[SOLVED] 32.0GB RAM installed but only "16.0 GB Usable" according to Windows ?

[johnnydska]

i have 32gb RAM installed on my computer but only 16gb is usable in windows 11. I've tried msconfig, regedit, and reseated my memory. and checked the bios and it shows all 32gb RAM installed.
Is there any solution to this problem?
SPECS OF MY PC:

Processor AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Six-Core Processor 3.40 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB (16.0 GB usable)
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
GIGABYTE B450 AORUS ELITE MOTHERBOARD
32 GB CORSAIR VENGENCE MEMORY 8 GB OF RAM IN EACH SLOT 4SLOTS
RTX 3060
NVME SSD PNY 256GB
i have not had this problem before . showed 32gb ram before
windows 11 pro

thank you for any help or suggestions.

 

[Lutfij]

GIGABYTE B450 AORUS ELITE MOTHERBOARD
What BIOS version are you on for your motherboard?

i have not had this problem before . showed 32gb ram before
Perhaps try and clear the CMOS. You do so by disconnecting the system from the wall and display, then remove the CMOS battery, press and hold down the power button for 30secs to drain any residual power, then reseat the battery after 30mins.

 

[Misgar]

i have 32gb of memory installed on my computer but 16gb is usable shows on windows 11.

I generally put this down to a bad DIMM (if only two are fitted) or a bad memory slot.
https://superuser.com/questions/1514018/why-is-my-usable-ram-only-half-of-my-installed-ram

Pull one DIMM, boot from Memtest86 on USB. Check DIMM. If OK, remove DIMM, fit second DIMM, test second DIMM. Any faults, move DIMMs to a different mobo socket and repeat tests. That way you should be able to work out it the problem is with the DIMMs themselves or the mobo DIMM sockets.
https://www.memtest86.com/

Alternatively, try:
https://windowsreport.com/windows-11-not-using-all-ram/

 

[ex_bubblehead]

First thing to look at is RAM, as mismatched sets will cause the memory controller no end of problems. And "It used to work" simply means that you were extremely lucky.

 

[johnnydska]

problem was solved my taking out the cmos battery and took out the ram and firmly put it back in and switched the ram around worked thank you so much guys.

 

[beyondlogic]

honestly as dumb as this will sound the ryzen 2600 I found is a picky with ram and outright did what the op says 16gb usable of 32gb.

I found it was worse on msi boards then gigabyte though.

gigabyte boards from my experience tend to not play nice with corsair memory either.

ive had more luck with Kingston/Klevv

also was it a proper kit or 2x16gb bought at different times.

either way glad it was sorted but if it should happen again i would say its the 2600 memory controller being picky.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Often it glitches and will hold 16gb or a tad more in hardware reserved. Doing what he did often clears the issue.

 

[dev_cyberpunk]

either way glad it was sorted but if it should happen again i would say its the 2600 memory controller being picky.

its because of the odd frequency it runs native on the ram bus:
2933 Mhz for the DDR4

So cas timing is critical.

3000 Mhz memory would have better success than 3200 or 3600 because of this. But there really isn't ram chips that have native speed at 2933 even though they sell modules certified at that speed.