My Ram shows the wrong ammount??

[JohnPY93]

Hi guys,
I have just recently had abit of an upgrade on my Computer and have added a total of 8Gb of ram into my computer (2x4Gb Sticks)

But when i look on either Dxdiag or any other system info i find that my Ram says
Installing Memory (RAM) ; 29.5Gb (3.75gb usable)

P.s i also just installed Windows 7 too, so that might be an Issue, i have downloaded all the updates windows update will give me, and now i'm baffled on why this is doing what it is, Also i do not feel the jump at all so i know i'm not getting 8Gb of ram as this feels exactly the same as when i had 2Gb on XP wether it be on Gaming or browsing, Let me know what you guys think and maybe any Solutions would be Great,

PC Specs, for those of you who are interested.

AMD Athlon II x4 3.00Ghz - ( 4Cpu's)
8GB of ram I think
ATI Radeon 5450 2Gb < i know it's not great i'm updateing it soon.
OS; Windows 7 Home Premium

 

[itzdanielp]

When you installed windows, did you select the "64-Bit" disk?

Windows 7 (32-bit) can only use about 3.75GB or Ram. That's why I am asking.

 

[JohnPY93]

When you installed windows, did you select the "64-Bit" disk?

Windows 7 (32-bit) can only use about 3.75GB or Ram. That's why I am asking.

Yeh i'm running on 64bit, Is there a way to double check if i am, But i'm 90% sure that i am.
Yeh i just checked and it says 64bit Operating System

 

[itzdanielp]

Press the Windows key + R and type MSConfig

Click on the "Boot" tab, and click on "Advanced Settings"

Make sure "Maximum Memory" is UNChecked.

 

[JohnPY93]

Press the Windows key + R and type MSConfig

Click on the "Boot" tab, and click on "Advanced Settings"

Make sure "Maximum Memory" is UNChecked.

Yep it's unchecked, it's still exatcly the same, This is a very strange problem as none of my friends know why it's happening either, It may be worth mentioning that i got a complete new Motherboard to go with the ram so that might be an issue.

 

[itzdanielp]

It shouldn't be the motherboard.

Boot up windows with only 1 stick installed in the first slot (closest to the CPU), if no problems, check the size.

Then repeat with the second stick.