I have 16GB RAM, Only half being used.

[Bill Ellson]

Hi all. I built and have been running this system without an issue for about a year. Recently, I've noticed that when I open task manager, and look at my resources, Windows is only showing a maximum of 8GB of RAM. I have 16GB (4x4GB)of Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz installed.

On my last thread, Pinhedd suggested that I test all four DIMMs individually in the first slot, which I did, and all booted fine. He also suggested picking one of the DIMMs and testing it in each slot. All booted fine. I put all four DIMMs back in, and I still have 8GB in Windows. What is really weird is that my BIOS now show that I have 8GB installed, Windows shows that I have 8GB installed, but CPU-Z shows that I have 16GB installed. I'm not sure what's going on.

All four of my DIMMs are good. All four of my slots are good. What's the problem here, and why is it happening?!

 

[iceclock]

if its not detected in the bios u might have some faulty ram chipsmate

 

[Bill Ellson]

if its not detected in the bios u might have some faulty ram chipsmate

How so? They all boot succesfully?

 

[iceclock]

if ur bios doesnt detect it than it means its not running well.

 

[Bill Ellson]

if ur bios doesnt detect it than it means its not running well.

So it still works, just not well?

 

[iceclock]

no if its not detected means u cannot utilize it

 

[Bill Ellson]

no if its not detected means u cannot utilize it

But why isn't it being detected if it boots fine by itself?

 

[iceclock]

if the bios doesnt detect it doesnt mean its working.

u might have 2 sticks or 1 thats bunked

 

[Bill Ellson]

if the bios doesnt detect it doesnt mean its working.

u might have 2 sticks or 1 thats bunked

So why isn't it being detected if the slots work as well?

 

[iceclock]

the slots could work but the ram could be defective

 

[Tradesman1]

What's your mobo and CPU? Have you checked in MSCONFIG to see if the system is limiting DRAM - look in MSCONFIG>BOOT>ADVANCED and see if maximum memory is checked and limiting DRAM, also what OS version, some limit DRAM to 8GB max. If neither of the latter we're back to needing the mobo and CPU to check the DRAM set up

 

[Bill Ellson]

What's your mobo and CPU? Have you checked in MSCONFIG to see if the system is limiting DRAM - look in MSCONFIG>BOOT>ADVANCED and see if maximum memory is checked and limiting DRAM, also what OS version, some limit DRAM to 8GB max. If neither of the latter we're back to needing the mobo and CPU to check the DRAM set up

I already attempted to change the max boot ram. The box is already unchecked, but I have tried checking it and putting in 16384MB, still no go.

Motherboard: EVGA Z77 FTW
CPU: Intel i5 3570k
OS: Windows 8.1 64Bit

 

[iceclock]

its possible 2 of your ram sticks are defective bro, have u talt of rma them?

 

[Bill Ellson]

its possible 2 of your ram sticks are defective bro, have u talt of rma them?

That's what I'm trying to say. All four sticks boot fine into windows, and show 4GB. Every single one.

 

[iceclock]

so they all show in windows i talt they dint, so whats the issue than?

 

[Bill Ellson]

They all show up fine individually when they're booted up 1 at a time. But when all 4 are in, I only have 8GB, when it should be 16GB. That's the problem.

 

[iceclock]

that sounds like an issue with memory stick or mobo.

can u send it in for exchange the sticks?

 

[Bill Ellson]

I've had the sticks for over a year, the RMA on them is probably gone.

 

[iceclock]

i think the warranty is 3 years id check that sir

 

[Bill Ellson]

Okay thanks

 

[iceclock]

anytime sir its either ur motherboard ram slots are defective or the ram from here cant tell

 

[kajjot]

Is bios up to date?
Have you checked with EVGA if there are any compatibility issues with your particular RAM?

 

[Bill Ellson]

Well, kajjot, my bios actually will not update. I have the first version. Whenever I try to update it, it gives me an error that I can't read, because my computer instantly restarts, and doesn't update. I've never updated the bios, and I had 16GB RAM before.

 

[Lee-m]

I read over this quickly, and I didnt see what OS you are using (except that it is windows).
Its worth noting some versions of windows have ram limits. Win 7 home basic is limited to 8gb for example.

If that checks out, there is an issue with your motherboard not addressing all the ram, because as you state, all the sticks work individually.

 

[Bill Ellson]

My version of Windows has a RAM limit of 512GB of RAM. So it's not that.