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    9750, Shared system memory

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by Force980, Jul 11, 2009.

  1. Force980

    Force980 Notebook Enthusiast

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    recently recived my 9750 back from alienware undergoing repairs etc, installed a second gfx card for sli. however since i got it back iv noticed a drop in general preformance with no explination. then other day i noticed my total ram in widnows is 4gb, usable 2.75gb. only reason i can figure for this is the systems sharing it with the gfx cards. i tried reinstlaling widnows from alien respawn/recovery and have even installed windows 7 to see if i can clear the problem. theres nothing in the bios i can see to change the ram settings, but its sees all 4gb of ram?

    anyone got any tips or suggestions?

    thanks
     
    Force980, Jul 11, 2009
    #1
  2. simonmpoulton

    simonmpoulton Notebook Deity

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    This is the simple 32 Bit Limitation. This is a limitation of the M9750's chipset which means it can only address 4gb of memory and devices in *total* which means if you have 2 graphics cards = 1gb of memory addressing plus the other memory addressing from all the other devices in your system will easily take it down to 2.75gb's total usable memory.
     
    simonmpoulton, Jul 11, 2009
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  3. Force980

    Force980 Notebook Enthusiast

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    ahhh, now i see. is this a hardware limitation or will upgrading to a 64bit version of windows correct the problem?
     
    Force980, Jul 11, 2009
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  4. simonmpoulton

    simonmpoulton Notebook Deity

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    It is a limitation of the motherboards chipset, 64-Bit Windows will make no difference at all.
     
    simonmpoulton, Jul 11, 2009
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  5. GabeZ

    GabeZ Information Technology

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    64 bit windows will utilize all your memory. However, I've found that some games run best on 32 bit. Also, some games don't readily support SLI very well. You could possibly try disabling SLI for the games it slows down in.

    Gabe
     
    GabeZ, Jul 11, 2009
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  6. simonmpoulton

    simonmpoulton Notebook Deity

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    Gabe your talking rubbish i'm afraid, it's common knowledge that the M9750 cannot physically address more than the 32-bit 4gb in total due to the chipset irrespective of 32 or 64 Bit Windows and was complained about for months on these very forums when the model was still being sold. I have 4gb of Ram and even installing Windows XP x64 (which i did a while back) it would only address 2.75gb with my old dual 7950 setup.
     
    simonmpoulton, Jul 12, 2009
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  7. cashflow2

    cashflow2 Notebook Consultant

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    Yeah, 2.5gb is about the top for the m9750.
     
    cashflow2, Jul 12, 2009
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