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    Vista and RAM

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by DmZ, Dec 7, 2007.

  1. DmZ

    DmZ Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hello,

    I'm not quite sure if this is an issue perhaps you guys can clarify this for me.

    So i have a T61 Thinkpad with 3gb Ram installed ( 1x1024MB and 1x2048MB)
    Under Control Panel / System vista displays 3054 MB Ram. That's correct..

    Now if i open Task manager/Performance under physical memory it displays:
    Total: 3053
    Cached: 814
    Free: 1688

    No if add up 814+1688 i get 2502.. (Sometimes i get very close to 2048)..

    Is the system missing some Free RAM somewhere ?

    Also what is confusing me even more is that PC Wizard 2008 displays only 2048 MB as physical Memory and tells me that DIMM Slot 1 is empty and DIMM Slot 2 has 1024(double bank).

    Thanks for any explainations...
     
    DmZ, Dec 7, 2007
    #1
  2. yuio

    yuio NBR Assistive Tec. Tec.

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    I think when is says cached that is how much memory you have cached, and when it says free this is the memory un-cached. mine reads like this

    Total 2045
    Cached 1536
    Free 0


    I am no expert, this is just my theory.
     
    yuio, Dec 7, 2007
    #2
  3. adinu

    adinu I pwn teh n00bs.

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    Free + cached does not equal total ram. That's just two things they show.

    Also, don't trust all software for ram indentification. Use cpuz as it is very accurate.
     
    adinu, Dec 7, 2007
    #3
  4. DmZ

    DmZ Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks Adinu,

    CPU-Z does show 3054MB Ram and both Memory slots are visible with the correct amount of RAM.
     
    DmZ, Dec 7, 2007
    #4
  5. Bog

    Bog Losing it...

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    Total: 3053
    Cached: 814
    Free: 1688

    3053-cached-1688 = RAM in use. Cached RAM consists of data that Vista has preloaded for the user's use.
     
    Bog, Dec 7, 2007
    #5
  6. darnatl

    darnatl Notebook Guru

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    Unless you have a dedicated graphics card, I'm pretty sure some ram is set aside for graphics and accounts for part of the difference.
     
    darnatl, Dec 7, 2007
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  7. tennismaster

    tennismaster Notebook Consultant

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    Yea I've had similar problems with PC wizard...I believe this problem is only with vista...it seems like not all memory related programs or pc diagnostic software knows how to read the amount of available memory in vista. If your ever in doubt about your memory try Belarc Advisor...great program.
     
    tennismaster, Dec 8, 2007
    #7