3.98GB of 16GB memory useable. 12GB Hardware reserved

[Michael_605]

Hi,
I turned on my computer today and it felt sluggish and slow. I eventually found that it was because that only 3.98GB of my 16GB of memory was useable. It turns out that 12GB is hardware reserved. I turned to google for a solution, and tried everything, including a repair install of windows, to no success. I have tried re seating my cpu and memory to no avail. I'm guessing this is most likely a software issue, as my bios recognises all 16GB of ram
My specs are as follows:
OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 bit
Cpu: Phenom ii x6 1055t
Ram: 4x4GB ddr3 1333mhz, g.skill and kingmax
Mobo: Ga 970a d3p
Gpu: Gainward gtx 570
PSU: EVGA 650W

 

[Michael_605]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from Michael_605 : "3.98GB of 16GB memory useable. 12GB Hardware reserved"

Hi,
I turned on my computer today and it felt sluggish and slow. I eventually found that it was because that only 3.98GB of my 16GB of memory was useable. It turns out that 12GB is hardware reserved. I turned to google for a solution, and tried everything, including a repair install of windows, to no success. I have tried re seating my cpu and memory to no avail. I'm guessing this is most likely a software issue, as my bios recognises all 16GB of ram
My specs are as follows:
OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 bit
Cpu: Phenom ii x6 1055t
Ram: 4x4GB ddr3 1333mhz, g.skill and kingmax
Mobo: Ga 970a d3p
Gpu: Gainward gtx 570
PSU: EVGA 650W

Thanks in advance,
Michael

 

[Colif]

Win 10 a bit more picky about ram compared to other OS, I would run the free version of memtest86 on each stick, one at a time. Any errors means stick needs to be replaced/removed

Its clearly happy to use one of them. Just cause win 10 can see the ram doesn't mean its happy to use it.

 

[Michael_605]

Well this system has been running for a few years without any problems, and i had just recently completed a memtest86+ scan without any errors, so it shouldn't be that.

 

[Colif]

have you checked Maximum memory under msconfig /Boot tab, advanced options. It should be unticked by default.

one fix I found was reinstall win 10 using a new ISO

do you have latest motherboard chipset drivers?

 

[Michael_605]

I have checked maximum memory in msconfig. I completed a repair install of windows 10, but im not sure if it would have the same effect as a fresh install. I would prefer to keep all my apps and files. I do have the latest chipset drivers.