS setting, or a very strange defective memory issue.

 

I would go into the BIOS, and look at every setting. Maybe it's reserved memory for the GPU? Also, check to make sure your motherboard isn't Dual Socket. If it's dual socket, how many CPU's are installed? Each CPU has it's own Memory allocation. If you only have one CPU installed, all RAM must be installed into the DIMM slots located beside that CPU.

 

If both CPU's are installed, you should evenly distribute the RAM across both CPU's. Each CPU would get 1x 2GB module, and 2x1GB modules.

 

The "white" DIMM slots would be for the upper CPU, and the "black" slots for the lower CPU. I suspect this might be the issue, but it could be unrelated.

[filotei]

ive bean looking for literall hours both CPU's are installed as i stated in the specs i have 4gb on white 4x1    and 4gb on black 2x2

[dalekphalm]

1 minute ago, filotei said:

ive bean looking for literall hours both CPU's are installed as i stated in the specs i have 4gb on white 4x1    and 4gb on black 2x2

Right so I would change your RAM setup so that each CPU is matched perfectly. That means:

White: 2x1GB + 1x2GB

Black: same as above

 

Try that, and see if it makes a difference.

[filotei]

 

5 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Right so I would change your RAM setup so that each CPU is matched perfectly. That means:

White: 2x1GB + 1x2GB

Black: same as above

 

Try that, and see if it makes a difference.

Ok ill try that now

[filotei]

 

5 minutes ago, filotei said:

 

Ok ill try that now

Same results, leaving me 2gb usage and putting everything else in reserve

[dalekphalm]

2 minutes ago, filotei said:

 

Same results, leaving me 2gb usage and putting everything else in reserve

Was this the same RAM that was in there when you first had the computer? Is this a new issue?

[filotei]

 

1 minute ago, dalekphalm said:

Was this the same RAM that was in there when you first had the computer? Is this a new issue?

about 5 years ago i got this rig with 4gb then i added in another 4 not too long after, never seemed to have the issue i put it into storage about 2 years ago simply because i didnt need to use it anymore and after i pulled it out this started to happen