CaptainStarbuck Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 Boot and initial full memory test recognize 4GB. My first boot into the OS showed the full 4GB, but subsequent boots only show 3GB - that was before I replaced a temporary old 8MB video card with the 512. ;) Now with the modern card Windows sees 3.1GB. This thread was hugely informative, explains the capacity issue, and I can relate to the OP entirely. I have not yet tried modifying boot.ini or any other changes to get Windows to use more RAM. So now I'm asking two questions: 1) If I'm not going to be able to use the 4GB of RAM, why did I buy it? In short I was told this was going to be a good config. With more focus on business productivity (I'm a business owner and developer) than gaming I'd rather downgrade the video to 128 or 256MB so that I can use the DRAM I bought. I didn't know/think about the 4GB total cap and got 512MB of VRAM to avoid video dipping into DRAM. And my 22" monitor doesn't support the full resolution of the card anyway. If I can't use the RAM I might as well put 2GB of this into another sysem - if I can be sure another system can use it (separate issue). Comments? 2) As far as making the best use of what I have, the RAM seems to be running at 333MHz when I expected it should run at 400. I understand (from reading this forum) more RAM needs to run slower - which, ironically, is yet another reason to remove 2 sticks if they are only making a base of 2GB less effective. Given the following settings off the mobo and my business over gaming requirements, can someone recommend more optimal settings for the 4GB I have and 2GB I might keep? Note this mobo was made for overclocking though I confess I've forgotten anything I knew about timings and I'm more interested in stability than pushing the limits of the hardware into BSOD-space. (Config is currently Auto) Memclock index value = 333MHz CAS# latency (Tcl) = 2.5 Min RAS# active time (Tras) = 7T RAS# to CAS# delay (Trcd) = 3T Row precharge Time (Trp) = 3T Row cycle time (Trc) = 10T Row refresh cyc time (Trfc) = 12T Read-to-Write time (Trwt) = 4T Write Recovery time (Twr) = 3T 1T/2T Memory timing = 2T s/w DRAM over 4GB remapping = enabled h/w DRAM over 4GB remapping = enabled I apologize for being such a newb on this, this is a whole nuther world that I just don't have time to immerse myself in anymore - but I'm willing to learn what I can. Thank you VERY much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekT Posted October 17, 2008 Share Posted October 17, 2008 You need a 64bit OS to fully use a 4GB system. Modifying the Boot.ini will only allow programs to take advantage of more DRAM than normal. It will not make a difference between the boundary of a 32bit OS. Your video card memory is occupying some of that boundary of ~3 - 4GB. If you want to make use of all your DRAM, then move to a 64bit OS. Regarding the drop of bandwidth. Please research this thread: http://www.houseofhelp.com/v3/showthread.php?t=64360&highlight=Unpredictable+results+QUAD2X4096+Gigabyte+X38-DS5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.