Hardware Reserved Memory is 13GB out of 16GB

[Triv_]

Hello, I am having issues with my RAM not being used to it's full potential. I recently built this PC and have installed 2x DDR4 8GB RAM into it and the motherboard is a DDR4 board and supports this type of RAM. I am running Windows 10, and I have tried the 'msconfig' boot options multiple times and I still get the same issue. The only amount of RAM that is 'usable' is 2.1GB out of 16GB. Anyone know what is causing this issue?

 

[Colif]

Are you using 32bit or 64bit windows 10?

32 bit can only use max of 3.5gb and if you have a lot of ram on gpu it will bite into your ram too.

 

[Triv_]

The OS is probably it.. My friend gave me a 500GB with Win10 pre-installed and never told me it was 32 bit until I booted it up and seen it myself. I don't have a GPU, because it hasn't been shipped yet from Newegg.. Best bet is to wipe the HDD and get Win10 64bit installed on it?

 

[Colif]

You will have to buy a copy of windows 10 for the PC, using a preinstalled hdd copy won't work as it was set up o match whatever computer it was installed on - it is unlikely to activate on your PC. The free upgrade only applies to computers that had windows 7 or 8 on them before, a new PC needs a new licence.

Yes, reinstall win 10 64bit to use all your ram.

 

[Triv_]

Alright, thank you for answering quick and with the right information! Time to dump another $100 into OS! lol