Nothing special I believe - just two sets of 'these'
(http://www.ebuyer.com/product/92005) (making 4GB) on a Gigabyte
GA-K8NS-939Ultra m/b. As far as I can make out they're just shopping
memory.


--
JTHM

...and I forgot to add that I am running SP1


--
JTHM

I have you checked you MOBO documentation to be sure that it states it will
support 4 dims of the type you are using?

"JTHM" wrote in message
...

Nothing special I believe - just two sets of 'these'
(http://www.ebuyer.com/product/92005) (making 4GB) on a Gigabyte
GA-K8NS-939Ultra m/b. As far as I can make out they're just shopping
memory.


--
JTHM

"JTHM" wrote in message
...

Ok, so my BIOS reports 3.5GB (supposed to be 4GB! ...I've been done!)
hardware RAM installed, confirmed by AIDA32. SYSTEM reports 6GB RAM,
and this is was what was shown on the Welcome Screen when I first booted
Vista.

*msinfo32*, while giving a whole host of other memories, says I have
6GB of "Installed Physical Memory (RAM)". "Virtual Memory" it reports
as 5.36GB.

All this adds to my confusion. What is the difference between
*msinfo32*'s "Total Physical Memory" (3.50GB) and "Installed Physical
Memory (RAM)" (6.00GB).

!!

Thanks!


--
JTHM

The Total Physical Memory of 3.5GB is correct. It's the
memory available to Vista after the hardware addressing
requirements are met. The Total Virtual Memory of 5.36GB
also looks good. It's the total of available RAM + available
HD virtual memory space. The 6GB is a completely incorrect
value. There's a mis-configuration with your RAM that's
causing the incorrect reading. The 3.5GB reported by your
BIOS is also correct. It agrees with the Total Physical
Memory reported by msinfo32. The BIOS is reporting
what's available to the OS.

Ian D wrote:
"JTHM" wrote in message
...
Ok, so my BIOS reports 3.5GB (supposed to be 4GB! ...I've been done!)
hardware RAM installed, confirmed by AIDA32. SYSTEM reports 6GB RAM,
and this is was what was shown on the Welcome Screen when I first booted
Vista.

*msinfo32*, while giving a whole host of other memories, says I have
6GB of "Installed Physical Memory (RAM)". "Virtual Memory" it reports
as 5.36GB.

All this adds to my confusion. What is the difference between
*msinfo32*'s "Total Physical Memory" (3.50GB) and "Installed Physical
Memory (RAM)" (6.00GB).

!!

Thanks!


--
JTHM

The Total Physical Memory of 3.5GB is correct. It's the
memory available to Vista after the hardware addressing
requirements are met. The Total Virtual Memory of 5.36GB
also looks good. It's the total of available RAM + available
HD virtual memory space. The 6GB is a completely incorrect
value. There's a mis-configuration with your RAM that's
causing the incorrect reading. The 3.5GB reported by your
BIOS is also correct. It agrees with the Total Physical
Memory reported by msinfo32. The BIOS is reporting
what's available to the OS.


Sorry, but that last statement is not correct. Bios reading has nothing
to do with the OS since the Bios loads on system startup before the OS
boots. If there are four 1 Gb modules installed on the board, then Bios
should report 4 Gb. If it does not, then there is either something wrong
with one or more of the memory modules or an incompatability, or
something is wrong with the motherboard, or the Bios version installed
is corrupted or needs to be updated.

"Hobo" wrote in message
...
Ian D wrote:
"JTHM" wrote in message
...
Ok, so my BIOS reports 3.5GB (supposed to be 4GB! ...I've been done!)
hardware RAM installed, confirmed by AIDA32. SYSTEM reports 6GB RAM,
and this is was what was shown on the Welcome Screen when I first booted
Vista.

*msinfo32*, while giving a whole host of other memories, says I have
6GB of "Installed Physical Memory (RAM)". "Virtual Memory" it reports
as 5.36GB.

All this adds to my confusion. What is the difference between
*msinfo32*'s "Total Physical Memory" (3.50GB) and "Installed Physical
Memory (RAM)" (6.00GB).

!!

Thanks!


--
JTHM

The Total Physical Memory of 3.5GB is correct. It's the
memory available to Vista after the hardware addressing
requirements are met. The Total Virtual Memory of 5.36GB
also looks good. It's the total of available RAM + available
HD virtual memory space. The 6GB is a completely incorrect
value. There's a mis-configuration with your RAM that's
causing the incorrect reading. The 3.5GB reported by your
BIOS is also correct. It agrees with the Total Physical
Memory reported by msinfo32. The BIOS is reporting
what's available to the OS.
Sorry, but that last statement is not correct. Bios reading has nothing to
do with the OS since the Bios loads on system startup before the OS boots.
If there are four 1 Gb modules installed on the board, then Bios should
report 4 Gb. If it does not, then there is either something wrong with one
or more of the memory modules or an incompatability, or something is wrong
with the motherboard, or the Bios version installed is corrupted or needs
to be updated.


It is correct. It may depend on, whether or not, a motherboard has the
memory remap feature for a 64 bit OS. For the default 32 bit setting,
the BIOS reports what memory is available after the hardware
addresses have been reserved during hardware detection. On my
Asus P5B Dlx with 4GB, the BIOS reports available system memory
as 3008MB, which agrees with XP Pro. If I enable the BIOS memory
remap feature for a 64 bit OS, the BIOS then reports the full 4096MB
as available.

On my new Core i7 Asus P6T Dlx MB with 6GB, it works differently.
The BIOS reports 6136MB as available, (8MB is reserved for the
Expressgate feature). The P6T BIOS does not have the memory remap
setting as it autodetects if a 32bit or 64 bit OS is booting, and maps
the memory accordingly during the OS startup.

Ian D wrote:
"Hobo" wrote in message
...
Ian D wrote:
"JTHM" wrote in message
...
Ok, so my BIOS reports 3.5GB (supposed to be 4GB! ...I've been done!)
hardware RAM installed, confirmed by AIDA32. SYSTEM reports 6GB RAM,
and this is was what was shown on the Welcome Screen when I first booted
Vista.

*msinfo32*, while giving a whole host of other memories, says I have
6GB of "Installed Physical Memory (RAM)". "Virtual Memory" it reports
as 5.36GB.

All this adds to my confusion. What is the difference between
*msinfo32*'s "Total Physical Memory" (3.50GB) and "Installed Physical
Memory (RAM)" (6.00GB).

!!

Thanks!


--
JTHM
The Total Physical Memory of 3.5GB is correct. It's the
memory available to Vista after the hardware addressing
requirements are met. The Total Virtual Memory of 5.36GB
also looks good. It's the total of available RAM + available
HD virtual memory space. The 6GB is a completely incorrect
value. There's a mis-configuration with your RAM that's
causing the incorrect reading. The 3.5GB reported by your
BIOS is also correct. It agrees with the Total Physical
Memory reported by msinfo32. The BIOS is reporting
what's available to the OS.
Sorry, but that last statement is not correct. Bios reading has nothing to
do with the OS since the Bios loads on system startup before the OS boots.
If there are four 1 Gb modules installed on the board, then Bios should
report 4 Gb. If it does not, then there is either something wrong with one
or more of the memory modules or an incompatability, or something is wrong
with the motherboard, or the Bios version installed is corrupted or needs
to be updated.


It is correct. It may depend on, whether or not, a motherboard has the
memory remap feature for a 64 bit OS. For the default 32 bit setting,
the BIOS reports what memory is available after the hardware
addresses have been reserved during hardware detection. On my
Asus P5B Dlx with 4GB, the BIOS reports available system memory
as 3008MB, which agrees with XP Pro. If I enable the BIOS memory
remap feature for a 64 bit OS, the BIOS then reports the full 4096MB
as available.

On my new Core i7 Asus P6T Dlx MB with 6GB, it works differently.
The BIOS reports 6136MB as available, (8MB is reserved for the
Expressgate feature). The P6T BIOS does not have the memory remap
setting as it autodetects if a 32bit or 64 bit OS is booting, and maps
the memory accordingly during the OS startup.


I stand corrected, I think. But please explain, if I am multi-booting
how does the BIOS determine whether I'm booting into a 32 or 64 bit OS?
At the present time I muti-boot into one of a possible three OS's, one
being 32 bit and the other two 64 bit?

Phew! All this is getting way over my head.

I must correct my earlier statement. On boot up my BIOS reports 3.5GB
but when inserted individually it reports each of my RAM modules as
being 1GB.

I have kept them in their matched pairs but tried inserting them one at
a time. The results we

1 module - 1GB reported
2 modules - 2GB reported
3 modules - wouldn't boot
4 modules - 3.5GB reported

The m/b does pair RAM modules (slots 1+3, slots 2+4) for Dual Channel
instructions - I don't really understand it but it's supposed to double
the memory bandwidth. If two modules are put in slots 1 & 3, or 2 & 4,
it functions as single channel. If two modules are put in slots 1 & 2,
or 3 & 4, it functions as dual channel. Obviously if all slots are used
it functions as dual channel too.

It doesn't have 32-bit/64-bit OS memory remapping but I'm running Vista
Home Prem. 32-bit.


--
JTHM

Check that your BIOS is not set to cache any of the system or video BIOSes.
Cacheing BIOSes uses memory to no purpose in both XP and Vista.

The default setting for the page file - virtual memory - is 1½ times the
physical memory. With 4GB of RAM, the page file would have a default setting
of 6GB.

Some system utilities report the total of physical and virtual memory when
queried about availability. This can lead to reports of available memory
exceeding actual physical memory.

The utilities do not measure the available memory, they query the
information held in the device/module firmware. If the utility has a bug or
misinterprets the information reported the result quoted will not be
correct.

A BIOS update might give different results. There is a risk that your system
would become unusable if the BIOS flash went wrong.


"JTHM" wrote in message
...

Phew! All this is getting way over my head.

I must correct my earlier statement. On boot up my BIOS reports 3.5GB
but when inserted individually it reports each of my RAM modules as
being 1GB.

I have kept them in their matched pairs but tried inserting them one at
a time. The results we

1 module - 1GB reported
2 modules - 2GB reported
3 modules - wouldn't boot
4 modules - 3.5GB reported

The m/b does pair RAM modules (slots 1+3, slots 2+4) for Dual Channel
instructions - I don't really understand it but it's supposed to double
the memory bandwidth. If two modules are put in slots 1 & 3, or 2 & 4,
it functions as single channel. If two modules are put in slots 1 & 2,
or 3 & 4, it functions as dual channel. Obviously if all slots are used
it functions as dual channel too.

It doesn't have 32-bit/64-bit OS memory remapping but I'm running Vista
Home Prem. 32-bit.


--
JTHM

JTHM wrote:
Phew! All this is getting way over my head.

I must correct my earlier statement. On boot up my BIOS reports 3.5GB
but when inserted individually it reports each of my RAM modules as
being 1GB.

I have kept them in their matched pairs but tried inserting them one at
a time. The results we

1 module - 1GB reported
2 modules - 2GB reported
3 modules - wouldn't boot
4 modules - 3.5GB reported

The m/b does pair RAM modules (slots 1+3, slots 2+4) for Dual Channel
instructions - I don't really understand it but it's supposed to double
the memory bandwidth. If two modules are put in slots 1 & 3, or 2 & 4,
it functions as single channel. If two modules are put in slots 1 & 2,
or 3 & 4, it functions as dual channel. Obviously if all slots are used
it functions as dual channel too.

It doesn't have 32-bit/64-bit OS memory remapping but I'm running Vista
Home Prem. 32-bit.



Hey, don't feel bad. I've been building computer systems for a lot of
years and I'm beginning to feel the same way. From what you've described
so far it seems you have a very unusual situation.

Couple of questions for you - I've lost track of the earlier posts, so
would you again mention which motherboard you are using and which BIOS
version is installed.

When you mention what your BIOS reports- is that what shows up when
you go into the BIOS at system boot, or what the BIOS flashes/scrolls on
the screen during the boot up process? The reason I ask is that when you
go into the BIOS (usually by hitting the 'Del' or other key at the start
of the boot process) I still think the first page of the BIOS display
should show exactly how much memory is installed on the board. Contrary
to what has been said, I do not think that the BIOS will show so-called
'usable memory' because at this point, the BIOS doesn't care what OS you
are planning to load. You can confirm this by unplugging your hard
drives and DVD from the board and booting into the BIOS only. To my mind
it should show exactly how much memory the BIOS is seeing, and in your
case, should show 4 Gigs. If not, then I would suspect that there is
something wrong either with the board, the BIOS itself, or the memory
module(s) if it is still showing only 3.5 Gigs.

From what you've indicated above, I believe that being unable to boot
with 3 Gig installed, points to a board or BIOS problem, and if so this
should be resolved first.