# (Memory Problem) 7.96 GB usable while 16 GB are detected on the windows' system information



## romain895 (Sep 22, 2015)

Hello,

A few months ago I installed a new CPU Cooler for my FX-8350 which was really hard to install and even got me some pins "almost-bent" but at the end of the installation I noticed some intriguing problems with the memory. Windows was no longer able to use more than *7.96 GB* of memory even though the BIOS as well as Windows detected *16 GB*. I tried to reseat the memory modules but it didn't work so I tried to switch them in between the slots which partially worked because Windows was now able to use *12 GB *instead of* 7.96 GB*. So I switch the memory modules over and over but I couldn't get more than *12 GB* usable. I use the word "usable" because even though Windows was able to use these *12 GB* I had the feeling that my memory wasn't working like it used to, windows was really slow and laggy, sometimes it even freezes for a minute. I noticed that when I used only the two of the memory modules it didn't freeze anymore so I tried to move my CPU Cooler and that's when I was no longer able to use *7.96 GB*. From this day on I was no longer able to use more than 8 GB, the freezes as well as the lag seemed to have disappeared.

Here are some additional information:

Motherboard: GA-990FXA-UD3 (rev. 4.0)
Processor: AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0GHz
CPU Cooler: HYPER 212 EVO
Memory: 4x4GB (16GB) DDR3 Corsair Vengeance
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 7850 920 MHz; 2GB GDDR5 5000 MHz 256-bit

I attached some additional screenshots hoping it would make the explanation more clear.
In these screenshots you can see that CPU-Z is detecting my four memory modules as a single channel which is strange because I should normally be using two channels.

Thank you very much for your interest!


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## patrico (Sep 22, 2015)

Hey, firstly I would try one stick at a time in slot closest to CPU and memtest them, if you dont find a fault I would secondly
change slots and run the tests again with each slots 

seems somethings not right with one or the other, seeing as you changed slots and it registered the memory, good luck


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## Batou1986 (Sep 22, 2015)

Try setting the memory voltage to 1.65 and manually setting the timings in bios.


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## EarthDog (Sep 22, 2015)

Seems like you have an answer already, no? You bent some socket pins and/or that heatsink isn't on right - too much pressure? Have you tried remounting the heatsink and using less pressure? Are you sure that you didn't bend any pins?


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## m0nt3 (Sep 22, 2015)

The CPU-Z Screenshot show single channel memory configuration. was this a 4x4GB kit or two dual channel kits, or 4 individual memory modules (as purchased).


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## RyanK (Sep 22, 2015)

What CPu cooler did you install? It is possible that a stick just went. Did you remove the sticks before installing? Test each stick individually in the mother boards primary slot, (could be A1 or B1) you have to read the manual to find out which slot that is. I've heard corsair has poor quality control with their RAM, I'm not sure who manufactures them though


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## romain895 (Sep 22, 2015)

Batou1986 said:


> Try setting the memory voltage to 1.65 and manually setting the timings in bios.


Hello,
It doesn't seem to change anything.
Thanks!



EarthDog said:


> Seems like you have an answer already, no? You bent some socket pins and/or that heatsink isn't on right - too much pressure? Have you tried remounting the heatsink and using less pressure? Are you sure that you didn't bend any pins?


Hello,
I don't think it is the answer I am looking for because even if a pin was bent and again I don't think that's the case, my computer is running even though I can only use *7.96 GB* out of my *16* usual GB of memory. In addition to that I don't think it is possible to close the socket if one of the pins is bent but I might be wrong. I can only say for sure that some pins were not at their best. If I had to tell I'd say that it was less worse than the below image:


Spoiler










Thanks!



m0nt3 said:


> The CPU-Z Screenshot show single channel memory configuration. was this a 4x4GB kit or two dual channel kits, or 4 individual memory modules (as purchased).


Hello,
Yes, that's true but why ?
Thanks!





RyanK said:


> What CPu cooler did you install? It is possible that a stick just went. Did you remove the sticks before installing? Test each stick individually in the mother boards primary slot, (could be *A1 *or *B1*) you have to read the manual to find out which slot that is. I've heard corsair has poor quality control with their RAM, I'm not sure who manufactures them though


Hello,
I installed a *HYPER 212 EVO* and yes I did remove the sticks before installing it which got me wondering if they were in the right slots. I will try to test them again in A1 or B1 and I'll come back later with the results.
Thanks!


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## patrico (Sep 22, 2015)

romain895 said:


> Hello,
> Yes, that's true but why ?
> Thanks!
> 
> Thanks!




if they are not a match pair, they may not/wont be dual channel

that doesn't solve you 8/12 out of 16 problem though


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## Constantine Yevseyev (Sep 22, 2015)

First of, don't worry too much about the possibility of bending some of the CPU pins; on AMD chips, you can just take out the processor from the socket, put it on its heat spreader and give it a thorough analysis. If you discover that any pins are actually screwed up, just find some small tweezers and work your way with each and every damaged bit; just straighten them up. What you need to do is to grab each one of them in the middle and wiggle it in a small arc (until it loses its resemblance with Lochness monster). Do not apply any force, just some gentle wrist movement, that's all they need. If you don't got tweezers small enough, know that any flat metallic object would do, sometimes you can even start from the top of the pin and straighten it right away in a single motion.

I wouldn't recommend raising any voltages before you do that, though. But once you're absolutely sure that pins all look as good as possible, yet you still don't have them 16 GiB, go for it. As the guy from Baltimore said, bring up the voltage on memory modules, and do it on CPU ("VCORE") as well, but only slightly, like 0.05V or so.


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## romain895 (Sep 22, 2015)

Constantine Yevseyev said:


> First of, don't worry too much about the possibility of bending some of the CPU pins; on AMD chips, you can just take out the processor from the socket, put it on its heat spreader and give it a thorough analysis. If you discover that any pins are actually screwed up, just find some small tweezers and work your way with each and every damaged bit; just straighten them up. What you need to do is to grab each one of them in the middle and wiggle it in a small arc (until it loses its resemblance with Lochness monster). Do not apply any force, just some gentle wrist movement, that's all they need. If you don't got tweezers small enough, know that any flat metallic object would do, sometimes you can even start from the top of the pin and straighten it right away in a single motion.
> 
> I wouldn't recommend raising any voltages before you do that, though. But once you're absolutely sure that pins all look as good as possible, yet you still don't have them 16 GiB, go for it. As the guy from Baltimore said, bring up the voltage on memory modules, and do it on CPU ("VCORE") as well, but only slightly, like 0.05V or so.


Hello,
I am not sure if I want to touch the pins unless I know for sure that it is the processor that's causing my memory problem. So basically I have to make sure that a single pin could cause this kind of problem to my memory before trying anything.
Thanks!


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## OneMoar (Sep 22, 2015)

if the cpu fits in the socket then the pins are fine
unless you forced it and broke one
its impossible to insert a cpu into a ZIF socket with broken pins without breaking them


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## romain895 (Sep 22, 2015)

OneMoar said:


> if the cpu fits in the socket then the pins are fine
> unless you forced it and broke one
> its impossible to insert a cpu into a ZIF socket with broken pins without breaking them


Hello,
That's exactly what I thought so I didn't force and I tried to fix the pins who were a little bit astray so that the processor could fit in the socket. The problem here is I don't know what are pins used for and if it is possible that my computer could be running with one of them broke. So the remaining questions are:
Are my pins really okay ?
If so, what else could be causing the problem ?
Thanks!


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## OneMoar (Sep 22, 2015)

romain895 said:


> Hello,
> That's exactly what I thought so I didn't force and I tried to fix the pins who were a little bit astray so that the processor could fit in the socket. The problem here is I don't know what are pins used for and if it is possible that my computer could be running with one of them broke. So the remaining questions are:
> Are my pins really okay ?
> If so, what else could be causing the problem ?
> Thanks!


FFS pull the cpu back out and check if one is missing


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## Constantine Yevseyev (Sep 22, 2015)

OneMoar said:


> if the cpu fits in the socket then the pins are fine
> unless you forced it and broke one
> its impossible to insert a cpu into a ZIF socket with broken pins without breaking them


The CPU itself might be sat entirely correctly (in the socket), it's that pressure from the incorrectly mounted cooler that makes it "slide" a little in the socket and bend the pins as the result. Happened to me 6 years ago or so, twas my Phenom II processor. When I pulled it out to see how it was doing, a good amount of pins was just popping out of the AM3, torn off of the chip. 
But even that was fairly easy to fix, thanks to the nature of copper.


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## romain895 (Sep 25, 2015)

Hello,
Well, I tried to do something about the bent pins but even more pins got bent and I even broke one of them, yet my computer is still running. 
Honestly I don't even know if it's of any use trying to unbend pins when I don't even know what they are used for.
How come my computer is running even though some pins are bent and one is broken ?


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## hat (Sep 25, 2015)

Those pins do many different things. Some may supply power, some may simply be ground pins, some may be for data transmission etc. It's entirely possible to remove a ground pin and be fine, but there's no way to know which pin does what without looking at the processor and a detailed diagram of what each pin is for, matching them up to see which one broke off and what it was supposed to be for.

Is there any chance you may be able to get another CPU to drop it in and test? Borrow one or pick up one somewhere on the cheap... it's quite possible some damage has been done to the CPU causing this issue.


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## romain895 (Sep 25, 2015)

hat said:


> Those pins do many different things. Some may supply power, some may simply be ground pins, some may be for data transmission etc. It's entirely possible to remove a ground pin and be fine, but there's no way to know which pin does what without looking at the processor and a detailed diagram of what each pin is for, matching them up to see which one broke off and what it was supposed to be for.
> 
> Is there any chance you may be able to get another CPU to drop it in and test? Borrow one or pick up one somewhere on the cheap... it's quite possible some damage has been done to the CPU causing this issue.


Hello,
Thanks for the information.

*Edit*:

I put one ram at a time in each memory slot while trying to boot my computer and it looks like not only none of the rams worked on two of the memory slots but one of the rams isn't working on any of them either which would explain why I managed to have *12 GB usable *when my processor was supposedly working.

To sum this up, I think that two of my memory slots are no longer working as well as one of my ram.
I will try with another CPU to make sure it is indeed my current broken CPU that is causing the two memory slots not to work.
I'll come back to you after that. I also attached an image on which I circled in red the two memory slots that doesn't seem to work as well as the area where the first pin that I bent is located.


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## hat (Sep 25, 2015)

It might be that you've killed one of the memory controllers on the chip. Losing a RAM stick too... tough break.


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## romain895 (Sep 25, 2015)

hat said:


> It might be that you've killed one of the memory controllers on the chip. Losing a RAM stick too... tough break.


This scenario would quite well fit my problem. Do you know where is the memory controller on my motherboard ?


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## hat (Sep 25, 2015)

It's on the CPU.


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## romain895 (Sep 25, 2015)

hat said:


> It's on the CPU.


It makes sense then. Although I don't know how in the world I managed to broke one of my memory stick..

Edit:


Spoiler








Is this by any chance related to the pins on my processor ?


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## hat (Sep 25, 2015)

Nope. That's just the CPU core. I don't think that would tell anybody anything about any specific pins.


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## romain8907 (Aug 6, 2017)

* I am the OP
..
Update I still have the same issue however I am now using an AMD fx 4300 (new and in perfect condition) the rest is the same as it was before and I have pretty much the same problem.

I tried all the possible combinations.

Please read the documents I attached for the results.

Hope we can work this out =)


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## Vya Domus (Aug 6, 2017)

IMO the board looked to be the culprit from the get go , not the CPU , a fired memory controller should have screwed up the CPU entirely and make it unusable.


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## SnakeDoctor (Aug 6, 2017)

In task manger does it show the ram as reserved?


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## Vya Domus (Aug 6, 2017)

Now that I have read a little more through the thread , didn't you said 2 of the ram slots are not working ? So , uhm ???



romain895 said:


> none of the rams worked on two of the memory slots but one of the rams isn't working on any of them either which would explain why I managed to have *12 GB usable *when my processor was supposedly working.
> 
> To sum this up, I think that two of my memory slots are no longer working as well as one of my ram.


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## niko084 (Aug 17, 2017)

Where are you getting your usable memory information from Windows? What version?
Have you tried a clean install? Linux live disc? or Bootable memory test?


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 11, 2017)

You crippled the machine with bent pins or broken pins, pay attention to the gold mark on cpu and the pin one notch mark on the socket.

You caused memory detection issues with this and board flex.

Read your board manual or take it to a shop


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## MrGenius (Sep 11, 2017)

---- said:


> analysis :
> short circuit m/b
> answer :
> update bios m/b


Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that?


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