# 32 gb but 16gb usable....



## marcuswarren1 (May 20, 2015)

I have crucial ballistic xt 32 gb ddr3 1600mhz and in my windows performance show 32gb installed but 16gb usable. I have a FX8320 cpu can't seem to figure it out plus my os is win7 pro 64 bit. mb is GA-970A-DS3.


----------



## xorbe (May 20, 2015)

Home Premium (x64) is limited to 16GB usable.  Sure you have Pro?


----------



## marcuswarren1 (May 20, 2015)

Yes win 7 pro 64bit

As a matter of fact I upgraded to win pro 7 64 bit because of the limits of only 16gb with windows home premium. While it was installed so I could use all 32gb of ram.


----------



## Bansaku (May 21, 2015)

Did you just recently upgrade to 32GB? If so, is it a kit or did you add more RAM? Check the BIOS and see if the timings and speed are matching up. You may have to set it manually.

Edit: If you added another pair, make sure they are matched up in the right slot. IE: Pair 1 go in slot 0 and 2, Pair 2 go in slot 1 and 3.


----------



## FordGT90Concept (May 21, 2015)

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/66482-memory-set-maximum-amount-used-windows.html

Step #4: make sure the Maximum memory box is not checked.


I second @Bansaku: verify BIOS acknowledges the memory.


----------



## marcuswarren1 (May 21, 2015)

It's a kit. Could you elaborate on timings?

Lol.I tried the seven forums already.

This was the memory I bought.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CWR3ILC/?tag=tec06d-20


----------



## Bansaku (May 21, 2015)

Is your motherboard BIOS up to date?


----------



## marcuswarren1 (May 21, 2015)

yes, absolutely. BIOS up to date.  I updated before FX8320 upgrade and then I updated again before and after I installed ram. just to make sure. everything I can update is done. my geforce experience video card reads the same 32 installed 16 usable. real head scratcher.


----------



## Bansaku (May 21, 2015)

Try putting in 1 stick at a time to see if maybe if there is a faulty one.


----------



## marcuswarren1 (May 21, 2015)

i did. tried each slot then the 2 slotted them trying all kinds of combos and no dice.


----------



## FordGT90Concept (May 21, 2015)

I don't know if your motherboard has a memory setting in the BIOS but if it does, it might not be high enough.  Long story short, the BIOS reserves some memory for addressing and adding memory increases the amount of memory required for addressing.  If the setting is not high enough, operating systems may only register the amount it can access.  It could have any number of names in the BIOS but it appears as a number, often in megabytes, of how much memory to reserve.  When I had issues adding more memory, I believe it was set to 1024 and I increased it to 1536 for the motherboard to accept 18 GiB total memory.  It's a long shot, but something to be aware of anyway.  It definitely isn't obvious.


----------



## Bansaku (May 21, 2015)

Hmm, this is curious. Next question, did you install the new Windows 7 x64 Pro before or after you installed the RAM?


----------



## marcuswarren1 (May 21, 2015)

I will check my bios and search. I did not think it would be this hard. I thought it would be just plug and play.



Bansaku said:


> Hmm, this is curious. Next question, did you install the new Windows 7 x64 Pro before or after you installed the RAM?


 

I installed win 7 pro after I found out home premium was restricted to 16gb only. They were installed during the win 7 pro upgrade.


----------



## Bansaku (May 21, 2015)

marcuswarren1 said:


> I will check my bios and search. I did not think it would be this hard. I thought it would be just plug and play.



Normally it is, especially with Gigabyte mobos.


----------



## flmatter (May 21, 2015)

system specs would be nice...... what mobo make and model, etc......

some mobo's only support 16gb. When your computer boots does it show 16 or 32gb of ram installed?


----------



## marcuswarren1 (May 21, 2015)

Any other ideas? I am open to new ideas. or I just back to 16gb and call it a day. or what if I was to get a new mobo? something newer would it be easier for all the ram to available?



flmatter said:


> system specs would be nice...... what mobo make and model, etc......
> 
> some mobo's only support 16gb. When your computer boots does it show 16 or 32gb of ram installed?


 where would it show that upon start up? I can look ?


----------



## Arjai (May 21, 2015)

On the Gigabyte site it has a compatible Memory chart, linked here.

The only 8GB sticks on that list are on the bottom, page 3, and they are Samsung.

http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Memory/mb_memory_ga-970a-ds3.pdf

Ask these guys to make sure it should work...

http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/technical-support.aspx

Good Luck!


----------



## FordGT90Concept (May 21, 2015)

There should be a system overview that enumerates the installed memory.  If this is an old board, you might be able to hit TAB or some other key to hide the manufacturer logo and show system details.  You can use the Pause/Break key to pause it.  It should show up almost immediately...unless that computer is using EFI BIOS.


----------



## newtekie1 (May 21, 2015)

Did you do an in-place upgrade to Pro? If so, then the memory limit might not have been removed. You have to do a clean install to properly use more than 16GB.


----------



## marcuswarren1 (May 21, 2015)

this is the mobo i am using.

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4122&dl=#ov

does anyone have any suggestions for a mobo that take all 32 gb of ram with no issues?

does anyone have suggestions for a mobo that will take 32gb of ram with no issues? I am using an FX-8320 cpu and geforce 960gtx ssc 600w psu.

someone recommend a mobo that would be able to use 32gb for sure?


----------



## xvi (May 21, 2015)

Could you run CPU-z and screenshot the memory tab? It's not quite as good as checking in the BIOS, but it may be the next best thing. Walk through all slots. For example, on mine, I have two slots, one of which is empty.

Also, just mentioning it before a mod does, posting multiple times, especially quickly like that, is generally frowned upon. Users are typically asked to edit their posts if there's new things to add.


----------



## Bansaku (May 21, 2015)

newtekie1 said:


> Did you do an in-place upgrade to Pro? If so, then the memory limit might not have been removed. You have to do a clean install to properly use more than 16GB.



Yes, clean install rather than update.



marcuswarren1 said:


> someone recommend a mobo that would be able to use 32gb for sure?



Your board can take a full 32GB. The mobo may not be compatible with the Basilisk RAM.


----------



## xorbe (May 21, 2015)

newtekie1 said:


> Did you do an in-place upgrade to Pro? If so, then the memory limit might not have been removed. You have to do a clean install to properly use more than 16GB.



This is what I was thinking.  Sounds like the OS knows the memory is there, and is ignoring it.

I vote for clean Windows install, or at least boot a Linux USB and confirm Linux is happy with 32GB.


----------



## Mussels (May 21, 2015)

Ok a few things marcuswarren1.


1. Stop double and triple posting, we have an edit button for a reason.

2. edit your system specs into your user control panel, so that people can stop asking the same questions over and over.
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/account/specs


----------

