# 4GB of RAM installed , only 3071 MB detected on BIOS.



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

Hi guys , so i've recently upgraded my RAM from 3Gb (2+1) to 4Gb (2x2) , but the problem is that the BIOS detects only 3Gb out of 4.
The manufacture says that my mobo's maximum supported amount of RAM is 4Gb.
So how can i fix this problem ???


----------



## Durvelle27 (Jul 20, 2018)

From Gigabyte

“* Due to standard PC architecture, a certain amount of memory is reserved for system usage and therefore the actual memory size is less than the stated amount.”


----------



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

Durvelle27 said:


> From Gigabyte
> 
> “* Due to standard PC architecture, a certain amount of memory is reserved for system usage and therefore the actual memory size is less than the stated amount.”


I know , but why did they say that the maximum supported RAM is 4Gb , they was able the say it's 3 gb , btw what if i try to install 5Gb of RAM (4+1) i know it's kind of weird but 1Gb will be reserved and here i am using 4 Gb , Do u think it's gonna work ??
btw when i install 1 or 2 or 3 Gb of RAM the bios detects the full amount , the 1Gb gets reserved only when i install 4Gb. IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE.


----------



## Durvelle27 (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> I know , but why did they say that the maximum supported RAM is 4Gb , they was able the say it's 3 gb , btw what if i try to install 5Gb of RAM (4+1) i know it's kind of weird but 1Gb will be reserved and here i am using 4 Gb , Do u think it's gonna work ??
> btw when i install 1 or 2 or 3 Gb of RAM the bios detects the full amount , the 1Gb gets reserved only when i install 4Gb. IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE.


What’s the exact model of the RAM


----------



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

Durvelle27 said:


> What’s the exact model of the RAM


Both 2 sticks are Zeppelin 800MHz 2+2.


----------



## GoldenX (Jul 20, 2018)

Isn't that a chipset limitation?


----------



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

GoldenX said:


> Isn't that a chipset limitation?


I've heard that the integrated graphics is taking the 1GB .


----------



## Durvelle27 (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> I've heard that the integrated graphics is taking the 1GB .


Yes that normally is true but you have a dGPU so it should be disabled


----------



## Static~Charge (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> I know , but why did they say that the maximum supported RAM is 4Gb , they was able the say it's 3 gb , btw what if i try to install 5Gb of RAM (4+1) i know it's kind of weird but 1Gb will be reserved and here i am using 4 Gb , Do u think it's gonna work ??
> btw when i install 1 or 2 or 3 Gb of RAM the bios detects the full amount , the 1Gb gets reserved only when i install 4Gb. IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE.


According to your system specs, you're running 32-bit Windows. Its maximum memory address space is 4GB. Various system components use memory addresses in that space. Your video card's memory also has to fit in that space. Your system specs say that your video card has 2GB of memory. Obviously, all of it isn't being mapped, or you would only see 2GB of system memory. Read this for more details.

The solution to your problem is to install 64-bit Windows. After that, you will see close to 4GB of system memory.


----------



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

Durvelle27 said:


> Yes that normally is true but you have a dGPU so it should be disabled


I know , i'm using a 750 ti and i haven't used the integrated graphics even for one time , and i can't disable it from the bios.


----------



## GoldenX (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> I've heard that the integrated graphics is taking the 1GB .


No, that Intel IGP can only take 8/32MB, the rest comes from the driver in Windows, not in bios.
I think the 965 chipset can't use the full 4GB due to a hardware limitation.

Here it is:
https://communities.intel.com/thread/7604



> The Mobile Intel 945GM/GME/PM and Intel 945GT Express Chipsets are capable of supporting up to 4 GB of physical memory. With that said you can upgrade your laptop to 4 GB of physical memory, yes, but it's not completely true.
> 
> See there are three system address ranges.
> 1- From 0 to 1 MB for legacy address range
> ...



So your dedicated video card steals some RAM thanks to bad hardware design from the chipset's part.


----------



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

Static~Charge said:


> According to your system specs, you're running 32-bit Windows. Its maximum memory address space is 4GB. Various system components use memory addresses in that space. Your video card's memory also has to fit in that space. Your system specs say that your video card has 2GB of memory. Obviously, all of it isn't being mapped, or you would only see 2GB of system memory. Read this for more details.
> 
> The solution to your problem is to install 64-bit Windows. After that, you will see close to 4GB of system memory.


I was using a 1Gb GPU before and i remember that i had the same problem , add to that that there's no relationship between the windows and the BIOS i mean when the BIOS detects the full amount of RAM i will upgrade to a 64bit OS.



GoldenX said:


> No, that Intel IGP can only take 8/32MB, the rest comes from the driver in Windows, not in bios.
> I think the 965 chipset can't use the full 4GB due to a hardware limitation.
> 
> Here it is:
> ...


So do you think there is no hope ???? but hey , why when i install 3GB or less the GPU doesn't steal from the RAM??


----------



## Static~Charge (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> I was using a 1Gb GPU before and i remember that i had the same problem , add to that that there's no relationship between the windows and the BIOS i mean when the BIOS detects the full amount of RAM i will upgrade to a 64bit OS.


Sorry, I missed the BIOS reference.

Speaking of BIOS, what version are you using?


----------



## Durvelle27 (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> I was using a 1Gb GPU before and i remember that i had the same problem , add to that that there's no relationship between the windows and the BIOS i mean when the BIOS detects the full amount of RAM i will upgrade to a 64bit OS.
> 
> 
> So do you think there is no hope ???? but hey , why when i install 3GB or less the GPU doesn't steal from the RAM??


Basically what ever one is saying is that the chipset is hardware limited to only 3GB of assemble RAM that’s when increasing to 4GB yielded no results vs the 3GB you used before. 

Even Gigiabyte themselves stated that RAM would be limited



mad1394 said:


> Installing a 64 bit OS like windows 10 x64 will most likely solve your problem. This is the first step you need to take.


But he stated it was in the BIOs not the OS. Windows would have no effect on the BIOs


----------



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

I have never been happy with my 945GC mobo , i just had to buy it like a dumb because i didn't find a G41 or G43 chipset mobos in the local dealers , and i didn't have the ability to buy online. 
The most thing i hate about it that it doesn't support quad core CPUs.



Static~Charge said:


> Sorry, I missed the BIOS reference.
> 
> Speaking of BIOS, what version are you using?


The latest update available , F6d.


----------



## GoldenX (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> So do you think there is no hope ???? but hey , why when i install 3GB or less the GPU doesn't steal from the RAM??


Because the chipset can see a max of 4GB, not counting what the GPU takes, so you don't have that problem with 3GB or less.
Is it such a problem?


----------



## Durvelle27 (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> I have never been happy with my 945GC mobo , i just had to buy it like a dumb because i didn't find a G41 or G43 chipset mobos in the local dealers , and i didn't have the ability to buy online.
> The most thing i hate about it that it doesn't support quad core CPUs.
> 
> 
> The latest update available , F6d.


Not true

If you look up the board Gigabyte does list support for Core 2 Quads upto the 9xxx Series with the lastest BIOs


----------



## agent_x007 (Jul 20, 2018)

How many times.... VRAM on GPU doesn't steal anything.
It should be common knowledge that PCI-e cards need 256MB of RAM per GPU.
Example of negative 4GB of RAM according to (Usable RAM = RAM - VRAM) :





^Usable RAM in this case was 3GB.
You can't have more than 3GB of RAM usable, because chipset itself can't adress more than 3GB of RAM. It doesn't matter what OS you install - result will be always the same (3GB usable, 1GB reserved).

Don't bother to install Quad Cores on this board.
Buy anything on P965/P35/P45. Unless you absolutly must have a mATX (and ATX cases aren't available), in that case buy new platform.


----------



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

Durvelle27 said:


> Not true
> 
> If you look up the board Gigabyte does list support for Core 2 Quads upto the 9xxx Series with the lastest BIOs



Just don't be an idiot like me when i bought a Q6700 Core 2 Quad , wich turned out that it's not supported by my motherboard , all what i did before buying it is :
1- check cpu support list for my mobo
2- oh the Q6700 is included in the list
3- buy one , recevied it after 15 days
4- installed it in my PC , hit the power button bios boots for 5 seconds and the PC crashed
5- check cpu support list again , ohh since bios version says N/A 
6- WTF does N/A mean 
7- Turned out that it was mentioned in Red at the CPU support list that N/A=NOT SUPPORTED
8- for sale : Intel core 2 quad Q6700 2.6GHz.


----------



## Static~Charge (Jul 20, 2018)

Durvelle27 said:


> Not true
> 
> If you look up the board Gigabyte does list support for Core 2 Quads upto the 9xxx Series with the lastest BIOs



Please supply the URL where you found this information. On Gigabyte's global website, the CPU Support list for the GA-945GCM-S2C says that no Core 2 Quad CPUs are supported.


----------



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

agent_x007 said:


> VRAM doesn't steal anything. It should be common knowledge that PCI-e cards need 256MB of RAM per GPU.
> You can't have more than 3GB of RAM usable, because chipset itself can't adress more than 3GB,
> It doesn't matter what OS you install - result will be the same (3GB usable, 1GB reserved).
> Don't bother to install Quad Cores on this board.
> Buy anything on P965/P35/P45. Unless you absolutly must have a mATX (and ATX cases aren't available), in that case buy new platform.


Dude i did this mistake before , by installing a Q6700 in my mobo. check my last reply for Durvelle.



Static~Charge said:


> Please supply the URL where you found this information. On Gigabyte's global website, the CPU Support list for the GA-945GCM-S2C says that no Core 2 Quad CPUs are supported.


Yes it's correct there is no C2D supported , but u said in the beginning that  "the board Gigabyte does list support for Core 2 Quads upto the 9xxx Series with the lastest BIOs".


----------



## eidairaman1 (Jul 20, 2018)

Time to upgrade


----------



## Komshija (Jul 20, 2018)

The best possible fix would be selling the whole PC, unless you need a backup PC or just want to have a retro system. You'll loose a lot of nerves trying to improve this system, while the actual performance boost will be nowhere near the expectations.

Although E7600, which is equivalent to T9900, can perform ordinary tasks like web browsing, MS office and light gaming without too many issues, 4GB RAM today just isn't adequate.


----------



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

eidairaman1 said:


> Time to upgrade


NO MONEY.



Komshija said:


> The best possible fix would be selling the whole PC, unless you need a backup PC or just want to have a retro system. You'll loose a lot of nerves trying to improve this system, while the actual performance boost will be nowhere near the expectations.
> 
> Although E7600, which is equivalent to T9900, can perform ordinary tasks like web browsing, MS office and light gaming without too many issues, 4GB RAM today just isn't adequate.


I know that i should upgrade the whole platform but i don't have the money , the only thing that makes me satisfied with this pc (for now of course) that it's running awesome games it shouldn't run , for example need for speed most wanted and the run both recommended requirements are 4gb of ram and an intel core 2 quad , while i'm running them at highest settings with 55-60 fps , same thing for COD MW series , PES 17.



Komshija said:


> The best possible fix would be selling the whole PC, unless you need a backup PC or just want to have a retro system. You'll loose a lot of nerves trying to improve this system, while the actual performance boost will be nowhere near the expectations.
> 
> Although E7600, which is equivalent to T9900, can perform ordinary tasks like web browsing, MS office and light gaming without too many issues, 4GB RAM today just isn't adequate.


I know that i should upgrade the whole platform but i don't have the money , the only thing that makes me satisfied with this pc (for now of course) that it's running awesome games it shouldn't run , for example need for speed most wanted and the run both recommended requirements are 4gb of ram and an intel core 2 quad , while i'm running them at highest settings with 55-60 fps , same thing for COD MW series , PES 17.


agent_x007 said:


> How many times.... VRAM on GPU doesn't steal anything.
> It should be common knowledge that PCI-e cards need 256MB of RAM per GPU.
> Example of negative 4GB of RAM according to Usable RAM = RAM - VRAM :
> 
> ...


----------



## bug (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> I know , but why did they say that the maximum supported RAM is 4Gb , they was able the say it's 3 gb , btw what if i try to install 5Gb of RAM (4+1) i know it's kind of weird but 1Gb will be reserved and here i am using 4 Gb , Do u think it's gonna work ??
> btw when i install 1 or 2 or 3 Gb of RAM the bios detects the full amount , the 1Gb gets reserved only when i install 4Gb. IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE.


4GB RAM is actually supported. Some of that however is allocated to the peripherals you have installed. The manufacturer can't predict what peripherals each user will have installed, so there's no way for them to tell how much of those 4GB RAM will be available to the OS.
When you have less RAM installed, you don't have a missing GB because peripherals are being allocated virtual memory addresses.  The maximum amount of RAM a 32bit system can address is 4GB - so it still allocates peripherals into the 3-4GB space, but since there's no RAM there, you don't see it. When you install 4GB RAM, the system can't allocate space for peripherals into the 4-5GB range, so it eats into your system RAM instead. It sucks, I know.

Smartphones have a rather similar problem, too: the total storage capacity is advertised, but several GB of that are taken by the OS and preinstalled apps and never accessible for other purposes.


----------



## dorsetknob (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> I know that i should upgrade the whole platform but i don't have the money


Car Boot Sales/flea markets/souk local classifieds  local Junk Shops.
your always going to have the problems you have had with a 32x86 O/S
all you need to make a start on upgrading is a better Mb and Cpu
all other Components can be used (? PSU ? may need replacing)
and depending on what form factor your next MB is you may need a bigger Case

Sorry to say but EVERY Problem you seem to have had has a root cause in your 32bit O/S


----------



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

bug said:


> 4GB RAM is actually supported. Some of that however is allocated to the peripherals you have installed. The manufacturer can't predict what peripherals each user will have installed, so there's no way for them to tell how much of those 4GB RAM will be available to the OS.
> When you have less RAM installed, you don't have a missing GB because peripherals are being allocated virtual memory addresses.  The maximum amount of RAM a 32bit system can address is 4GB - so it still allocates peripherals into the 3-4GB space, but since there's no RAM there, you don't see it. When you install 4GB RAM, the system can't allocate space for peripherals into the 4-5GB range, so it eats into your system RAM instead. It sucks, I know.
> 
> Smartphones have a rather similar problem, too: the total storage capacity is advertised, but several GB of that are taken by the OS and preinstalled apps and never accessible for other purposes.


but what is the peripherals that can steal from the RAM?


----------



## bug (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> but what is the peripherals that can steal from the RAM?


The video card's memory is mapped there. And drivers can allocate various amounts of memory for their own use (printers, scanners, to a lesser extent even mouse and keyboard).


----------



## Mussels (Jul 20, 2018)

Could there be a BIOS option that affects how much is visible?

My rusty memory brings up something about memory hole remapping that did something along those lines, with the 3/4GB issue



bug said:


> The video card's memory is mapped there. And drivers can allocate various amounts of memory for their own use (printers, scanners, to a lesser extent even mouse and keyboard).



and the amount mapped was controlled by the motherboard, and could be set to a very large amount (such as 1GB)


----------



## Voluman (Jul 20, 2018)

As dorsetknob write at #26, the reason you see only 3 gb ram (total) is the 32bit (x86) version of operation system, try to change/migrate/whatever you need/can to get a 64 bit (x64) version to utilize all available system memory and video memory (gpu).


----------



## Komshija (Jul 20, 2018)

Every PC will have certain amount of "hardware reserved" memory. Not 1 GB, but usually around 30-50 MB. I would check which hardware consumes the most memory. Type resmon in the search box, start the application and check the situation.

I had a similar problem (64-bit Win 7) when the system reported 3 GB RAM instead of 8 GB. The solution was simple - in "msconfig" under "Boot" menu, "Advanced options" submenu, I deselected "Maximum memory" and "Number of processors" and restarted the system.


----------



## Durvelle27 (Jul 20, 2018)

Windows would not have any affect on how the BIOs see the RAM. He stated it only shows 3GB in the BIOs so that’s beyond Windows.


----------



## agent_x007 (Jul 20, 2018)

Mussels said:


> Could there be a BIOS option that affects how much is visible?
> 
> My rusty memory brings up something about memory hole remapping that did something along those lines, with the 3/4GB issue
> 
> and the amount mapped was controlled by the motherboard, and could be set to a very large amount (such as 1GB)


945GC doesn't support Memory Remaping - it's too old (it's one of the earliest chipsets to have support for 64-bit extensions, lol).



Komshija said:


> Every PC will have certain amount of "hardware reserved" memory. Not 1 GB, but usually around 30-50 MB. I would check which hardware consumes the most memory. Type resmon in the search box, start the application and check the situation.
> 
> I had a similar problem (64-bit Win 7) when the system reported 3 GB RAM instead of 8 GB. The solution was simple - in "msconfig" under "Boot" menu, "Advanced options" submenu, I deselected "Maximum memory" and "Number of processors" and restarted the system.


It doesn't do anything here because :


Durvelle27 said:


> Windows would not have any affect on how the BIOs see the RAM. He stated it only shows 3GB in the BIOs so that’s beyond Windows.


When BIOS can't see more OS can't use it. It's as simple as that. Even Linux will only be able to use 3GB of memory, because chipset CANNOT adress more. He MIGHT be able to get 3,1GB if he switches off all controllers (SATA/IDE/Sound), however he needs that - so he can't.

How memory remap works (language is Polish, however you can all see what it does on screen) :


----------



## Voluman (Jul 20, 2018)

Right, i was just quick look at first post, dont memorize its in bios not in os .
Well, try to do a default setting not an oc one in bios (like a bios reset). Lets see how it works on default, maybe you can check both module separately to make sure, those are okay.

But that chipset and mobo support overclock? You actually found drivers for win10 for that board, im curios


----------



## agent_x007 (Jul 20, 2018)

Why would you need external drivers ?
Windows 10 has good enough build-in driver support for a simple board like this 
They kinda do support OC, however it's not great - chipset was made for single core Pentium 4 with HT after all (getting to 1333MHz is almost impossible). 
OP has 320MHz FSB on a CPU that can probably push 400MHz without sweating too much.


----------



## bug (Jul 20, 2018)

I'd suggest setting the video memory for IGP to the lowest amount possible. Especially since the IGP doesn't seem to be in use.


----------



## dorsetknob (Jul 20, 2018)

CPU and Board support 64 bit O/S
You might be able to overcome some of the limitations regarding your hardware
if you Reinstall O/S with the 64 bit varient ( You Can use the Same Serial Number as MS allow either to be installed).

Personaly i think your not gain anything due to the age of the main hardware


----------



## Mussels (Jul 20, 2018)

just because it supports 64 bit doesnt actually guarantee it works with 4GB+ of ram


----------



## agent_x007 (Jul 20, 2018)

I own a different 945GC board, and 64-bit OS doesn't "magicly" make 4GB usable.
~3458MB is all I could get on Win7 64-bit (which was in-line with what BIOS shown at POST for it).
When POST says it's 4GB, sure you can try doing something on OS software side.
When POST says it's less - you are screwed.


----------



## bug (Jul 20, 2018)

agent_x007 said:


> I own a different 945GC board, and 64-bit OS doesn't "magicly" make 4GB usable.
> ~3458MB is all I could get on Win7 64-bit (which was in-line with what BIOS shown at POST for it).
> When POST says it's 4GB you can try doing something.
> When POST says it's less - you are screwed.


The chipset supports PAE. Meaning it will address over 4GB of RAM (regardless of the OS), but it will incur a performance penalty.


----------



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

Voluman said:


> Right, i was just quick look at first post, dont memorize its in bios not in os .
> Well, try to do a default setting not an oc one in bios (like a bios reset). Lets see how it works on default, maybe you can check both module separately to make sure, those are okay.
> 
> But that chipset and mobo support overclock? You actually found drivers for win10 for that board, im curios


Yes it can OC LOL , just upgraded to WIN10 without any problems , everything is fine.



bug said:


> I'd suggest setting the video memory for IGP to the lowest amount possible. Especially since the IGP doesn't seem to be in use.


AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM , THERE'S NO OPTION THAT ALLOWS ME TO DO THAT !!


----------



## bug (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM , THERE'S NO OPTION THAT ALLOWS ME TO DO THAT !!



Don't worry too much about it. Wikipedia says you're limited to 3.2GB anyway (though the link they provide for that doesn't exactly explain why).


----------



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

bug said:


> Don't worry too much about it. Wikipedia says you're limited to 3.2GB anyway (though the link they provide for that doesn't exactly explain why).


I JUST.....LOST HOPE .


----------



## agent_x007 (Jul 20, 2018)

bug said:


> Don't worry too much about it. Wikipedia says you're *limited to 3.2GB* anyway (though the link they provide for that doesn't exactly explain why).


My 945GC board uses hacks then 





I bet it's PGA 478 "fault" 

@27MaD Just use it as is (3GB max.), and don't think about it too much. 
Simply change this piece of garbage board to something better.


----------



## bug (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> I JUST.....LOST HOPE .


You can reduce the amount of RAM for the IGP: Advanced BIOS Features -> On-Chip Framebuffer Size. Unfortunately, you can only change it from 8MB to 1MB, so you won't free up much.
The option to enable PAE seems to be missing though.


----------



## agent_x007 (Jul 20, 2018)

bug said:


> The option to enable PAE seems to be missing though.


You are thinking about Memory Remap or Memory Hole feature ?


----------



## bug (Jul 20, 2018)

agent_x007 said:


> You are thinking about Memory Remap or Memory Hole feature ?


I'm thinking Physical Address Extension. But I think that was more of a server-oriented feature(?).


----------



## agent_x007 (Jul 20, 2018)

Probably.
I never seen a BIOS option for PAE support. It's simply... there for consumer grade boards ?
One time when I tested Northwood based CPUs with 4GB of RAM, memtest86+ would show "PAE" instead of "x64" or "64-bit". Again, only ~3,2GB was accessible.


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Jul 20, 2018)

Are the memory sticks a matching pair?  Have you reset the CMOS since installing the sticks?   In the BIOS screen where it enumerates the sticks, does it acknowledge they are both 2 GiB?  Where, specifically, are you seeing the 3072 MiB number in the BIOS?



27MaD said:


> I JUST.....LOST HOPE .


I'm 90% sure that 1 GiB that's missing is being used but it's reserved to hardware so can't be directly used by software.  I'm 99% sure that if you installed a 64-bit operating system, it would claim there is 4 GiB installed but only 3 GiB is usable.

TL;DR: it's as good as it is going to get.  If that's not good enough, it's time to save for an upgrade.


----------



## R0H1T (Jul 20, 2018)

bug said:


> I'm thinking Physical Address Extension. But I think that was more of a server-oriented feature(?).


PAE from BIOS, I don't think so


----------



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

agent_x007 said:


> My 945GC board uses hacks then
> 
> 
> 
> ...



No i will not buy a new motherboard , i mean it's not worth , i will not pay another 1$ for this Pc , i should start saveing up for a new CPU , mobo , RAM .


----------



## bug (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> No i will not buy a new motherboard , i mean it's not worth , i will not pay another 1$ for this Pc , i should start saveing up for a new CPU , mobo , RAM .


Yeah, don't worry about it. Oftentimes on these forums people forget that not everybody gets the US choices at US prices. God knows how many configurations I have built in my head during high-school and college while I couldn't afford any of them... It's probably why I still don't buy high-end, the price-consciousness has remained with me.


----------



## bug (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> LOL "God knows how many configurations I have built in my head during high-school and college" exactly like me now  , the most thing that makes me upset that my brother won't help me , he's just wasting his money on his 2011 Ford mustang .


You can rub that in his face by pointing out how more recent Mustangs are better. Or how more vintage Mustangs are more about the raw driving feel. 
But yeah, that's one car I'd love to own at some point. And that's while I don't care much for cars.


----------



## GoldenX (Jul 20, 2018)

Keep a light Windows installation, reduce background tasks to the minimum (only driver's GUIs if possible), try to use Windows Security Essential as antivirus (it's lower on resources, and should even be better than the free third party ones), don't use Chrome.
Try to save up for a new platform, I know the struggle.


----------



## eidairaman1 (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> NO MONEY.
> 
> 
> I know that i should upgrade the whole platform but i don't have the money , the only thing that makes me satisfied with this pc (for now of course) that it's running awesome games it shouldn't run , for example need for speed most wanted and the run both recommended requirements are 4gb of ram and an intel core 2 quad , while i'm running them at highest settings with 55-60 fps , same thing for COD MW series , PES 17.
> ...



Start saving or get a job


----------



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

GoldenX said:


> Keep a light Windows installation, reduce background tasks to the minimum (only driver's GUIs if possible), try to use Windows Security Essential as antivirus (it's lower on resources, and should even be better than the free third party ones), don't use Chrome.
> Try to save up for a new platform, I know the struggle.


Thanks for the advice , but what do you mean by don't use chrome? ,chrome is my default browser.



eidairaman1 said:


> Start saving or get a job


I wish if i could have a job , but the summer vacation is going to end soon and and the nightmare will start again.


----------



## Vya Domus (Jul 20, 2018)

Honestly you are throwing your money away for little in return trying to upgrade that platform. Better to save it for an entire new system , even if it will take a long time.


----------



## Aquinus (Jul 20, 2018)

When you're running 32-bit Windows, the amount of address space that can be mapped to is limited. While the GPU has its own memory, that memory still needs to be mapped to the computer's memory address space and that's only up to 4GB with 32-bit. 1GB is missing because there isn't enough address space to map all of your physical memory and the memory on the GPU at the same time. If the GPU was a 512MB card, I would expect ~3.5GB to be available. Using a 64-bit OS would likely solve the problem.


----------



## Vya Domus (Jul 20, 2018)

Aquinus said:


> When you're running 32-bit Windows, the amount of address space that can be mapped to is limited. While the GPU has its own memory, that memory still needs to be mapped to the computer's memory address space and that's only up to 4GB with 32-bit. 1GB is missing because there isn't enough address space to map all of your physical memory and the memory on the GPU at the same time. If the GPU was a 512MB card, I would expect ~3.5GB to be available. Using a 64-bit OS would likely solve the problem.



I don't think the GPU memory needs to be mapped by the OS and take up address space , I haven't heard of such a thing. That would have been the case if it we were talking about integrated graphics , but he has a dedicated card. I mean if the OS would have to address the memory on a dedicated card with it's own banks of memory that would just destroy performance.

I am 100% certain this is a hardware related thing , every time I heard of a similar issue it always turned out it was because of a defective RAM stick , slot or there's something wrong with the motherboard. Especially since he says not even the BIOS is detecting all the memory , no chance to get anything done through software.


----------



## agent_x007 (Jul 20, 2018)

Aquinus said:


> When you're running 32-bit Windows, the amount of address space that can be mapped to is limited. While the GPU has its own memory, that memory still needs to be mapped to the computer's memory address space and that's only up to 4GB with 32-bit. 1GB is missing because there isn't enough address space to map all of your physical memory and the memory on the GPU at the same time. If the GPU was a 512MB card, I would expect ~3.5GB to be available. Using a 64-bit OS would likely solve the problem.


Why you guys keep saying "64-bit would fix this" ?
*It won't/can't work in this case because chipset cannot adress 4GB of RAM.*
Here's my 945GC based board, POST vs. BIOS :



When POST says it's 3456MB, OS can use 3456MB max.
And BIOS doesn't care what OS you use, because the only two other cases when this happends is when :
1) RAM is damaged (and can't be accessed, ie. is NOT "OK")
2) RAM settings or IMC settings are unstable, which makes some of the ram not usable (ie. NOT "OK").
Second case can only be fixed by changing BIOS settings, and not 3-rd party programs or OS tweaks (since this it's hardware related).

I already added screenshot from 64-bit Windows on my board (see quote from first post on this page), and it still could only use 3,36GB out of 4GB RAM. What else do I have to show ?


----------



## GoldenX (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> Thanks for the advice , but what do you mean by don't use chrome? ,chrome is my default browser.



Because having it minimized has a bigger penalty on performance and ram usage than Firefox, for example.

Vya Domus, it's a hardware problem, on the chipset's design. There is no way around it.


----------



## eidairaman1 (Jul 20, 2018)

We are going around in circles here.

Goodluck.

/thread


----------



## Vya Domus (Jul 20, 2018)

GoldenX said:


> Vya Domus, it's a hardware problem



That's what I said.


----------



## Gasaraki (Jul 20, 2018)

TechPowerUp forums is such a bad place to ask tech questions. People are just throwing darts when the answer has already been answered by someone on the first page.

32-bit + Old Chipset that needs to reserve memory for hardware use.


----------



## 95Viper (Jul 20, 2018)

27MaD said:


> I've heard that the integrated graphics is taking the 1GB .



quote (and, decent explanation) from: Microsoft Details GPU Monitoring in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update


> Dedicated memory represents memory that is exclusively reserved for use by the GPU and is managed by VidMm. On discrete GPUs this is your VRAM. On integrated GPUs, this is the amount of system memory that is reserved for graphics. (Note that most integrated GPUs typically use shared memory because it is more efficient).
> 
> Shared memory represents system memory that can be used by the GPU. Shared memory can be used by the CPU when needed or as “video memory” for the GPU when needed.
> 
> If you look under the details tab, there is a breakdown of GPU memory by process. This number represents the total amount of memory used by that process. The sum of the memory used by all processes may be higher than the overall GPU memory because graphics memory can be shared across processes.



That is usually the OS doing it ... in the bios (which I believe you are referring to) the frame buffer is the only thing using memory for video.

it has a setting the BIOS.
And, this is MB. not GB

Quote from Manual (Page 38)



> On-Chip Frame Buffer Size Frame buffer size is the total amount of system memory allocated solely for the onboard graphics controller. MS-DOS, for example, will use only this memory for display. Options are: 8MB (default), 1MB.


----------



## agent_x007 (Jul 20, 2018)

Gasaraki said:


> 32-bit + Old Chipset that needs to reserve memory for hardware use.


Except in server world, there is no such limitation (if you have proper chipset) 
Windows 2003 Enterprise (32-bit), can support 64GB of RAM (because it doesn't use PAE in limited form).
Standard XP x86 uses limited version of it, because it's easier on stability/compatibility side (32-bit software needs to be aware of what it does and there is too much software for consumers that could pose problems in long run).


----------



## AsRock (Jul 20, 2018)

Durvelle27 said:


> What’s the exact model of the RAM



Just what i was thinking




27MaD said:


> I've heard that the integrated graphics is taking the 1GB .



For this reason.


----------



## 27MaD (Jul 20, 2018)

Vya Domus said:


> Honestly you are throwing your money away for little in return trying to upgrade that platform. Better to save it for an entire new system , even if it will take a long time.


No , i bought the 2gb stick for only 13$ so it's dirt  cheap.


----------



## agent_x007 (Jul 20, 2018)

@AsRock How can iGPU possibly permanently "lock" 1GB of RAM, when in direct quote from manual @95Viper provided, you only get options for "1*MB*" and "8*MB*" ?
It clearly states this is the "amount of system memory allocated solely for the onboard graphics controller".

RAM sticks doesn't do anything for this, as long as they are 100% stable and work correctly.


----------



## eidairaman1 (Jul 20, 2018)

Bios can have a preset but no adjustments for igp, 32bit OS allocation problems, without PAE he is stuck.

Signing off

/Thread


----------



## GoldenX (Jul 20, 2018)

People, you are treating that chipset as something a lot newer, PAE won't solve it as is not the Windows kernel, that igp can't address 1gb, it's not a ram problem.
Read my first post, it's a hardware limitation, there is no need to go in circles.


----------



## dorsetknob (Jul 20, 2018)

GoldenX said:


> it's a hardware limitation, there is no need to go in circles.



circles in the Saudi Sand
seeing as the OP will not upgrade anything hardware wize there is little to nothing left to say and thread needs/should be closed @Tatty_One


----------



## AsRock (Jul 21, 2018)

agent_x007 said:


> @AsRock How can iGPU possibly permanently "lock" 1GB of RAM, when in direct quote from manual @95Viper provided, you only get options for "1*MB*" and "8*MB*" ?
> It clearly states this is the "amount of system memory allocated solely for the onboard graphics controller".
> 
> RAM sticks doesn't do anything for this, as long as they are 100% stable and work correctly.



Sorry to say, it sounds like the others are right, time for some newer hardware.


----------



## Tatty_One (Jul 21, 2018)

dorsetknob said:


> circles in the Saudi Sand
> seeing as the OP will not upgrade anything hardware wize there is little to nothing left to say and thread needs/should be closed @Tatty_One


So many circles even I am dizzy.


----------

