Hardware reserved ram

[erwingg99]

So , I've recently upgraded from 4gb of ram to 6gb of ram. I have windows 7 64-bit , the ram is working , windows sees it , the motherboard ( Asrock P5B-DE ) sees all the ram , but only 3.44 gb of ram is usable. 2625mb of ram ( the rest ) is trapped in hardware reserved memory. I have tried the Msconfig way , the regedit way , even remapped the memory in the bios , but nothing worked.

I have reinstalled windows multiple times , but with no luck.

I have thought of messing around with memory timings , but I dunno what to do there.

I would really apreciate if you would help me.

Here's my current ram setup:

Dimm1: 2 gb stick 800 mhz
Dimm2: 1 gb stick 800 mhz
Dimm3: 2gb stick 800 mhz
Dimm4: 1 gb stick 800mhz

I have checked the memory in CPU-Z , and it says that my memory is running at 438 mhz ( I have no clue why )

If there's a fix to this , please help me , I've been trying to fix this for 3 weeks.

Anyway , if you guys have more questions , just reply and I'll get to it asap.

 

[jay32267]

First make sure that memory configuration you are using is acceptable to the motherboard. Strange things can happen if not.

 

[erwingg99]

First make sure that memory configuration you are using is acceptable to the motherboard. Strange things can happen if not.

Well , the mobo supports up to 8 gb of ram , but windows just doesn't uses it. It sees it , but its in hardware reserved.

What should I do ? ( Sorry if I'm being a noob )

 

[jay32267]

Yeah, but my point is...you can't just plug ram in slots on an MB willy nilly. There are proper configurations and just plain wrong configurations.

Dimm1: 2 gb stick 800 mhz
Dimm2: 1 gb stick 800 mhz
Dimm3: 2gb stick 800 mhz
Dimm4: 1 gb stick 800mhz

It may not LIKE this. ^^^^^^

 

[erwingg99]

Yeah, but my point is...you can't just plug ram in slots on an MB willy nilly. There are proper configurations and just plain wrong configurations.

Dimm1: 2 gb stick 800 mhz
Dimm2: 1 gb stick 800 mhz
Dimm3: 2gb stick 800 mhz
Dimm4: 1 gb stick 800mhz

It may not LIKE this. ^^^^^^

hmm , Imma try moving them tommorow ( its late here rn ).

Thanks anyway for the suggestion. I'll post if it worked or not.

 

[USAFRet]

Mixing RAM sticks often does not work.
No matter what magic dust you sprinkle over it.

This is why RAM is sold in kits.

 

[rgd1101]

read the manual
http://asrock.pc.cdn.bitgravity.com/Manual/QIG/P5B-DE_multiQIG.pdf

 

[erwingg99]

Mixing RAM sticks often does not work.
No matter what magic dust you sprinkle over it.

This is why RAM is sold in kits.

but wait , windows sees all the ram , but it only uses 3.44 gb out of 6 gb. Would switching the ram around even work since that ram is put in hardware reserved?

 

[USAFRet]

Mixing RAM sticks often does not work.
No matter what magic dust you sprinkle over it.

This is why RAM is sold in kits.

but wait , windows sees all the ram , but it only uses 3.44 gb out of 6 gb. Would switching the ram around even work since that ram is put in hardware reserved?

"Seeing" and "actually using" are two different things.

 

[erwingg99]

read the manual
http://asrock.pc.cdn.bitgravity.com/Manual/QIG/P5B-DE_multiQIG.pdf

To be honest , the ram sticks have been made by different brands.

The 2 1gb ramsticks are made by Samsung , while the other 2 2gb ram sticks are from another brand.

As far as I'm concerned , this shouldn't be the problem , because the 2 2gb ram sticks that I have installed are different (not the same brand)

 

[erwingg99]

Mixing RAM sticks often does not work.
No matter what magic dust you sprinkle over it.

This is why RAM is sold in kits.

but wait , windows sees all the ram , but it only uses 3.44 gb out of 6 gb. Would switching the ram around even work since that ram is put in hardware reserved?

"Seeing" and "actually using" are two different things.

Windows is seeing all the ram , but only 3.44 gb are usable , instead of 6gb. Task manager says that 2625mb of ram are allocated to "Hardware Reserved Memory"

 

[erwingg99]

oh wait , I've just read the manual. The ram sticks are not all the same. I'm afraid that that's the problem that I ran into , but isn't there a way to "unlock" the ram that is in "hardware reserved memory"?