A RAM Question dealing with installed physical memory and total physical memory

[Alex Crouch]

Okay, I am running Windows Vista x32. So I know i have 4 GB of installed physical memory and msinfo reports as much., but under total physical memory it reports only 2.5. Why is this? And should i be concerned about something?

I ask this because i want to get Skyrim for PC and it says it requires 3 GB of RAM. I figured, "Well, I have 4, shouldn't be a problem." Today i ran the blizzard system check (for the hell of it) and it only reported 2.5GB. That's when i checked msinfo and it gave me the installed readout and the total readout. I checked task manager and it only says 2557 total.

So, what's the difference and is my computer still able to run Skyrim?

 

[Alex Crouch]

so, after some googling, apparently that ram is reapropriated for "address space" or something?

So, my only question that remains is will I still be able to run skyrim?

 

[razor0512]

I think 32bit Windows have a 4GB memory limit which includes both RAM and VRAM from your video card. Maybe your video card has lots of memory causing Windows to ignore some of your RAM in order to make room for the Video RAM

 

[Alex Crouch]

Okay, so i technically have 4.5 GB of RAM because my XFX 780i motherboard has 512 built in. The 2 missing GB, as far as i can tell after some googling, is not measured because its assigned to other places like to run the video card or something. That's the best i can figure.

 

[Hyperrhombus]

how many RAM slots do you have?

How many RAM cards are you using?

how much memory does each RAM card have?

How old is your motherboard? (you might find a year stamped on it somewhere..)

and finally, what sort of RAM do you use? (SDRAM, DDR, DDR2 or DDR3 ?)

 

[mad825]

This is a BIOS bug. You'll need to search for updates.

I've had this happen to me before and the only way would be to search for firmware updates. If that fails then you will need a new motherboard, preferably a different model to fix this this problem.

 

[Alex Crouch]

how many RAM slots do you have?

How many RAM cards are you using?

how much memory does each RAM card have?

How old is your motherboard? (you might find a year stamped on it somewhere..)

and finally, what sort of RAM do you use? (SDRAM, DDR, DDR2 or DDR3 ?)

Its DDR2, i believe... I have 4 RAM Slots, and am only using 2. There's 2 sticks of 2 GB. I also know my GPU has 512 MB of memory with that, i don't know if that makes a difference.. I built my computer in 2009. It's an XFX 780i (not sure EXACTLY what year. Though, its not that old and was top of the line when i got it)

 

[Alex Crouch]

also: sorry for the late response. The Escapist didn't notify me that people had responded.

 

[Ziadaine_v1legacy]

Windows 32 bit mode only displays and will use 3.5GB of RAM Max, so if you shoved in 6GB it'll still only use 3.5GB max.

The GPU RAM is merely the RAM installed into the graphics so thats how much RAM it can draw upon from itself before it needs to ask for help for graphical processing. you could probably still get DDR2 RAM easily, in which case buying 8GB DDR2 wouldn't cost much. however you'd still need to re-install Windows SEVEN 64 Bit(Or so help me I'll slap you if you put Vista on) to fully use that RAM.

ALSO, from that Blizzard report, certain things require RAM such as your OS and Vista's notorious for being a RAM slut and it'll easily use 2GB alone. So if you plan to run Skyrim on windows 7 or Vista, Get AT LEAST 6GB RAM minimum. DDR2 wont cost much, it's about $120 for 8GB RAM which isn't bad. (also better to just buy them all as one brand and replace what you have for optimise sakes)

tl;dr - get more RAM, re-install windows as 64bit mode. (And download your drivers before you do and store on a USB)

 

[Esotera]

I think 32bit Windows have a 4GB memory limit which includes both RAM and VRAM from your video card. Maybe your video card has lots of memory causing Windows to ignore some of your RAM in order to make room for the Video RAM

This is the issue, you need a copy of Windows 7 as others have said (because screw Vista). I'm sure it'd probably run ok on just 2.5GB of RAM though, if you can't be bothered with upgrading your OS.

 

[Griffolion]

Okay, I am running Windows Vista x32. So I know i have 4 GB of installed physical memory and msinfo reports as much., but under total physical memory it reports only 2.5. Why is this? And should i be concerned about something?

I ask this because i want to get Skyrim for PC and it says it requires 3 GB of RAM. I figured, "Well, I have 4, shouldn't be a problem." Today i ran the blizzard system check (for the hell of it) and it only reported 2.5GB. That's when i checked msinfo and it gave me the installed readout and the total readout. I checked task manager and it only says 2557 total.

So, what's the difference and is my computer still able to run Skyrim?

32-bit operating systems can address a maximum memory amount of 3.5GB. That includes video memory. Therefore all your graphics cards memory will have been addressed, and the remainder from that will address to the RAM, hence why it is showing as it is. It's a simple limitation of 32 bit, nothing else. You're going to need a 64-bit OS to recognize all the memory you have in your system.

Skyrim will be demanding. What you need to do is upgrade to 64 bit Windows. Because you're making this architectural change, it will be a complete re-install from scratch, so make appropriate backups. Also, make it Windows 7 while you're at it, so your GPU can make use of DX11 (if it is a DX11 card).

 

[mad825]

This is a BIOS bug. You'll need to search for updates.

I've had this happen to me before and the only way would be to search for firmware updates. If that fails then you will need a new motherboard, preferably a different model to fix this this problem.

It's definitely not a BIOS bug or a motherboard problem, this is completely incorrect.

I'm wrong how? you assume so but I think otherwise.

The bug I'm taking about has a very noticeable symptom, when 4GB or more is installed , the OS only registers 2.5GB

 

[Hyperrhombus]

have you tried running your pc with just one of the two RAM cards? It's the simplest way to find if theres anything faulty with it.

also try running the memory diagnostic tool (pre-installed with windows) and see how much memory windows thinks you have... It could always be that Blizzard screwed up when writing that program.

 

[Alex Crouch]

Windows 32 bit mode only displays and will use 3.5GB of RAM Max, so if you shoved in 6GB it'll still only use 3.5GB max.

The GPU RAM is merely the RAM installed into the graphics so thats how much RAM it can draw upon from itself before it needs to ask for help for graphical processing. you could probably still get DDR2 RAM easily, in which case buying 8GB DDR2 wouldn't cost much. however you'd still need to re-install Windows SEVEN 64 Bit(Or so help me I'll slap you if you put Vista on) to fully use that RAM.

ALSO, from that Blizzard report, certain things require RAM such as your OS and Vista's notorious for being a RAM slut and it'll easily use 2GB alone. So if you plan to run Skyrim on windows 7 or Vista, Get AT LEAST 6GB RAM minimum. DDR2 wont cost much, it's about $120 for 8GB RAM which isn't bad. (also better to just buy them all as one brand and replace what you have for optimise sakes)

tl;dr - get more RAM, re-install windows as 64bit mode. (And download your drivers before you do and store on a USB)

thanks dude, (and to all others who said the same)! I figured I might have to do as much. I was already looking at Windows 7 64 bit. Vista's a real pain in the ass. But, thanks for the info. I'll have to make sure to make backups before I do that.