Where my RAM go!?

Hi, I searched around a bit and couldn't find any answers, so I though I would reg & make this thread.

When I was ordering a dell laptop I wanted some high RAM so I selected 4096MB.

Now the laptop is here, I have look at my specs and it reads 3582.

What the!? Did Dell steal my RAM? Everything else is is perfect to what I ordered.

Thanks.

 

Dell did not steal your RAM. You cannot use 4GB of RAM in a 32bit OS.

 

Hi
It's a limitation of 32 bit OS to see only about 3.5GB of total RAM.It's still there but can't be used.

 

No all 32 bit systems only use 3.5GB of ram. That goes for Windows XP and Vista. Vista SP1 sees all 4GB but will only use 3.5GB.

Don't worry all your memory is in your laptop.

 

Vista 32bit can only address 4GB of memory. That includes all memory in your system like your RAM, Video card memory etc.

So the total actual RAM the OS can work with is 4GB minus the other memory in your system so about 3.5GB.

 

Assuming your chipset/mobo can support 4GB(what laptop did you buy?), then its most likely because you are using a 32-bit OS. You need a 64-bit OS to see/use all of the 4GB.
Read more about 64-bit here

Edit: also most people dont need 4GB and buying ram from Dell(or any other manufacturer) mean you probably overpaid for the ram.

 

You know. Dell does have a disclamer saying that about the ram when you purchase it....

But anyways, everyone on here is correct. You can install Vista SP1 and it will report you as having 4GB of ram. I mean it is there. But no you cannot use it, unless you upgrade to a 64bit version of XP/Vista.

 

Isn't it about 3.7GB the max Win XP can support?

 

on my inspiron with the 32 bit OS my ram values vary from time to time, it says anything from 3.2 - 3.75

 

Call Dell and DEMAND they send out your missing 0.5 GB immediately... see what happens?

j/k cheers

 

You serached around and couldn't find the RAM limitation of 32 -bit OS? This type of question has atleast been answered 100 times before on NBR.

 

If you have on board graphics.

 

So for 32-bit OS, technically the 0.5GB will be waste or it will be use for other hardwares (graphic card etc)?

 

The .5GB is not used so it is wasted. But the cost difference between 3Gb and 4GB is minimal. So for the cost of 4GB and you get 3.5GB.

 

Exactly, I bought 4GB of Crucial Memory from Newegg.com for $73.98 ($36.99x2) with free shipping.

 

I got a similar deal for 4GB Crucial here in Canada.

 

Windows 32-bit operating systems can see 4-gigs of total RAM + Video memory. Therefore, the more discrete video memory your system has, the less physical RAM is visible to your OS. That's why you get varying reports of 3.0 - 3.75 gigs of visible RAM on various 4-gig-equipped PC's... the missing variable is their video card's onboard RAM.

My PC has 4gigs RAM and 1gig video memory (nVidia 8800GTX SLI video with 512MB's on each card). With Vista SP1, I see 4gigs of video ram displayed in my system properties, but from what I've been told, this is only "cosmetic" -- that 4gigs can't really be fully accessed unless I go 64-bit. However, the amount of lost RAM is trivial... I don't miss it at all.

 

Thanks for the answer, and other info.

 

Thanks for that post lord_shar. I found it interesting [rep given]

 

and because of you people, microsoft changed in vista sp1 to show the amt of ram installed, not the amt of ram available.... though it can only use up to 3.7gb

go get vista 64-bit.... then people'll cry about the lack of compatibility in many programs.... 3GB is enough for Vista imo

=P