Windows 7 not reading all memory installed on MSI A78M-E35 motherboard with 8Gb RAM

[gronthak]

Hello,

I hope I didn't place this thread in a wrong section. I built my very first system last week with MSI A78M-E35 motherboard and 8Gb RAM. My problem is, that Windows 7, that I have is showing, that 8Gb is installed, but only 2,21Gb is available. My motherboard is using integrated AMD Radeon HD8570D graphics, but I'm pretty sure, that graphics chipset has its own memory of 784Mb (or something close to this number). I've tried to change memory amount in msconfig -> boot -> advanced options but that didn't help. I've checked my BIOS settings as well, updated it, updated all my motherboard drivers and Windows is fully updated as well.

Could someone be so kind and try to explain why Windows is showing only 2.21Gb, instead of full 8Gb?

 

[clutchc]

The on-die GPU uses system memory for its VRAM. It doesn't have its own. But that is still no excuse for loosing that much memory somewhere. You do have a 64 bit version of Win7 right, not the 32 bit version?

 

[gronthak]

I use 32bit version. Would that make a difference? If yes I wasn't aware of this.

 

[clutchc]

I use 32bit version. Would that make a difference? If yes I wasn't aware of this.

Yes, 32 bit Win 7 x86 can only address up to 4 GB of memory. The OS itself uses some memory, the On-die GPU uses some, and some is set aside for housekeeping. So there is nothing wrong. You just have more memory that you can use. You either need to upgrade to Win 7 x64 or live with 4 GB max.

 

[gronthak]

Okay, that's all I need to know. Thanks a lot for the help!