My bios are showing all 4gb But once i get to my desktop it shows 3gb ( 2.5gb free .5gb vista 32bit)

There are led lights on them that go from green to red to let you know the amount being used, and all 4 lights are on. Ive tried resetting them but nothing. so any help would be appreciated.

NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
CORSAIR XMS2 4GB DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
EVGA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 X2
Western Digital Raptor 150GB 10000 RPM
Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200 RPM
ABS Tagan BZ Series 900W
Vista 32bit

Do you see all 4GB in the BIOS screen when it first fires up? Otherwise, Vista 32bit will only have ~3GB free. Do a google search for "vista 4gb sp1"

Clint

Go here : all your answer

There is so many thread on that subject. You know before you post there is box with "Please search the board before asking a question!" Have you done it. I don't think...

It's normal since a 32 bit OS can only address 4 Gig. Substract your Video RAM and other I/O and you've got your 3Gig.

A 32-bit OS is only capable of addressing 4Gb of memory total. This included system RAM, GPU memory, sound card memory, ext. Because of this, the amount of RAM available to the system is reduced. If you would like to use the full amount, update to a 64-bit OS.

Also, see sisley's link.

that i believe was enough for the answer.

In 32 bit Windows operating systems, the total addressable space available is 4GB. If you install a total of 4GB worth of RAM, the system will detect/use/display less than 4GB of total memory because of address space allocation for other critical functions, such as:

- System BIOS (including motherboard, add-on cards, etc..)
- Motherboards resources
- Memory mapped I/O
- Configuration for AGP/PCI-Ex/PCI
- Other memory allocations for PCI devices

Different onboard devices and different add-on cards (devices) will result of different total memory size. e.g. more PCI cards installed will require more memory resources, resulting of less memory free for other uses.

This limitation applies to most chipsets & Windows XP/Vista 32-bit version operating systems. Again, this is a limitation of the Operating System not having enough address space to allocate to the system *and* the RAM. Not allocating address space to devices renders them inoperable. Not allocating addresses to RAM simply results in the unaddressed section not being used in an otherwise fully functional computer. Therefore the OS designers assign RAM last.

We can have long debates about mathematical fundamentals and discussions about why the original Windows designers couldn't allocate the full theoretical max of 36 bits of address space so that users today would be able to use more resource. But at the end of the day, the designers and engineers 'Didn't Then'. So we 'Can't Now'.


If you install a Windows operating system, and if more than 3GB memory is required for your system, then the below conditions must be met:

1. A memory controller which supports memory swap functionality is used. The latest chipsets like Intel 975X, 955X, Nvidia NF4 SLI Intel Edition, Nvidia NF4 SLI X16, AMD K8 and newer architectures can support the memory swap function.

2. Installation of Windows XP Pro X64 Ed. (64-bit), Windows Vista 64, or other OS which can provide more than 4GB worth of address space.



Note: According to the latest Change Log published by Microsoft, Windows Vista 32bit SP1 will display the installed amount of RAM. This is a display change only.

Im at work so im doing this as fast as possible so sorry for the repeated question.

1 quick other question since Vista 32 only allows 4Gg and since its showing 3g does that mean the other Gig is hopefully coming from the video cards 512 DDR3? Or is that lost.

If so is there a way to make it so that the DDR3 takes priority over the DDR2 ram I have installed.

Yes the other is occupied by the video ram and I/O. It's not lost.

It's just software limitation. Please read carefully the post of Scotteq. It explain all with precision and clarty !

Have you done ANY reading on this subject?
Vid RAM is not CPU RAM

Did you try sisley_111's suggestion? The posters have responded already. 4G max, then subtract out the space required by other devices. It is reported automagically for you - you cannot do anything about it. The OS cannot use it (unless you move to a 64bit OS).