# I have 16gb of ram but only 7.9 is useable



## Natepartin315 (Nov 17, 2020)

I recently bought a desktop on amazon which came with 16gb of ram. It shows that 8.1gb of my ram is hardware reserved. I've tried everything, from reseating my ram and testing each stick individually to see if one is faulty (Neither are faulty.) to doing the MSConfig thing which doesn't work for me. can anyone help?

the specs are 

CPU:Ryzen 7 2700x 
GPU: Rtx 2070 super
Motherboard: Asus b450m 
Storage: 1tb ssd
Ram: some XPG ram. no idea what it is


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## birdie (Nov 17, 2020)

I'd start with updating BIOS and loading (optimized) BIOS defaults.

It's possible that you've incorrectly installed your modules - consult with your motherboard manual.

A cursory Google search indicates that your RAM modules configuration might be incompatible with your motherboard (QVL and alike). Try using different modules instead.

According to your motherboard QVL XPG something is not supported.


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## freeagent (Nov 17, 2020)

Are you using a 32 bit os?


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## Natepartin315 (Nov 17, 2020)

birdie said:


> I'd start with updating BIOS and loading (optimized) BIOS defaults.
> 
> A cursory Google search indicates that your RAM modules configuration is incompatible with either your CPU or/and motherboard. Try using different modules instead.
> 
> Another possibility is that you've incorrectly installed your modules.





freeagent said:


> Are you using a 32 bit os?


I'm using a 64 bit OS


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## Vayra86 (Nov 17, 2020)

You also seem to have two topics but only one should be usable


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## kayjay010101 (Nov 17, 2020)

Hardware reserved memory is almost always BIOS-related. Factory default your BIOS, if that doesn't fix it; update it.


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## DeathtoGnomes (Nov 17, 2020)

Not Knowing what components your PC is comprised of, _and_ trying to armchair fix it. I'll cook the popcorn.


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## Bill_Bright (Nov 17, 2020)

It is odd in the upper right of your screen shot, it is showing 16GB so your hardware is being recognized. But then right under that for Memory usage, it shows only 7.9GB. That should be 16GB too. 

Did it used to say 16GB?


Natepartin315 said:


> Ram: some XPG ram. no idea what it is


You need to be more specific. How many sticks of what size? That screen shot is showing two slots used. So do you have 2 x 8GB installed?


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## PerfectWave (Nov 17, 2020)

there is written in the task manager he has 4 slot and using 2 of them


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## Bill_Bright (Nov 17, 2020)

PerfectWave said:


> there is written in the task manager he has 4 slot and using 2 of them


Yeah. I note that above.

But the screen shot is already showing some confusing information. So we need the OP to verify the number of sticks.


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## Rahnak (Nov 17, 2020)

Half your ram has been reserved by the system as it shows in the Task Manager. You may have a faulty stick. I would try to re-seat them both and then try them one at a time to see if they both work on their own.

Found one thread in another forum with the same problem and the solution was to replace the ram.






						4GB hardware reserved RAM
					

Solution: Hi all,After removing the RAM and buying and installing two new 4GB sticks of RAM, my problem is solved! Now I have less than 100mb hardware



					community.spiceworks.com


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## jsfitz54 (Nov 17, 2020)

Natepartin315 said:


> I recently bought a desktop on amazon which came with 16gb of ram. It shows that 8.1gb of my ram is hardware reserved. I've tried everything, from reseating my ram and testing each stick individually to see if one is faulty (Neither are faulty.) to doing the MSConfig thing which doesn't work for me. can anyone help?
> 
> the specs are
> 
> ...



From an elevated CMD prompt (as Administrator) copy / paste:

dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

Hit enter and wait.


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## thebluebumblebee (Nov 17, 2020)

There was a similar thread recently.  Turned out it was a hair in the DIMM slot.


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