Question about RAM

Newbie Forum
#1

Hey everyone. I have been searching google and these forums but I haven;t had any luck with this question. I have 4 gb of RAM with 4 1gb sticks. When I have all 4 gigs installed windows shows only 2 gb of ram. When I have 3 sticks (3gb) of ram installed xp shows 2.86gb of ram. I know that I will not be able to see the whole 4 gigs in my 32-bit operating system. My main question is why do I see less memory when I have the whole 4 gigs installed than when I have the 3 gigs installed?

Would there be any improvements in performance having all 4 sticks in because of dual channel mode? I know all 4 gigs would not be usable. Or would having just 3 gig sticks be the same?

I have heard this may be fixable with a motherboard bios flash but I am not sure which one to use because there are reports of some bios versions causing problems or being worse for overclocking.

Also is it ok to combine a spd ram pair with a non spd ram pair if they are the same otherwise? Would it be better if I had all spd or all non spd?

My system setup

asus p5b deluxe wifi motherboard bios version 0711
core 2 duo e6400
4x1 gb gskill pc6400 ddr2 ram sticks
windows xp 32 bit sp 2

Thank you so much for your help.

#2

[quote=ilikestuff;2163718]Hey everyone. I have been searching google and these forums but I haven;t had any luck with this question. I have 4 gb of RAM with 4 1gb sticks. When I have all 4 gigs installed windows shows only 2 gb of ram. When I have 3 sticks (3gb) of ram installed xp shows 2.86gb of ram. I know that I will not be able to see the whole 4 gigs in my 32-bit operating system. My main question is why do I see less memory when I have the whole 4 gigs installed than when I have the 3 gigs installed?

Would there be any improvements in performance having all 4 sticks in because of dual channel mode? I know all 4 gigs would not be usable. Or would having just 3 gig sticks be the same?

I have heard this may be fixable with a motherboard bios flash but I am not sure which one to use because there are reports of some bios versions causing problems or being worse for overclocking.

Also is it ok to combine a spd ram pair with a non spd ram pair if they are the same otherwise? Would it be better if I had all spd or all non spd?

My system setup

asus p5b deluxe wifi motherboard bios version 0711
core 2 duo e6400
4x1 gb gskill pc6400 ddr2 ram sticks
windows xp 32 bit sp 2

Thank you so much for your help.[/quote]
Here’s a link for you to read. I hope it helps and answers some questions for you

#3

Your problem is likely with your MB. Is all 4gb recognized by the BIOS when your PC boots? You could try updating your BIOS if there is a new version available. For best performance, you would want to use two sticks of RAM as opposed to 3 or 4. RAM is cheap enough that you could get 2x2gb for less than $50, even half that onsale.

#4

there is no problem using 4 sticks of ram, if u are on ddr1, then u’ll have a problem as the mhz decreases to 333 from 400, but thats only ddr 1. ddr 2 stays at the the speed the stick is rated at. 800mhz, 1066, or whatever, with 2 or 4 sticks :slight_smile:

#5

Thanks for your help guys. No, my bios does not report all 4 gigs of ram but cpu-z shows it. Also, are there any problems with running a spd ram pair with a non spd ram pair that are otherwise the same?

#6

Yo-

Welcome to the forums-

Ram does it’s best job when all the sticks are the same - I even go so far as buying factory matched modules-eh!!