BIOS takes up half my RAM

[MeepHasNoLife]

I finally got enough parts for my new build to work, if only temporarily. Unfortunately, the BIOS takes up 1.8 gigs of my 4 gig ram stick. I have an Intel i3 6100 in an MSI B250M Pro-VD.

Is there any way I can free up the RAM?

i'm inept and i need help

[Parmar98]

The bios is using ram after boot? I have never seen an issue like that. It's not even a process that is running for me.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

8 minutes ago, MeepHasNoLife said:

I finally got enough parts for my new build to work, if only temporarily. Unfortunately, the BIOS takes up 1.8 gigs of my 4 gig ram stick. I have an Intel i3 6100 in an MSI B250M Pro-VD.

Is there any way I can free up the RAM?

i'm inept and i need help

You mean Windows? Not the BIOS? The BIOS shouldn't take up any.

[Sfekke]

9 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

Apparently the BIOS will allocate some to hardware in 32-bit versions of a few OSes o_o

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_GB_barrier

There is indeed an option like this, just restore the BIOS to factory default then see if that fixes anything.

Maybe you enabled that settings by accident, I did that once.

[Spotty]

Are you using the integrated graphics in the i3 6100? You will need to allocate a portion of your system memory (RAM) to be used for the Video Memory (VRAM) to be used by the integrated graphics of your processor. If it's using up too much RAM, lower how much is allocated to the integrated graphics. You will need to enter your BIOS settings to configure how much memory is allocated to the integrated graphics.

 

If financially possible, I'd also recommend buying another 4GB DDR4 ram stick to give yourself a total of 8GB of RAM. A single DDR4 4GB stick should cost between $35-$40 USD. (Provided you're running a 64bit operating system)

[MeepHasNoLife]

8 hours ago, Spotty said:

Are you using the integrated graphics in the i3 6100? You will need to allocate a portion of your system memory (RAM) to be used for the Video Memory (VRAM) to be used by the integrated graphics of your processor. If it's using up too much RAM, lower how much is allocated to the integrated graphics. You will need to enter your BIOS settings to configure how much memory is allocated to the integrated graphics.

 

If financially possible, I'd also recommend buying another 4GB DDR4 ram stick to give yourself a total of 8GB of RAM. A single DDR4 4GB stick should cost between $35-$40 USD. (Provided you're running a 64bit operating system)

 

11 hours ago, VegetableStu said:

Apparently the BIOS will allocate some to hardware in 32-bit versions of a few OSes o_o

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_GB_barrier

I don't have a GPU so I am running integrated graphics, I am running 32-bit, and it says that 2 gigs are "hardware reserved in the resource monitor.

When I mouse over that, it says "Memory that is reserved for use by the BIOS and the drivers for other peripherals."

I'll try resetting my BIOS now.

[Spotty]

1 minute ago, MeepHasNoLife said:

I don't have a GPU so I am running integrated graphics, I am running 32-bit, and it says that 2 gigs are "hardware reserved in the resource monitor.

When I mouse over that, it says "Memory that is reserved for use by the BIOS and the drivers for other peripherals."

32bit OS can only access about 3.5GB of system memory. Your integrated graphics will also be reserving some of the memory to be used as video memory.

You can change settings in the BIOS to adjust how much memory is allocated to the integrated graphics. Instructions on how to adjust this will vary between motherboards, so consult your motherboard manual.

 

As for adding more memory and your 32bit OS, you will need to install a 64bit operating system to be able to access any more than 3.5GB of RAM.

[MeepHasNoLife]

Resetting the BIOS didn't do anything, but I'll upgrade to 64-bit when I get another stick of RAM. Thanks.