Why does 4GB RAM only show as 3GB?

I know that when using 32-bit Vista you can't expect to see all 4GB of
installed RAM but I was under the impression that you should see between 3.1
and 3.5GB. My new Dell Precision laptop has 4GB RAM but only shows exactly
3GB. The BIOS reports 4GB.

Is this unusual or indicative of a problem?

--
And loving it,

-Q
_________________________________________________

(Replace the "SixFour" with numbers to email me)

Qu0ll wrote:
> I know that when using 32-bit Vista you can't expect to see all 4GB of
> installed RAM but I was under the impression that you should see between
> 3.1 and 3.5GB. My new Dell Precision laptop has 4GB RAM but only shows
> exactly 3GB. The BIOS reports 4GB.
>
> Is this unusual or indicative of a problem?
>

When you install SP1, you will see 4GB.

Alias

"Qu0ll" <> wrote in message
news:42B8305D-A848-4411-BA89-...
>I know that when using 32-bit Vista you can't expect to see all 4GB of
>installed RAM but I was under the impression that you should see between
>3.1 and 3.5GB. My new Dell Precision laptop has 4GB RAM but only shows
>exactly 3GB. The BIOS reports 4GB.

It's normal. Different MBs support different amounts. Some see as much
as 3.5 GB, some as little as 3GB, like yours. If the laptop supports 64
bit and you need more than 3 GB, you need to install 64 bit Vista.

"Bob Campbell" <> wrote in message
news: m...

> "Qu0ll" <> wrote in message
> news:42B8305D-A848-4411-BA89-...
>>I know that when using 32-bit Vista you can't expect to see all 4GB of
>>installed RAM but I was under the impression that you should see between
>>3.1 and 3.5GB. My new Dell Precision laptop has 4GB RAM but only shows
>>exactly 3GB. The BIOS reports 4GB.
>
> It's normal. Different MBs support different amounts. Some see as much
> as 3.5 GB, some as little as 3GB, like yours. If the laptop supports 64
> bit and you need more than 3 GB, you need to install 64 bit Vista.

What about Alias's comment that it would see 4GB under SP1? Is that
correct?

--
And loving it,

-Q
_________________________________________________

(Replace the "SixFour" with numbers to email me)

It depends on what is installed on the computer. Video cards with larger
amounts of memory will have smaller shown memory. After SP1 you should see
all of it even though nothing has changed.


"Qu0ll" <> wrote in message
news:42B8305D-A848-4411-BA89-...
>I know that when using 32-bit Vista you can't expect to see all 4GB of
>installed RAM but I was under the impression that you should see between
>3.1 and 3.5GB. My new Dell Precision laptop has 4GB RAM but only shows
>exactly 3GB. The BIOS reports 4GB.
>
> Is this unusual or indicative of a problem?
>
> --
> And loving it,
>
> -Q
> _________________________________________________
>
> (Replace the "SixFour" with numbers to email me)

> What about Alias's comment that it would see 4GB under SP1? Is that
> correct?

Yes. It's a change Microsoft made, presumably due to so many customers
thinking there was a problem. It *reports* 4G, but of course nothing has
changed under the hood - it still uses a little over 3G.

SteveT

"John Barnes" <> wrote in message
news:#...

> It depends on what is installed on the computer. Video cards with larger
> amounts of memory will have smaller shown memory. After SP1 you should
> see all of it even though nothing has changed.

The video card has 512MB of memory so perhaps that is a factor then. Nice
to know though that all 4GB RAM will be accessible under SP1. Thanks for
the confirmation.

--
And loving it,

-Q
_________________________________________________

(Replace the "SixFour" with numbers to email me)

"Steve Thackery" <> wrote in message
news:...
>> What about Alias's comment that it would see 4GB under SP1? Is that
>> correct?
>
> Yes. It's a change Microsoft made, presumably due to so many customers
> thinking there was a problem. It *reports* 4G, but of course nothing has
> changed under the hood - it still uses a little over 3G.

Ah, well ignore my comment in the other post then about it all being
"accessible".

--
And loving it,

-Q
_________________________________________________

(Replace the "SixFour" with numbers to email me)

"Qu0ll" <> wrote in message
news:F3B677C3-908D-45E0-AF48-...
> "John Barnes" <> wrote in message
> news:#...


> The video card has 512MB of memory so perhaps that is a factor then. Nice to know
> though that all 4GB RAM will be accessible under SP1. Thanks for the confirmation.

No, it WON'T be accessible. It will be reported in the System Properties as 4 GB
but it still won't be used by the OS.

Tom Lake

"Tom Lake" <> wrote in message
news:6EF267C4-4B30-4CD6-AB4B-...
>
> "Qu0ll" <> wrote in message
> news:F3B677C3-908D-45E0-AF48-...
>> "John Barnes" <> wrote in message
>> news:#...
>
>
>> The video card has 512MB of memory so perhaps that is a factor then.
>> Nice to know though that all 4GB RAM will be accessible under SP1.
>> Thanks for the confirmation.
>
> No, it WON'T be accessible. It will be reported in the System Properties
> as 4 GB
> but it still won't be used by the OS.

Yes, hence my other post.

Actually, I notice that my Server 2003 machine is 32-bit with 4GB and seems
to see and use all 4GB. So it's not just a 32-bit thing - it must be
related to the nature of the OS itself. Most of the explanations I've seen
for the low reporting are based on the "it's a 32-bit OS" argument.

--
And loving it,

-Q
_________________________________________________

(Replace the "SixFour" with numbers to email me)