Can't run full 8gb

[Danzer]

I recently built 2 computers for the office and now that everything is installed and up and running, my only problem is that it shows the computer using only 3.98gb of the 8gb installed. Is there a way to fully use all 8gb's on this computer? I'm using Gigabyte GA-970A-D3P board with an Athlon II X3 455 Processor running stock at 3.30GHz. The memory is corsair vengeance 2x4gb 1600mhz. This is happening on both computers. Operating system is Win7 SP1 64bit. Let me know if anyone has any questions. Much appreciated!

 

Side question: how would I go about unlocking the 4th core on this cpu? would it be possible with said board?

[WhenKittensATK]

It will only use as much memory as needed. You have a 64-bit CPU and OS. You have a motherboard that can support up to 32 GB. So you're doing nothing wrong, other than not running enough processes that require the full use of 8 GB. Its better than you're below your max RAM usage. You never want to fully max it out.

 

When you max out your RAM then things become extremely slow as the computer has to write data to a hard drive which is much slower than RAM write speed. Then you start getting out of memory errors and stuff starts crashing haha. Bad things happen. You don't want to max out your RAM usage.

 

If you really want to test to see if you can use more than 4 GB of RAM you can just open a bunch of video games or a ton of Chrome browser tabs. I ran like 4-6 games idle to get anywhere close to 8 GB usage.

Edited December 12, 2013 by AZNguyen

[Braegnok]

To unlock your 4th core ,.. try setting "Advanced Clock  calibration" feather in BIOS to "AUTO",.. that works with some Athlons.

 

What are you running to confirm memory usage,.. 

[kyfire]

I recently built 2 computers for the office and now that everything is installed and up and running, my only problem is that it shows the computer using only 3.98gb of the 8gb installed. Is there a way to fully use all 8gb's on this computer? I'm using Gigabyte GA-970A-D3P board with an Athlon II X3 455 Processor running stock at 3.30GHz. The memory is corsair vengeance 2x4gb 1600mhz. This is happening on both computers. Operating system is Win7 SP1 64bit. Let me know if anyone has any questions. Much appreciated!

 

Side question: how would I go about unlocking the 4th core on this cpu? would it be possible with said board?

Do you mean Windows only shows 3.98gb installed? If so you need to go into msconfig, click on the boot tab and then advanced options. Then make sure that Maximum memory is unchecked.

[Danzer]

It will only use as much memory as needed. You have a 64-bit CPU and OS. You have a motherboard that can support up to 32 GB. So you're doing nothing wrong, other than not running enough processes that require the full use of 8 GB. Its better than you're below your max RAM usage. You never want to fully max it out.

 

When you max out your RAM then things become extremely slow as the computer has to write data to a hard drive which is much slower than RAM write speed. Then you start getting out of memory errors and stuff starts crashing haha. Bad things happen. You don't want to max out your RAM usage.

 

If you really want to test to see if you can use more than 4 GB of RAM you can just open a bunch of video games or a ton of Chrome browser tabs. I ran like 4-6 games idle to get anywhere close to 8 GB usage.

I under stand this part. I think I worded my question incorrectly. When I right click on "my computer" and go to properties, under "System" is says: Installed memory (RAM): 8.00 GB (3.98 GB usable). Does this mean that if I want, I can use all 8 gbs or does it mean that I can max it out at 3.98gbs only? I don't run any games, just a lot of multitasking and applications open. I doubt I'd reach anything remotely close to 8gbs, but it was a good deal so I got them. 

[Danzer]

 

I recently built 2 computers for the office and now that everything is installed and up and running, my only problem is that it shows the computer using only 3.98gb of the 8gb installed. Is there a way to fully use all 8gb's on this computer? I'm using Gigabyte GA-970A-D3P board with an Athlon II X3 455 Processor running stock at 3.30GHz. The memory is corsair vengeance 2x4gb 1600mhz. This is happening on both computers. Operating system is Win7 SP1 64bit. Let me know if anyone has any questions. Much appreciated!

 

Side question: how would I go about unlocking the 4th core on this cpu? would it be possible with said board?

Do you mean Windows only shows 3.98gb installed? If so you need to go into msconfig, click on the boot tab and then advanced options. Then make sure that Maximum memory is unchecked.

 

Maximum memory was unchecked. 

[wevsspot]

What type of iGPU is being used with the office machines and how much VRAM does the iGPU use?

 

Sounds to me like Windows correctly detects the amount of memory that is installed, but it is reserving a little over 4Gb for hardware addressing.  Hence only 3.98Gb is actually available for use by Windows and/or apps.  Check to ensure that you are running the latest BIOS release for your motherboard, if not update it.

 

If that doesn't do the trick you might consider trying another model or brand 2x4Gb memory kit.  Possible something more generic that runs at DDR3 1333Mhz.

[Danzer]

What type of iGPU is being used with the office machines and how much VRAM does the iGPU use?

 

Sounds to me like Windows correctly detects the amount of memory that is installed, but it is reserving a little over 4Gb for hardware addressing.  Hence only 3.98Gb is actually available for use by Windows and/or apps.  Check to ensure that you are running the latest BIOS release for your motherboard, if not update it.

 

If that doesn't do the trick you might consider trying another model or brand 2x4Gb memory kit.  Possible something more generic that runs at DDR3 1333Mhz.

I'm running dual monitors off an MSI-R4350. Latest version of bios is already installed. I'll also swap out the memory for another pair when I get the chance.