RAM question

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Johnk

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#56811 24-Jan-2010 21:38

I recently built a new computer with 4Gb of ram, was all working fine, but just the other day I noticed that in now says it has 4GB of ram installed but only 2GB useable.

I check the ram sticks individually and both work, I checked the bios and its states total memory is only 2GB.

Specs of machine:

MB: GA-P55A-UD4

RAM: G.Skill 4 GB

OS: windows 7 pro 64bit

rvangelder

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#292755 24-Jan-2010 21:57

There is a Microsoft article about it. Click here.

While the 32-bit thing may not apply, the memory remapping feature of your bios just might. Read up on how to assign PCI space above 4GB.

b0untypure1

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#293181 26-Jan-2010 19:09

remap the memory in your bios and hopefully it will solve your problem.
seems really strange to buy a new pc and have that happen the next day :S

Stu

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#293191 26-Jan-2010 20:38

It may seem crazy, but try reseating the CPU. Also, if you haven't already, try clearing the CMOS and set it up again. I haven't come across this problem yet, but if you've already tried each stick individually then those are the next two things I'd try. Hopefully it's something simple.

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Johnk

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#293201 26-Jan-2010 21:17

well i just tried the sticks on there own again, found something a lil strange.

The slots they were installed in are 1 and 3. sound right?
left the 1st stick in slot one and pulled out the other, worked fine.
pulled out 1st stick and left other in slot 3, works fine.

but when i put the stick from slot 3 in slot 1, it wont boot up, trys to boot up, fans start and everything, then just dies and trys to start up, not getting a signal out Gpu before it dies either.

sound a bit strange?
dont know if this will help, but here is a shot of Ram info

Stu

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#293210 26-Jan-2010 21:35

Have you (for the sake of testing) tried using slots 1 and 2? I know it won't run dual channel but worth a crack to see if you get 4GB total enabled? Try clearing the CMOS and try the same config again.

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zCelicaDude

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#293218 26-Jan-2010 21:59

hold on, I think I have had this myself before.

They changed the way ram is put in slots now.

It used to be the left chanel first, as in "the slot closest the cpu" in this case the blue slots?

Its now backwards, this got me stiffed when it happened to me. check the manual that came with the motherboard, stick the 2x ram sticks in the other slots and then try.

let me know.

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Stu

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#293220 26-Jan-2010 22:06

Looking at the manual and the Gigabyte site the white slots should be used if you have two sticks. Does this tie in with what you're saying Scott? Looks like John has this right if you look at the image of the BIOS screen.

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#293223 26-Jan-2010 22:15

the bios snapshot says slot 1 is not enabled. try puting both in 1-2 or 3-4. that should sort it out.

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#293224 26-Jan-2010 22:16

on the image of the bios,
you can see that it has "enabled slot" it only has one slot enabled, i cant find anywhere to enable the first slot. any hints?
will try retesting in slots 1 and 2 tomorrow.

Stu

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#293225 26-Jan-2010 22:20

Reading the manual (pdf) between other jobs. I haven't found anything about enabling slots though.

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#293226 26-Jan-2010 22:23

joker97: the bios snapshot says slot 1 is not enabled. try puting both in 1-2 or 3-4. that should sort it out.

Needs to be Slots 1 and 3 for Dual Channel mode. Using other configurations might be okay to test the issue but it's not going to give the best result.

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zCelicaDude

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#293240 26-Jan-2010 23:01

heya, you need to stick both sticks of ram into the white slots, things have gone backwards since the new processors came out.. (swapping which slots to use)

b0untypure1

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#293259 27-Jan-2010 05:33

try using a different stick, it seems strange.
could be possible that its MAX ram is 2gb....
personally id try using other ram sticks, and play around in the cmos and read the manuals

Stu

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#293280 27-Jan-2010 08:57

It should just be a case of inserting the RAM into the correct slots to "enable" it. Could be a dodgy stick of RAM. After reseating the CPU and clearing the BIOS if it still doesn't work you may have to try sourcing another couple of sticks, at least to test the theory that the RAM itself may be the issue.

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#293459 27-Jan-2010 14:35

I would also check you running the latest bios version for the motherboard model, could easily be a firmware bug/issue that has been fixed.