[SOLVED] Win 10 not showing all 16gb, but bios and cpu-z does

[Jimmidk]

So i just finished my build, and everything works fine, except that win10 shows i only have 8 gb of ram, when Bios and Cpu-z shows all 16GB.

I have tryed switching the ram with same result. The ram is Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro, and both sticks light up, and they are both controlleble in iCue (they both show up there aswell).

My rig is:

Gigabyte Aorus b450 i Wifi Pro (only have 2 ram slots)
Corsair Vengeance RGB pro 2x8gb 3200mhz
Ryzen 5 3600x
Evga RTX 2080
Psu: Riotoro Enigma G2 850watt

Why is windows only showing 8gb? and does it means i can only use 8gb when playing games?

Thanks
Jimmi

 

[Jimmidk]

You cannot overclock those ram sticks your mobo only supports up to 3200 so if your overclocking it may be stopping the other one from functioning even though it is plugged into the motherboard it will show you have it but it wont allow you to use it if it's trying to push more power to something that isnt supported. So disable all overclocking and see if that helps

Yeah i know, if i ensble Xmp in BIOS it clock the ram a 3200mhz, but as mentioned earlier it seems BIOS can’t save that settings. The pc reboot 3 times before loading up windows, and all the programs i use to see the ram (iCue, CPU-z eg. says 1066mhz on the ram.
What ever i do to change any settings on the ram, evne manually set the volt has the same effect. 3 times reboot and Bios go default settings when Windows load up.

 

[Mr.Spock]

Gigabyte recommends updating EC FW Update Tool before going to FW 40/50 did you do that?
Also why does your proc show as a 1600x when you indicated it's a 3600x?

I ran Afterburner In the beginning to benchmark my rig when i was done, gotta say i didn’t noticed the ram usages, so i’ll try that. Hopefully i’m allowed to use all 16gb, and Windows just plain stupid and think i have 8gb.

 

[Ferimer]

Gigabyte recommends updating EC FW Update Tool before going to FW 40/50 did you do that.
Also why does your proc show as a 1600x when you indicated it's a 3600x?

I am wondering now if because he has 3200 and his CPU supports only up to 2667 if that's maybe causing a problem his CPU is causing the issue ?

 

[Ferimer]

Gigabyte recommends updating EC FW Update Tool before going to FW 40/50 did you do that.
Also why does your proc show as a 1600x when you indicated it's a 3600x?

Good eye on that I didnt even catch that.

 

[Mr.Spock]

I think most gen 2 will run 2933 fine - however the fact his CPU isn't being recognized means all bets are off

I am wondering now if because he has 3200 and his CPU supports only up to 2667 if that's maybe causing a problem his CPU is causing the issue ?

 

[Vic 40]

If it keeps on seeing 8gb might it be necessary to reinstall windows.

 

[Jimmidk]

Sorry i see i had buttered fingers and for some odly reason hit the 3 instead of 1 ( I Can for no reason explain how). But yes it is a 1600x CPU and not a 3600x. (The plan is to upgrade to the 3600x in some future, maybe that was on my mind i don’t know:S
But the CPU only support 2666mhz can’t be the reason right? I thought MB would downclock the ram to what ever is the fastest supported mhz.
No i did not see that i was recommended to Update the EC FW tool before updating BIOS. Will try updating the tool and see if that does any difference. But now i do understand why BIOS won’t save my settings when i set ram clock at 3200mhz.

 

[Vic 40]

The 1600X will probably support 3200mhz ram with a little help from motherboard. Might need to add some voltages here and there. If not try 2933mhz.

 

[Jimmidk]

Good eye on that I didnt even catch that.

Gigabyte recommends updating EC FW Update Tool before going to FW 40/50 did you do that?
Also why does your proc show as a 1600x when you indicated it's a 3600x?

But the bios was F42g when i got the brand new MB, that means the Bios was newer than the F40 which required the EC FW tool, so i guess i don't need the tool, since the Bios from Gigabyte already was a newer version than F40?

 

[Jimmidk]

Ran Msi afterburner with mem usage on, ran Ghost Recon Wildlands, Witcher 3, and Battlefield 5, at the same time. Hitted like 8000mb usage once then stayed at 78-7900mb at all time. Did however get a message in Wildlands, that i was running out of avaible ram when i was using about the 7600mb. So that seems i have only the 8gb available instead of 16gb.

 

[boju]

EC FW tool is only necessary if update Bios from Windows. If you do it in the Bios, you don't need this tool.

Do you have a spare hdd to test new Windows install on?

 

[boju]

The other day i had problems with ram on an older x58 system with 3x 4GB. HWinfo and cpuz both reported 12GB but Win10 said 8GB. I originally thought Windows must be wrong because the other utilities said otherwise. Checked Bios and sure enough, it did only report 8GB. In my case Windows was correct. I managed to get them working again and Bios + Windows now say 12GB.

If new Windows doesn't work, it is possible, even though Bios reads all 16, seeing you're having trouble applying Xmp, there could be something wrong with one of the ram or dimm slot. 1600x should work with 3200ram.

Have you tried each stick separately with Xmp to work out if one of them may be bad?

 

[Jimmidk]

The other day i had problems with ram on an older x58 system with 3x 4GB. HWinfo and cpuz both reported 12GB but Win10 said 8GB. I originally thought Windows must be wrong because the other utilities said otherwise. Checked Bios and sure enough, it did only report 8GB. In my case Windows was correct. I managed to get them working again and Bios + Windows now say 12GB.

If new Windows doesn't work, it is possible, even though Bios reads all 16, seeing you're having trouble applying Xmp, there could be something wrong with one of the ram or dimm slot. 1600x should work with 3200ram.

Have you tried each stick separately with Xmp to work out if one of them may be bad?

Okay, i haven’t tried a single stick with XMP on, i did a reinstall of Windows this night, that did not help, will try Xmp with a single stick today when i come home from work.

 

[boju]

And if possible, borrow a couple of sticks from someone you know?

 

[Jimmidk]

So i tried the 1 stick Xmp, and 1 stik with Xmp 3200mhz enabled worked fine (but cpu-z and other programs says clockspeed 1390mhz (is that right?)
Both stick worked just fine (so no defect ram i guess!)

BUT when i use the other slot for my ram, the pc would not boot up, it reboots 3 times with very short interval and then nothing happens, pc is on, fans and pump running, but no video output and no keyboard /mouse (can see because they are Chroma and do not light up). When i insert or switched slot and boot up, Bios was resettet.

In my MB manual, the slot that won't boot with any of the ram stick, is refered to as Channel B, and is the one furthest away from the CPU (i only have 2 slots), the other one, closest to the CPU (channel A) worked just fine with both ram stick and XMP enabled.
I also did noticed that when i used 1 stick cpu-z and Nzxt Cam got the timings right ( 16-18-18-36) but when i put both stick in the pc the timing is now 15-15-15-36. So this makes me very confused. Since the MB is able to detect both sticks.

 

[Vic 40]

Maybe board is broken,or even cpu memory controller.

 

[boju]

Yeah single stick of ram needs to be in the first slot. Second slot won't work on it's own.

3200MHz will read 1600 in cpuz.

Try adjust memory manually. Not sure if this has been tried.

Set Xmp first and head over to dram timing control and see which fields it changes. Should be 16, 18, 18, 18, 36. Write down / take a photo which timing numbers belong where.

Change to manual, set 3200MHz and enter those timings.

Set dram voltage to 1.35v

Command rate, try 2T. Command rate should be in the list somewhere where the timings are.

 

[Jimmidk]

I’ll try manually adjust the ram later today,

 

[Jimmidk]

So i

Yeah single stick of ram needs to be in the first slot. Second slot won't work on it's own.

3200MHz will read 1600 in cpuz.

Try adjust memory manually. Not sure if this has been tried.

Set Xmp first and head over to dram timing control and see which fields it changes. Should be 16, 18, 18, 18, 36. Write down / take a photo which timing numbers belong where.

Change to manual, set 3200MHz and enter those timings.

Set dram voltage to 1.35v

Command rate, try 2T. Command rate should be in the list somewhere where the timings are.

So i tried manually setting the memory, did not helped, pc rebooted 3 times and resetted the BIOS to default.
i Don’t know anybody who has any ram laying around beside those they already have in their system, and they see quite new, so they won’t let me try open their 3month prebuild pc at burrow a stick.

 

[boju]

A PC store should be able to assist as they'll have spare parts to test with. It could be motherboard but if can't borrow ram to test this theory, before spending money on new ram, would be best going this route to find out what's going on.

 

[Jimmidk]

A PC store should be able to assist as they'll have spare parts to test with. It could be motherboard but if can't borrow ram to test this theory, before spending money on new ram, would be best going this route to find out what's going on.

Both stick works fine if used as single, both default MHz and with Xmp. Could it be that the memory controller in the CPU is bad?

 

[Vic 40]

No sorry,missed the photo of the bios where all is shown. Seems a windows error,did you try and recreate a new usb using this method?
Windows 10 usb install tool

 

[Jimmidk]

No sorry,missed the photo of the bios where all is shown. Seems a windows error,did you try and recreate a new usb using this method?
Windows 10 usb install tool

I made a usb installer from my old laptop, which was a Win 10 Home 64bit version. I then bought a Win 10 Pro key for my new build. Could the USB version of win10 be the cause? My laptop was born with 8gb but upgradet to 16gb later on.

 

[Vic 40]

Would try and recreate the windows install via the tool i linked,then reinstall using that.

 

[boju]

I made a usb installer from my old laptop, which was a Win 10 Home 64bit version. I then bought a Win 10 Pro key for my new build. Could the USB version of win10 be the cause? My laptop was born with 8gb but upgradet to 16gb later on.

Ram amount from source pc which media creation tool was used on doesn't matter. Home supports up to 128GB. No harm in trying, creating install media again though.

Sometimes ram work fine individually until put together. It's a possibility.

It's either still Windows, motherboard or ram. Possibly cpu if all ram isn't accounted for at default speeds.