SZ does not recognize 4gb memory

Recently I bought two 2gb ddr2 sodimm modules at $250 per stick and installed them on my vaio SZ210pb.

I already knew that 32bit Windows XP pro would not be able to recognize the full 4gb capacity, but I expected that at least the system BIOS would recognize them, because intel 945 chipset is supposed to accept up to 4gb.

However, it did not. The bios recognizes only 3gb. Any ideas?

 

I thoight 3gb was the max the SZ could have in the first place??

 

Well, the official max memory is 2gb, according to Sony. I know that. But, the chipset should. I heard that XPS1210 from Dell, the chipset of which is also 945, recognizes the full 4gb memory, although 32bit window could not handle them correctly.

 

Its possible your motherboard does not recognize them even though the Intel 945 can recognize 4gb of DDR2...

 

Unless your Vaio secretly is XPS1210 inside, it doesn't really have much to do with your issue - different mfr, different model, different implementation, different specs, different BIOS, different support.

 

$250 for 2GB RAM per stick? Sounds too good to be true. Where did you get the RAM from? Any direct link?

I thought XP 32 bit max addressable memory is 4GB so it should recognize 4GB RAM. Or am I missing something?

 

I got them from Ebay. The seller was selling 4 sticks; I got 2 sticks. Still expensive. The brand of the modules was Samsung.

Well, as far as I know, Win XP pro SP2 does not handle full 4gb memory. With hardware DEP enabled (which automatically enables PAE), it might handle up to 3.5gb, if the bios recognizes 4gb. Windows Server 2003 recognizes full 4gb memory. This is the limit of 32bit OS.

Win XP SP1 can recognize 4gb when PAE option is enabled

 

I have 4GB installed on my desktop, it only show 3.38GB. For what I know not every setting can handle up to full 4GB, but anyhow it'll show that it's more than 3GB like denikin said...

It's most likely the Sony problem, since it can only support up to 533MHz RAM speed (which the chipset can support up to 667mHz), so...

 

Just a thought, have you tried to install the memory one stick at a time. It should show 2GB for each try.

 

The hardware (northbridge,etc) is capable of handling 4GB's,the problem is from the BIOS,you must find a bios that supports that amount of ram.
Anyway, IMO the difference between 3.38 and 4GB will be nothing,even in games, unless you are doing something really unusual.

 

I have 3GB in my SZ. It recognizes it just fine.

The issue is that 32-bit Windows needs switches to access more than 3GB of memory. You would most likely need to put either /PAE or /3GB in boot.ini. To get 4GB usable, you'll really have to go 64-bit,which is why I mainly only got one 2GB DIMM.

 

Awesome deal on the 2G sticks! As for your problem contact Sony for a BIOS update maybe if enough people pressure them they may change the BIOS. I wouldn't bet on it though with Santa Rosa & Vista just around the corner...chances are they are focusing more on future models now since the SZ should be coming to it's death soon.