# Win 7 64-bit, 12 GB (8 GB usable)



## Duekay (Aug 18, 2009)

Hi guys,
Its been a while!

I just put together a new system as a DAW for my studio, i thought it was a good idea to get on board with the latest hardware and os.

My setup is:
MB: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5
CPU: Intel Core i7 920
RAM: Corsair 12GB at 1600Mhz
SSD: Corsair 2 x 120GB SSD on Raid0 (OS Drive)
HDD: Seagate 2 X 500GB HDD on Raid0 (Project Drive)
HDD: Seagate 4 X 1.0TB HDD on Raid10 (Audio Drive)
GPU: XFX 9800GT 512MB 600Mhz

Windows 7 RC 64-bit
Cubase 4.5 64-bit

The only real big issue i have had so far is i have 12GB installed and is tells me 8GB usable!!!!
I have tried a few things like changing the memory profile from 1066 to 1600 in the bios but still no go 

I have been aiming to get a fast stable machine for audio production, all my programes are running pretty sweet but i would like to optimize things a little more (a few bios tweaks maybe).

Any ideas would be much appreciated 

Thanks


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## Solaris17 (Aug 18, 2009)

Duekay said:


> Hi guys,
> Its been a while!
> 
> I just put together a new system as a DAW for my studio, i thought it was a good idea to get on board with the latest hardware and os.
> ...



its because on I7 you need memory to be mapped for all your devices go into your bios under frequency and voltage control i bealive and change "memory gap" to something smaller instead of auto....remember though it might differ on your rig because i use an evga board.


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## Duekay (Aug 18, 2009)

Solaris17 said:


> its because on I7 you need memory to be mapped for all your devices go into your bios under frequency and voltage control i bealive and change "memory gap" to something smaller instead of auto....remember though it might differ on your rig because i use an evga board.



Thanks I will try it out once I finish work.


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## Duekay (Aug 18, 2009)

Solaris17 said:


> its because on I7 you need memory to be mapped for all your devices go into your bios under frequency and voltage control i bealive and change "memory gap" to something smaller instead of auto....remember though it might differ on your rig because i use an evga board.



I dont seem to find this in my BIOS, i have flashed the bios with the latest version but still cant find it in my MB.


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## EarlZ (Aug 18, 2009)

@Duekay

Can you post a screenshot of the memory tab under resource monitor ?

Task Manager > Resource Monitor > Memory ( just the graphical bar )


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## Duekay (Aug 18, 2009)

EarlZ said:


> @Duekay
> 
> Can you post a screenshot of the memory tab under resource monitor ?
> 
> Task Manager > Resource Monitor > Memory ( just the graphical bar )


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## EarlZ (Aug 18, 2009)

Duekay said:


> View attachment 27773



All 12GB's is there all right, So this means a configuration error.

Goto msconfig > boot > advance option, then look for the option maximum memory and untick it, my guess is that you have it ticked at set to 8192 or something.

What this option does is LIMIT the max memory to what ever number you set, hence your seeing it as hardware reserved.


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## grunt_408 (Aug 18, 2009)

I agree with EarlZ I would be looking in advanced boot options


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## Deleted member 3 (Aug 18, 2009)

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=4254

Buy a new OS.


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## Mussels (Aug 18, 2009)

'memory remapping' is the setting you need in the BIOS


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## Duekay (Aug 18, 2009)

EarlZ said:


> All 12GB's is there all right, So this means a configuration error.
> 
> Goto msconfig > boot > advance option, then look for the option maximum memory and untick it, my guess is that you have it ticked at set to 8192 or something.
> 
> What this option does is LIMIT the max memory to what ever number you set, hence your seeing it as hardware reserved.



Hey mate,
I had a look at this before but already is unticked


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## Duekay (Aug 18, 2009)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=4254
> 
> Buy a new OS.



It say's its the full 64-bit version


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## Duekay (Aug 18, 2009)

Mussels said:


> 'memory remapping' is the setting you need in the BIOS



I hunte my bios down for this option and dont seem to have it, it makes sence though


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## Mussels (Aug 18, 2009)

Duekay said:


> I hunte my bios down for this option and dont seem to have it, it makes sence though



i'll google for the boards manual

god gigabytes website is slow


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## Duekay (Aug 18, 2009)

Mussels said:


> i'll google for the boards manual
> 
> god gigabytes website is slow



Lol i thought i was the only one who thought that, must be on overload


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## Deleted member 3 (Aug 18, 2009)

Duekay said:


> It say's its the full 64-bit version
> 
> View attachment 27775



You said it was a release candidate, I'm guessing that's your issue. Done on purpose by MS or some bug. Either way, all memory is reported to Windows, so looking in your BIOS probably won't result in much.


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## Duekay (Aug 18, 2009)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> You said it was a release candidate, I'm guessing that's your issue. Done on purpose by MS or some bug. Either way, all memory is reported to Windows, so looking in your BIOS probably won't result in much.



Yeah i was thinking the same thing, it looks like its windows being a hold out some way or another.

I am pretty sure i have been into every setting posible


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## Mussels (Aug 18, 2009)

i know that some versions of windows have ram limits, but thats generally home premium and such - not ultimate.

it is certainly possible its been restricted in the RC - can you try vista, or 7 RTM?


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## Duekay (Aug 18, 2009)

Mussels said:


> i know that some versions of windows have ram limits, but thats generally home premium and such - not ultimate.
> 
> it is certainly possible its been restricted in the RC - can you try vista, or 7 RTM?



whats the differance bitween 7 RC & 7 RTM? 

I have a version of XP 64bit that i got a while ago, might give that a try


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## newtekie1 (Aug 18, 2009)

The RC is an earlier version meant for beta testing, and does have certain restrictions(though I'm not sure if this is one).  The RTM is essentially the final product, and doesn't have any restrictions AFAIK.


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## Mussels (Aug 18, 2009)

RC is a public release before the OS was finished (build 7100)

RTM is build 7600, and the final OS that will be sold retail.


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## Duekay (Aug 18, 2009)

Mussels said:


> RC is a public release before the OS was finished (build 7100)
> 
> RTM is build 7600, and the final OS that will be sold retail.



Shit how do i get hold of the RTM version, i wish i new this befoer i loaded it cause my build is 7100, could be the big problem.

I realy dont want to wait till October 22, if i wait till i can buy it will i have to do a re-install?


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## Mussels (Aug 18, 2009)

RTM can be accessed from MSDN, technet (both paid) or from torrent sites etc.

obviously, download the torrents at your own risk.

As for RTM, its the same as retail - so if you buy retail, you can just input the code then. Its what i did (albeit, my code came from technet)


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## Duekay (Aug 18, 2009)

Thanks for your help guys,

It looks like reloading a new version might be the only way to get them extra 4gb of memory back.

live and learn lol


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## lemonadesoda (Aug 18, 2009)

Duekay said:


> I just put together a new system as a DAW for my studio, i thought it was a good idea to get on board with the latest hardware and os...



As a single application (possibly multithreaded) DAW, I think you will be OK with the 8GB. Yes, I know you spent the money on 12GB. But the time-cost of reformatiing, reinstalling the OS, installing all your apps etc. may not be worth it. If you are happy and stable with your existing... leave it be... FOR THE MOMENT.

ESPECIALLY if your DAW software is 32bit... it wont make use of the extra memory anyway.

Why not load up your DAW with some project files, and then post a screenie from taskmanager... runing tasks and memory utilisation map.


**PS. What a NICE MONSTOR system you have built! But why not a Nehalem-EP? **


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## Mussels (Aug 18, 2009)

i'd agree with lemonade, stick with the RC1 and 8GB until 7 is available for you to purchase (buying technet with a 30% off coupon from google is cheaper than buying it retail btw, and you can get it now)


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## lemonadesoda (Aug 18, 2009)

Duekay, you need to read these: 
https://www.steinberg.net/en/suppor...iew-version-for-windows-vista-64-bit-editions
https://www.steinberg.net/en/suppor...-cubase-studio-5-windows-vista-64-bit-version



> The 64-bit Preview version enables you to start building a 64-bit DAW system and *gather experience with it*. The release of this version also *allows *hardware and plug-in manufacturers *to test *their components in a true 64-bit environment



In short:

The "64-bit" version of Cubase 4.x is not fully 64-bit with a full memory map but contains 64-bit components. The use of 32-bit VST plugins in the 64-bit Cubase 4.x means the application is limited to running a 32-bit address space. In Win32 the max memory is 2GB, in Win64 the max memory is 4GB.

If you are SERIOUS about wanting to use 12GB memory for your DAW, you need Cubase 5.x 64-bit, and ONLY 64-bit plugins.


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## EarlZ (Aug 18, 2009)

Duekay said:


> Hey mate,
> I had a look at this before but already is unticked
> 
> View attachment 27774



In that case then tick it and input something like 9999999 so it sets it to the max then reboot.


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## Duekay (Aug 19, 2009)

lemonadesoda said:


> As a single application (possibly multithreaded) DAW, I think you will be OK with the 8GB. Yes, I know you spent the money on 12GB. But the time-cost of reformatiing, reinstalling the OS, installing all your apps etc. may not be worth it. If you are happy and stable with your existing... leave it be... FOR THE MOMENT.
> 
> ESPECIALLY if your DAW software is 32bit... it wont make use of the extra memory anyway.
> 
> ...



Cheers mate

Will do once i get home after slaving away at work, yea i think ill just wait till it come out for retail and get to know my system a bit better as it is, still could get some better performance with audio apps (I/O ASIO) seems to use about 20% CPU for 80% asio, i probably need to tweak the bios a bit more. 

My main program i run (Cubase) is a 64bit host but most of the internal programs 32bit for the moment till they catch on (so far they have upgraded 4 out of the 20 i have to 64bit) 

I didn't go with a dual processor system mainly because the cost and i wanted fast connection between my memory and processor (1600Mhz+) or do you think i was wrong for going this direction?


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## Duekay (Aug 19, 2009)

lemonadesoda said:


> Duekay, you need to read these:
> https://www.steinberg.net/en/suppor...iew-version-for-windows-vista-64-bit-editions
> https://www.steinberg.net/en/suppor...-cubase-studio-5-windows-vista-64-bit-version
> 
> ...



Crap i should have do a bit more research, oh i was going to upgrade soon anyway, CB4 is probably good for the moment to test out all my old projects


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## Duekay (Aug 19, 2009)

lemonadesoda said:


> Duekay, you need to read these:
> https://www.steinberg.net/en/suppor...iew-version-for-windows-vista-64-bit-editions
> https://www.steinberg.net/en/suppor...-cubase-studio-5-windows-vista-64-bit-version
> 
> ...



Yip you hit the nail on the head, ill up grade both OS and Sequencer when October rolls around and with a bit of luck the rest of the vst should be 64bit compatible,

Its the way of the future so hopefully most software company's get on board


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## Duekay (Aug 20, 2009)

I am starting to think its not win 7 because it says it only has 8GB in the BIOS!!

I tried swapping the modules around, no go


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## Mussels (Aug 20, 2009)

the memory remapping issue can limit what it shows in the BIOS too - i saw that behaviour when i had it disabled on mine after a BIOS update.

Its almost always called memory remapping, memory hole remapping - something like that.


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## Duekay (Aug 22, 2009)

Mussels said:


> the memory remapping issue can limit what it shows in the BIOS too - i saw that behaviour when i had it disabled on mine after a BIOS update.
> 
> Its almost always called memory remapping, memory hole remapping - something like that.



I tried hunting the memory remapping down but couldnt find a thing close to it 

BUT...... i thought i would do some testing of the sockets on my MB

It went like this:

Test a) 2 / 1*/ 4 / 3 / 6 / 5 = 2GB
Test b) 2 / 1*/ 4 / 3*/ 6 / 5 = 4GB
Test c) 2 / 1*/ 4 / 3*/ 6 / 5*= 6GB
Test d) 2*/ 1*/ 4 / 3*/ 6 / 5*= 8GB
Test e) 2*/ 1*/ 4*/ 3*/ 6 / 5*= 10GB (6GB usable) wtf
Test f) 2*/ 1*/ 4 / 3*/ 6*/ 5*= 10GB (6GB usable) wtf!!!
Test g) 2 / 1*/ 4 / 3*/ 6 / 5*= 6GB (4GB usable) got ya
Test h) 2*/ 1*/ 4*/ 3*/ 6 / 5*= 10GB

Legend
- 2GB Ram Modules installed 
* 
- socket no.
2 / 1 / 4 / 3 / 6 / 5

So.... to explane what happen in Test e-f 
When i inserted the 5 module into socket 4 on Test e the amount of reserved ram went from 3MB to 4GB wtf, so i put the same module in socket 6 in Test f and the same thing happened.
So in Test g i placed what was looking to be a bad ram module in socket 5 and the amount of reserved is at 4GB is well.

Then in Test h to make sure it was the bad module i put it to one side and inserted the other 5 modules and buda bam 10GB and all usable

I didnt know that ram modules could act in this way??


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## Mussels (Aug 22, 2009)

ram normally doesnt act that way, but bad ram can do all sorts of fun things.


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## MacWynn (Oct 16, 2009)

*12gb 8 Usable - This is NOT an OS issue*

Having same issue with my ex58-ud5 and 12gb Corsair 1600 kit.

Definitely a BIOS issue because it sees it this way in Win 7 and... OS X. 

Funny thing with these modules.

If I move them around, some configs make one or even two channels in the BIOS not show up right. Timings look like 8 - - - - instead of 9 9 9 24 2

All sticks tested in single. 2 sets of 6gb each and one full 12gb test in Memtest+ v4. All passed. 

Some RAM placement configs only post 4GB but both OS'es see 12 regardless. 

Timings and voltages have been messed with for a week. Can't say I have tried them all but close, and I believe Gigabyte needs to work with Intel to fix this with a BIOS update.

Planned on reseating my V8 cooler so will try the CPU reseat today and let you know though.

Mac Wynn


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## Mussels (Oct 17, 2009)

well there we have it, motherboard issue.

try contacting gigabyte over it


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## Frick (Oct 17, 2009)

Just wanted to pop in and say that Duekay's system is pretty awesome.


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## MacWynn (Oct 19, 2009)

*Contacted Gigabyte Waiting on response*

Anyone have any ideas in the meantime I would be glad to hear them.

At a 3.6GHz OC, with 1.3v and 1.62 DRAM voltage.

200 BCLK at 18X

Aiming for 1600 but would actually settle for 1333.


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## Fitseries3 (Oct 19, 2009)

theres a setting in the bios that allocates ram to video.

you need to change it to 3g or 4g and you'll have all the 12gb for use in 64bit os.


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## ik694 (Oct 19, 2009)

just curious what graphics card you have.  I have the same problem with the OEM disk for Windows 7 64-bit with 12 GB of ram.  It shows up as 10gb but i read somewhere that it reserves the same amount of space as the total memory on your graphics card.  Makes sense in my case 12GB with a 4870x2 that has 2 GB of Ram so it duplicates that 2 gbs for faster access.


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## MacWynn (Oct 19, 2009)

*Video RAM BIOS settings... Where? How?*

EDIT: Turned off isochronous support and no help. Could it be a PCIe voltage or clock setting needs to be tweaked? Doesn't make sense but if it works I will try anything no matter how arcane.

I have an EX58-ud5 with an EVGA GTX 285 2GB edition.

Funny thing is in OS X it is reporting as having 4+GB VRAM so this could be the problem and I would LOVE to figure out how to solve it.

The only setting I saw in BIOS that means anything to me that it MIGHT be the issue is isochronous support being enabled. Read a little about it but seems to be more USB related.

Any pointers on where in the BIOS (f9e) I would go to make it stop doing anything between system RAM and VRAM?

Thanks in advance...

Mac Wynn


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## CarneASADA (Oct 19, 2009)

do you have after market cpu heatsink?

i had this same issue... crazy thing is... 
turns out...
my cpu heatsink was ON too tight...


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## MacWynn (Oct 20, 2009)

*CPU Cooler too tight?*

Hmm... I did screw it down three ways from Sunday... V8 CoolerMaster.

Planned on doing a reseat anyway but I have also solved the proboem. Kind of.

Seems a very cold boot helps, as well as moving the RAM around in some different slots.

Can post to 12GB in 1600 from a cold boot every time. But my board reboots twice, and I am goig to try a different BIOS rev. On f9e now.

Gigabyte needs to get their BIOS tweaked better for this board for sure.

Mac Wynn


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## orionbg (Oct 21, 2009)

*It is BIOS releated!*

Hello
I had the same issue with my ASUS P5Q-E when I first installed 8GB (4x2GB) in it! Windows 7 64bit reported 8GB (5GB Usable) I then found to be this memory remapping over 4GB option in BIOS responsible for this! It must be enabled for the system to use all memory over 4GB


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## Mussels (Oct 21, 2009)

orionbg said:


> Hello
> I had the same issue with my ASUS P5Q-E when I first installed 8GB (4x2GB) in it! Windows 7 64bit reported 8GB (5GB Usable) I then found to be this memory remapping over 4GB option in BIOS responsible for this! It must be enabled for the system to use all memory over 4GB



that is not the problem, and it has been discussed many times already.

thank you for attempting to help, however.


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