asked on

computer not using all of installed RAM

my computer is only using 3gb of RAM, but there is 6gb installed. it says only 3gb is usable. why might this be and how can i fix it?

motherboard- Gigabyte technology x58a-udr3
DD3 memory.
i have intel cpu i7 920 @2.67 for a chip

SOLUTION

Dr. Klahn

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John

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finnstone

ASKER

indeed this is the situation. why does it do that?

John

32-bit is limited to 3 GB by design. Upgrade to a 64-bit operating system if you can. You must reinstall the OS to do this

☠ MASQ ☠

Here's the explanation, garycase is my go-to guru for the 4GB addressable limit in 32 bit systems

https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/28973873/Why-can-a-32bit-operating-system-only-see-4GB-RAM-but-can-see-2TB-hard-drives.html

Dr. Klahn

indeed this is the situation. why does it do that?

If you mean "Yes, it is a 32-bit operating system," then it's because 4 GB is the design limit and no operating system can use all of it because of space reserved for the video adapter. 2^32 = 4 billion and a little more, so in bytes, = 4 GB.

finnstone

ASKER

thanks all. Sorry Dr Kahn did not see your first post.

John

You can give others Bonus points and that would be a nice touch

Member_2_231077

You can actually have more than 4GB with XP and Windows 2003 using PAE,
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/memory/physical-address-extension

I probably wouldn't bother to use PAE to gain 2.5GB but you should also consider 4GT to at least make the most use of your limited memory.