6gb (1.99gb usable) windows 7 64

[pcpete]

We have a computer with 6gb ram installed, but only 1.99gb is usable in Windows. The client said all of the sudden it got real slow. Any suggestions? I think we will do a test install of windows to see if it is the same or rectified there

 

[Diggs]

I'd look at the obvious stuff first and check that one of the DIMMs hasn't fallen out.

..or failed. It sounds like there is a 4 GB and 2 GB RAM stick in the machine and the 4 GB has failed in some way. It is really rare to see three 2 GB sticks assuming this is a desktop. Don't forget you can always boot Linux and see what it says.

 

[fencepost]

Likely one of the suggestions above, the only other thing I can think of is if it's one of those graphic card shared memory situations, but I'm not sure if RAM in those cases even shows up.

 

[pcpete]

To clarify, Windows says it has 6gbs installed, but in parentheses it says 1.99 available. It has three 2gb sticks in triple channel mode

 

[thecomputerguy]

To clarify, Windows says it has 6gbs installed, but in parentheses it says 1.99 available. It has three 2gb sticks in triple channel mode

GPU taking memory

Replace the computer it's trash

 

[Diggs]

Then the sticks are good and Windows "sees" all of it. Run a memory map app and see where it's being used.

 

[Larry Sabo]

Yesterday, I moved the Win10 OS SSD from an x86 system to a new x64 system and after changing the product code to the new PC's code, it said x86 OS, x64 CPU, 8Gb installed, 3.86GB usable. I assume that's too obvious to have been missed.

I was a little surprised when it also changed the version from W10 Home to W10 Pro (which is what the new PC came with), but shouldn't have been.

 

[pcpete]

it was a bad mothernoard. I have never seen one present like this. The ram showed up in the bios, and also in memtest, but in some slots it is not addressable. We put some higher capacity sticks in the slots which are working and he can use this as is for a while more

 

[brandonkick]

Triple channel memory controllers are quite rare. I ran one myself, an Intel X58 motherboard with a first generation Core i7 930 CPU.

That tripple channel controller is buggy as all hell, gave me tons of fits, and was very fussy about what memory it would even work with. From nearly new, I'd have to constantly fight the machine to boot. Often times it would just fail to post and when that happened I could either remove power cord, hold power button (to drain caps) and then remove and reseat memory OR wait about an hour with the machine off.

I tried 3-4 various sets of ram dimms... all did the same. Researched it a bit and found it was quite a common problem for those setups.

Initially had 3x2 GB installed, this system was built in 2011. Fast forward to two years ago and I'm trying to run Win 10 plus two VM's and chrome on it. Yeah. Didn't work at all. Tried 3x8GB sticks... welp, system was unstable as heck. Then, the system started routinely only recognizing 2 of the 3 original 2GB sticks. 4GB of ram... when 6GB wasn't nearly enough. Yay....

Got cheap for a second, decided to try a replacement X58 Gigabyte board. The original was another brand... can't think of it. Gigabyte board had less, but still some of the same problems.

Hucked it all in the bin and built a Ryzen 7 system. I hated that triple channel memory controller lol.