[SOLVED] 8GB of RAM installed, desktop says only 3.93GB available?

Jul 27, 2021
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Hi!


I have a gaming desktop with 8GB RAM, an i5-750 processor and a GTX 760 graphics card, but everything runs really really slowly on it. ive owned it for about 3 years, half of that time i havent used it because its been so slow, but when i used to it ran very well without any problems.

I checked the RAM recently and realised it only said 3.93 usable out of 8, and i confirmed that the 3 RAM cards are installed through the BIOS menu. The system is 64 bit so no problems on that side.


I can barely run chrome tabs or any programs at that, because it's so slow. I thought it could be the processor at first because practically every game ive played on it stuttered every 5 seconds, but then games started crashing/not even loading so my best guess was to do with the low amount of RAM.


I have 4 more gigabytes of RAM arriving within a week but until then, is there any way i could confirm that its not my processor causing the problem, considering every game freezes every 5 seconds?


Thanks in advance for any help!



EDIT: i forgot to mention ive disabled any sort of RAM limiters other people who have had the same issue have mentioned, and the computer has been factory reset multiple times with no avail.
 
Solution
i thought it might have been triple channel ram..

Try running memtest86 on each of your ram sticks, one stick at a time, up to 4 passes. Only error count you want is 0, any higher could be cause of the BSOD. Remove/replace ram sticks with errors. Memtest is created as a bootable USB so that you don’t need windows to run it

3.93 sounds like only 1 stick is showing, or possibly 2 x 2gb. Its hard to say which isn't being used in windows. Win 10 more sensitive to bad ram, how much shows on the memory tab of task manager under the heading Hardware reserved?

if its dropped exactly 4gb I would guess its the 4gb stick that isn't showing now. More likely one stops than 2.

Easier test than unplugging battery would just be remove a...
what motherboard do you have? download CPU-z and see if your running in dual or single channel mode. The OS is ether seeing the 2x2GB sticks or only the single 4GB stick.


More then likely your running in dual channel with the 2x2GB sticks and the MB doesnt like a hybrid single dual setup.
 
Jul 27, 2021
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what motherboard do you have? download CPU-z and see if your running in dual or single channel mode. The OS is ether seeing the 2x2GB sticks or only the single 4GB stick.


More then likely your running in dual channel with the 2x2GB sticks and the MB doesnt like a hybrid single dual setup.
I just checked with CPU-Z and i am running dual channel mode.. is there a fix to make it run the three channels?

And my motherboard details from CMDPRMPT are
Intel Corporation DQ57TM

Another thing is, i havent done anything to the RAM as far as im aware. the 3 cards are the stock ones i bought with the PC and there have been no adjustments to the motherboard. I also used to be able to see 7.93GB available when it was working properly
 
I just checked with CPU-Z and i am running dual channel mode.. is there a fix to make it run the three channels?

And my motherboard details from CMDPRMPT are
Intel Corporation DQ57TM

Another thing is, i havent done anything to the RAM as far as im aware. the 3 cards are the stock ones i bought with the PC and there have been no adjustments to the motherboard. I also used to be able to see 7.93GB available when it was working properly
Cheap test.
Remove the bios battery.
Take it to the store and buy a new one.
Install new battery.
Enter the bios and set the date and time.
 
Jul 27, 2021
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Cheap test.
Remove the bios battery.
Take it to the store and buy a new one.
Install new battery.
Enter the bios and set the date and time.
a) what battery? b) what store? c) what new battery? im trying to fix it not replace parts. and since the parts i have are the same as when i bought them i shouldnt need to buy a new bios battery, whatever that is.

Still in need of help, any appreciated!
 
a) what battery? b) what store? c) what new battery? im trying to fix it not replace parts. and since the parts i have are the same as when i bought them i shouldnt need to buy a new bios battery, whatever that is.

Still in need of help, any appreciated!
Batteries wear out/go bad so they need to be replaced every so often.
Since it's only a few bucks it's not exactly a budget buster.
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
i thought it might have been triple channel ram..

Try running memtest86 on each of your ram sticks, one stick at a time, up to 4 passes. Only error count you want is 0, any higher could be cause of the BSOD. Remove/replace ram sticks with errors. Memtest is created as a bootable USB so that you don’t need windows to run it

3.93 sounds like only 1 stick is showing, or possibly 2 x 2gb. Its hard to say which isn't being used in windows. Win 10 more sensitive to bad ram, how much shows on the memory tab of task manager under the heading Hardware reserved?

if its dropped exactly 4gb I would guess its the 4gb stick that isn't showing now. More likely one stops than 2.

Easier test than unplugging battery would just be remove a stick and see if it changes totals in windows.
 
Solution
Actually I would start by removing one 2Gb stick (does not matter which). That'll instantly show whether 4Gb or 2x2Gb are suspects without the need to wait for memtest results. Of course you'll still need to run it, but you can limit it to just suspect sticks.
 
Jul 27, 2021
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Thanks everyone!


I managed to solve the problem, somehow, by fiddling with the cards and putting
Them in different channels, and then putting them back to how they were and now
It says 8.00GB RAM installed, seemingly all usable, and the computer is working much
Faster as intended. It might have been to do with the placement or that the pins were
Dirty or something of the sort, who knows.


Thanks again for everyone's help!


UPDATE: It appears to be intermittent between 8 full gigabytes of RAM and 3.93... It could be a fault slot or it
Could be the card itself so for anyone else don't rule those possibilities out!
 
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