4GB of Hardware Reserved RAM on Ryzen system

[Oli0li]

Hey all, 

 

I have a problem with my rig. I built it around December 2017 and up until last week it's been running well. I could play games and use Photoshop and Lightroom with no problem at all. But I just found out that of my 8GB of usable RAM, Windows is "Hardware reserving" 4.1GB of it. This happened out of nowhere! 

I first noticed my problem when I opened up Photoshop to edit some pics I took on vacation. As I was about to use the Spot healing tool, a notification popped up saying "Can't use spot healing tool, not enough RAM". 

 

The only tweaks I've done with my system was OC the cpu to 3.9Ghz in the first week I had it running and it's been stable ever since. I know I tried using XMP on my ram to get it to 2666 but I couldn't feel that much of a difference so I reverted them back to the stock 2133, again this was all within the first week of the build being up and running. 

 

I've looked around forums and videos and here are the following things I've tried. 

 

1.) Updated MOBO bios to latest

    

2.) Go into cmd, ran msconfig, went to boot and made sure the box where it says "maximize memory" was NOT checked. 

      

3.) Changed my RAM slots from 2/4 to 1/3. (My MOBO actually recognized that the slots I used are not optimal and recommended I placed them back to the original 2/4 slot configuration.)

 

A weird anomaly is that my CAM software actually detects my 8GB of ram and shows that my system is using it. Sometimes the meter goes upto 7.xx GB of RAM used when I'm on Chrome and playing a movie. But in Windows task manager it only shows 4GB of usuable RAM. The other 4 is pegged as "Hardware Reserved". 

     

I have yet to isolate my ram and test them individually. I plan to use memtest and give an update when I do. 

 

For now though any suggestions or info you guys might have or want is appreciated. I'll update this thread soon. 

 

The specs:

 

CPU: Ryzen 1200

MOBO: Msi arctic mortar 

RAM: 2 sticks of 4GB by Team Group at 2133mhz stock

GPU: Galax 1050ti exoc white

Cooler: Cryorig 7 LED

PSU : Seasonic 400 watt 

Windows 10 64 

 

UPDATE:

 

I noticed that my Bitdefender (I got the free key from one of Linus' videos) was using around 4.5GB of RAM. I uninstalled it in hopes that would solve the problem, but no dice.

I have also tried OC my RAM to 2400mhz but no change. I'm close to calling it and just buying some newer RAM.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Oli0li

[AskTJ]

You chose the piss shit of ram for the Ryzen line up.

What version Windows are you running?

[Oli0li]

2 minutes ago, AskTJ said:

You chose the piss shit of ram for the Ryzen line up.

What version Windows are you running?

Yeah I chose the cheap stuff because I was on a tight budget. The week I made my system was the week all GPU prices shot up and I had to compensate. I double checked and my RAM is still supported by the MOBO

 

I'm running Windows 10 and I know it updated itself to the latest version recently. 

[GDRRiley]

1. run at XMP ryzen likes its ram speed

2. use the correcot slots

3. not much you can do other than stopping programs from starting at boot up

4, if you can just get another 4gb stick.

[Oli0li]

4 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

1. run at XMP ryzen likes its ram speed

2. use the correcot slots

3. not much you can do other than stopping programs from starting at boot up

4, if you can just get another 4gb stick.

I'll OC the RAM back to 2666 and see if that works. 

 

My last resort is buying another stick but at this point I might as well upgrade to 16GB of Corsair. 

 

[Oli0li]

UPDATE:

 

Sorry for not keeping this thread active.

 

An update to my RAM problem and my solution was to just buy a new stick. I got an 8GB 2400mhz Corsair stick a couple of weeks ago and I've been running with no problems. I still have my 2 sticks of 4GB Team Group RAM and as a sanity check and for the lols I decided to install one of the 4GB sticks along side my 8GB Corsair for a total of 12GB. To my surprise they both played well with each other even though I didn't touch any of the timings or clockspeeds on either of them. I even ran some benchmarks and they ran with no hitches. Mind you I am not running this set up right now, I just liked the idea of Mad Maxing parts together and luckily this two sticks of RAM played nice. 

 

One thing I have to mention is that the other 4GB Team Group stick really was dead. I installed it alongside the Corsair stick and when I checked Task Manager, it only detected 4GB of usable RAM even though I had a confirmed, fully functional 8GB stick. If anyone has an idea as to how that was possible, I would love to hear it. 

 

As a final take away I guess this is a prime example to just buy the good stuff because it's going to save you time and effort in the long run. I know I will.

 

Thanks