NEED HELP: Win7 Ultimate 32-Bit 6 GB (2.67 GB usable)

Hi guys!

I bought a new notebook (Asus k42jc) almost three months ago. As you can see from my signature, my notebook runs on 32-bit win7 Ultimate OS with a 2GB ddr3 1333mhz sodimm. However, recently, I have been learning photoshop, and video editing. So I bought a 4 GB ddr3 1333mhz and installed it in my notebook. When I checked my computer's system information using SiW and by right-clicking My Computer (as you can view from the attached images), I was dismayed when it says "6 GB (2.67 GB usable)".

I read in online articles and tech forums that only 64-bit WinOS supports more than 4 GB of ram; 32-bit only supports until 3 to 3.5 GB even if you plugged 4 GB and a above. Now, my concern is that, I installed 4 GB ddr3 along with my pre-attached 2 GB ddr3 totalling 6GB. Although the 6 GB is detected, only 2.67 GB is said to be usable which didn't even reach 3 or 3.5 GB from what I've read would be the max RAM a 32-bit OS can reach.

What seems to be the problem? Does this have to do that I have GPU (as seen from my signature) which, from what I've read, also eats space from the RAM? I believe my Intel Chipset supports up to a max of 8 GB of ram since it's Intel i5-450M @2.40 GHz (motherboard: Southbridge - Intel HM55) Hope you can help me solve this problem.

Just a side track, I plan to upgrade to 64-bit maybe next year when my antivirus expires. So it'll be fine if I won't be able to maximise my current 6gb of ddr3 1333mhz ram. However, if 2.67 GB will only be the usable memory witout having the chance of even reaching 3 to 3.5 GBm, then upgrading to 64-bit will be a strong consideration since it's tantamount to putting my money to waste if I can't maximise my ram. Thank you very much in advance (^_^)

 

i'd upgrade to 64bit right now, and move to a free antivirus software like MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials).
You know that moving to 64bit is for free, right? in this forum you find legal download links for your version of windows (in 64bit), and ABR (Activation Backup and Restore) to backup your licence/activation. install 64bit, restore the licence/activation, and voilà, all working fine in 64bit, and all legal, and all for free.

and yes, most likely you won't get more space in your setup. the 4gb gets split into what hardware needs and what your os can use. seems like your gpu eats 1gb => 3gb left. some other hardware eat the resting 320mb.

 

Your GeForce 310 takes up 1GB of address space off the top, and then other devices (hard drives, etc.) that do DMA all allocate their own chunks of memory out of the 4GB total that's addressable. It "overrides" the actual memory because it can't point to anything higher and maps it to the video card and hard drive instead of to the RAM. That's why you are down at 2.67GB. There is no way to fix that with a 32bit version of Windows.

+1 to davepermen's suggestion. Forget about the AV, do a clean reinstall and use MSE. I use it on my machines, and it gets good reviews from testing. Catches viruses and such at the same rate as any commercial product.

 

Thanks for replying, guys. I just have this concern, is it 100% sure that my entire 6GB will be read as 6 GB when I upgrade to 64 bit? I read that others, for some reason, are experiencing a downgrade like 6 GB (4 GB usable).

Is there a possibility that I'd experience the same predicament? If yes, what are the chances then? What are the causes of the downgraded in RAM despite 6 GB is detected as experienced by others? I mean, given my Intel chipset: Intel HM55, I think there's no problem with it handling 6 GB of RAM (2 slots : 1st-2GB ddr3 1333mhz, 2nd-4gb ddr3 1333mhz), right?

Thanks in advance

 

Upgrading to 64bit will solve all your issue in your case.

 

the title of your post shows what windows wants to tell you:

Win7 Ultimate 32-Bit 6 GB (2.67 GB usable)

it SEES the 6 gb. so yes, it can use it once you go 64bit.

 

Yup.
Switching to Win 7 Ultimate x64 should do the trick nicely.

You can install it by using your OEM key (which is transferable between x86 and x64 versions of Windows, except for the edition [which needs to be the same]).

Simple.

Though you cannot simply 'upgrade' from 32bit to 64bit.
You will need to do a clean install.

My advice would be you create a Win 7 Ultimate with SP1 slipstreamed (x64) install disc and make a clean install.
Much less of a hassle than to mess around with downloading the SP from Windows Update.

 

You'll be able to use all your memory if you switch to 64-bit. Have a look at this site for a bit more on x86 vs x64. Comparison of 32-bit and 64-bit memory architecture for 64-bit editions of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003

 

I already upgraded to 64-bit and now I can see that my 6gb (5.79GB usable) is used already. Thanks, guys!

 

It's not good to have different sized or types of memory in your computer. You should get either 2, 4gb or 2, 2gb and just use that. It's actually much slower to have different RAM in each ram slot. 6gb of RAM is just stupid... You don't need more than 4. It would be smarter to stay on 32bit and just use 1 stick of 4gb ram or use 64bit and still just use 1 stick of 4gb ram then get another exact same type of ram. Same serial number/model number etc.

If you have dual channel memory you should never run different types of memory in each slot... It's not advisable anyway if you're a gamer. People often stupidly think that adding more memory will make their computer faster. 2 different brands/sizes of memory conflict with each other. Get this: http://www.tietokonekauppa.fi/?koodi=24251&ryhma=719&pid=

It's really good memory. I have 8Gb of it. (KVR1333D3S9/4G) Or just look at the 4Gb stick of ram in your machine and enter the same number in ebay or whatever and buy another stick of it, then either sell or trash the 2gb stick. Man seriously... 6gb of ram is just stupid.. :/ Running your Pc on 1 stick of Ram is bad, but running it on 2 that are different sizes/brands is worse.

Computers are about harmony. Don't know why anyone else didn't mention this already...

EDIT: Lol I found this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/526736-what-maximum-ram-asus-k42j.html#post6811251

It's one of your posts. You say you want to use your PC for gaming. Then you definitely should just get a second stick of exactly what that 4GB ram is. Trash or Sell the 2gb stick.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/526736-what-maximum-ram-asus-k42j.html#post6811284
This person really should not have advised you to add a 2gb stick to the mix...

On top of this after looking at the schematics of your Motherboard on your laptop your max memory speed is the same as mine. DDR3 1066 Mhz. So your memory is going to be clocked down to 1066Mhz. I seriously advise you to get another 4gb stick of your already 4gb one that is the same type or simply buy 2 exact 4gb DDR3 1066Mhz sticks of Ram.

 

no. on most systems of the last years, it's not really slower to have different size ram sticks.

 

It's like $45 for a 4gb stick of ram.. there really is no excuse. While we all have different opinions for gaming your system should be as good as it is capable of being. I personally would never run a system on 6gb of ram and because of that I would never recommend anyone else to do so. I'd never suggest something to someone I wouldn't do myself.

Might not be as bad as I make it out to be sure, but the OP can decide for himself. If he has the money then I'd get a duplicate of the 4gb stick he got and simply replace the 2gb one with that. I don't see how anyone would need more than 4gb of ram on a 64bit system for basic computer use. OP says he wants to game then he should have the same type of ram, that's pretty much written in blood these days. At least where I am from... I learned that before I went to I.T. school and they also told us that for effect.

Different types and sizes of memory have different Cas latency etc as well as many many other things. You're only as fast as your slowest part, if you have one piece of ram that is slower the other Ram has to be dialled down.

Just my two cents the OP can do whatever he wishes.

 

it's not "not as bad". it's simply not worse at all.

and ram performance is overrated. as said, getting MORE ram is much more important than fast ram. that doesn't matter in most if not all cases.

but sure, best case is most, best, and all of it.

 

It's perfectly fine to have different sized DIMMs in your machine, and it is no slower whatsoever given that Intel does asymmetric dual-channel in all of the recent i5 and i7 chips. So 4GB will get dual-channel speed and 2GB will get single-channel, but given that there's ~1-3% difference in actual performance between those configurations it doesn't matter, but if you use more than 4GB RAM you most certainly will see a benefit of 6GB over 4GB, and that's pretty easy to do with video or image editing apps. Your IT schooling may have been back when SIMMs were normal or before asymmetric dual-channel was common, but current technology doesn't bear out your recommendations.

Speaking as someone who is currently running 6GB and seeing absolutely no performance changes (I've benchmarked), I'm gonna have to call shenanigans on pretty much everything you've said. You can't judge a computer's performance on some vague "harmony" concept. You can only objectively use benchmarks and technology analysis. The OP is not going to have any problems due to running 6GB of RAM instead of 4 or 8.

 

Cheers for the heads up then! I hope my training isn't proved more redundant in the future. What are men like us supposed to do in the future if we know nothing

 

So what are my best options now? I'm pretty confused here...

 

By the way, my 2gb ram is 1333mhz from the very start. I just misread it when I though PC10600 is 1066mhz when upon doing a little research, it's actually 1333mhz (10600 divided by 8).

 

the best thing to learn in life is to be able to relearn what you think you know, again and again. drop old knowledge, fill with new. the moment you stop, you get "old". and outdated. till the point that you don't do any more than just lying.

 

No... you're not understanding. Your memory is indeed DDR3 1333 but that doesn't mean that it's 1333Mhz. You actually divide that by 2 so your Ram runs at 666Mhz. Your Motherboard in your computer can only channel memory as fast as DDR3 1066 which means a max speed of 533Mhz. The memory might be DDR3 1333 but only few computers support that speed of memory. Which means your memory will be down clocked to 1066 = 533Mhz So your memory wont be running as fast as it can (same as mine).

Your motherboard and mine are sort of similar that they only take a max of 1066. With lots of notebooks this is the case.

Depending on what you want to do, you can use a 2Gb and 4Gb stick of Ram as everyone else is suggesting. Or you could take my advice and get a second stick of that 4Gb you have, (the exact same type) for a total of 8Gb of Ram. On top of that you'll have 2 sticks of memory that are the same and have the same Cas Latency etc etc. Different types of memory have many differences, speed, latency even sometimes voltage. Obviously I am no longer an expert on the subject though

It's up to you what to do. 1, 2, 4, or 8Gb is what I would use and only 2 of the same stick/type/size/etc of Ram. I wouldn't recommend anyone else to do something I would be uncomfortable with even if the difference is so small that it may or may not make a difference. Though when I went to school we never had such things as core 'i' processors that do everything automatically. Let alone even decent Dual core processors yet.

So it's up to you what you want to do you could stay with your 6Gb or buy another 4Gb and just sell the 2Gb. Though if there isn't really a difference with your Ram as the Ram controlling is more efficient and controlled well with the Core 'i' series processors then maybe just stay at 6Gb. Though your computer can support 8Gb of ram. It's surprising for me at least anyway that so many here are using 6Gb. Does Ram cost a lot where you guys live? 8Gb (2x4Gb) of ram is cheaper than filling up your car where I live and I thought Europe was expensive!

 

I can understand that but if one is using 4Gb of DDR2 and and needs to upgrade then one should buy 8Gb of DDR3 seeing as it's better and more cost effective. If, of course their motherboard supports it. I can understand it though if 6Gb is plenty then 8Gb would be stupid.

 

I know that but some boards (my Gigabyte board) has dual channel slots. 2 for DDR2 and 2 for DDR3.

 

I know that it was already brought up by davepermen and Indrek that new/modern computers support asymmetric dual-channel even if the RAMs installed don't have identical memory which is my case and Pitabred's.

However, is there a way to know if my system currently runs on dual-channel? Like an app or software that can downloaded so I can view it? Or like peeking on the system info of my computer? Because if ever I found out that my computer doesn't support dual-channel due to my incongruent RAM memory, then I'm really strongly considering to buy another 4gb ram to make use of the lost feature.

Thanks again

 

you most likely only have two slots for ram, right? so it will a) work or b) not work. i'm with a), haven't heard of a setup where it doesn't work by today.

it's more of an issue on desktops, where you could put the ram in the wrong slots.

 

Laptops (as far as I know) run dual channel if the 2 types of memory are the same... they have 2 slots (most do anyway) where you can put 1, 2 or 4 gb of ram in. As long as it's the right size, SO-DIMM etc. I'd get another 4Gb of the same just for arguments sake. It'll bring you up to a huge stack of 8Gb, if you want to play Crysis or something you'll notice pretty smooth transitioning anyway in Games mainly. I very much doubt that programs will even hit the 6Gb threshold.

Read this. Based on that because your Ram sizes are different you cant run dual channel because of differences in Cas Latency and many other things like I have said many other times. I'm not sure if that information is reputable but IIRC you need the same 2 types of memory or at least the same sizes of memory for your computer to dual channel your Ram. It's best to just open up your computer, look at the serial number of your ram and do some Ebaying, Googling, Amazon-ing and find a good deal.

That might be unwarranted advice in the eyes of others but anyway I've had more than my 2 cents. It's up to the OP now what he wants to do Just don't think I'm trying to push you into what I would do, it's your computer and your money

 

I just discovered something which you might want to check out. It's this site http: RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com which tells if your laptop or computer supports dual-channel memory, max RAM, ECC support, and all other memory info. It actually displays the exact brand, series, model, motherboard, etc. of your notebook or computer.

 

I think crucial.com is not reliable, I'm quite unsure of the info they're providing. When I downloaded CPU-Z and checked if my system supports dual-channel under Memory Tab, it says that it supports it. Now, I'm getting more confused which app should I believe in...

 

Given that you have a, i5-450M, your system supports dual-channel. The memory is controlled by the processor in the Core i series and later processors, so it depends on the processor (all Core i chipsets support multi-channel RAM).

Being as you have an i5 instead of an i7, the fastest the memory will run is DDR3-1066. Core i7s are the only mobile CPUs that will run the memory at 1333.

Point is, at 6GB of RAM you're fine. 4GB of it is running in dual-channel and 2GB is not because of the way Intel does asymmetric dual-channel, but even if for whatever reason it's NOT enabled, you're only seeing a 1-3% performance penalty in RAM performance and likely no difference in actual performance.

If the money is burning a hole in your pocket go ahead and get a second 4GB stick... but your GPU will limit your performance in games before your RAM will, and your CPU will generally limit your performance in other apps before your memory will.

 

Note that this information only relates to the Arrandale-based Core processors.

 

Good to know. So, any i5 with 3 numbers after it can run up to 1066, any i7 of any generation or an i5 with 4 numbers can run 1333

 

Even the Sandy Bridge i3s will run 1333MHz RAM, I believe.

 

Almost right.
Think of it this way
1st gen i3,i5,i7(3 numbers) dual cores can run 1066 (except some low voltage cpus)
1st gen i7 quad cores can run 1333

2nd gen i3,i5,i7(4 numbers) can all run 1333
2nd gen i7 quad cores (excluding 2630qm) can run 1600

 

What do you mean by this, Pitabred? I think my notebook finely runs on ddr3-1333 since it came with a 2GB ddr3-1333 when I bought it. Are you saying that even if my CPU can read 1333, the fastest it can run is 1066 since it's not i7?

 

Yes your i5 is downclocking your 1333MHz CL9 RAM to 1066MHz CL7
And its not because it's not an i7, it's because it is an arrandale cpu (mobile dual core), only clarksfield (mobile quadcores) can run 1333MHz (for gen 1 i series)

Don't worry it makes almost zero difference

 

So there is really no point of using 1333mhz for my notebook? Then why did it come with 2gb ddr3-1333 as its default ram when I bought it when they could have just installed 1066? Are 1333 rams less expensive than 1066?

 

The company you bought it from would have bulk bought 1333, so the would just stick it in every system it works in.

The only bonus is that if you get a new system that supports 1333 then you can use those SoDIMMs in it

 

Oh, I see. Now I understand. Thanks for the info, JKleiss.

 

Lol this is what I said right from the very start! That your max supported speed is 1066 despite what your memory really is xD

Also I would trust CPU-Z over anything else, always. It's one of the most helpful programs I've ever used.