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My new comp, simple question

post #1 of 26
9/19/06 at 8:08pm
Thread Starter 
No, this isn't a thread where I brag about what I put together... but I will if you want me to. A quick question:
in the BIOS it recognizes that I have 4gb RAM, in Windows, it says that I only have 3... What does this mean, what do I do to fix it? Thought I'd ask here first before going to Gigabyte tech support.
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post #2 of 26
9/19/06 at 8:28pm
Could have something to do with Windows not having any use for 4 Gb's of RAM, but I'm not positive on that.. I am positive it has no use for it though.
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post #3 of 26
9/19/06 at 8:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dman22
Could have something to do with Windows not having any use for 4 Gb's of RAM, but I'm not positive on that.. I am positive it has no use for it though.

Heh, me too... but it was so cheap; I couldn't resist.
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post #4 of 26
9/19/06 at 9:06pm
Windows xp can only use 3gb max. You gotta wait for vista if you want to use all 4gbs.
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post #5 of 26
9/19/06 at 10:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kesmith
No, this isn't a thread where I brag about what I put together... but I will if you want me to. A quick question:
in the BIOS it recognizes that I have 4gb RAM, in Windows, it says that I only have 3... What does this mean, what do I do to fix it? Thought I'd ask here first before going to Gigabyte tech support.
no OS out there will regonize over 3.2 gig's (unless server os? or maybe a linux?)

not even windows x64 does, bios will READ ANYTHING you hook up, broken or not, funny thing you could have a broken cd rom drive but bios will still read it

thats why theres a huge "is 4 gigs worth it" war cause windows cant read it, however Vista can read over 16 gigs and a paging file of 150 gigs can be set or somthing crazy


but yeah, if you want bleeding edge, sell all 4 gigs, and get a 1x2 gig stick :P thatll help you out more so than filling ALL the dimm slots

soulsaver
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post #6 of 26
9/20/06 at 3:25pm
or just download RC1 of Vista and install it on a separate partition. It's a sweet OS and you'll be able to use all 4 Gb's of that RAM..
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post #7 of 26
9/20/06 at 3:55pm
Thread Starter 
@soulsaver, isn't 2x1gb in dual channel supposed to be better than just 1x2gb like you suggested? I'm not worried about it, since I'll probably get Vista when it comes out. Not 100% sure of purchasing it yet or not, I'm still looking for a good solid reason to buy it. Now that I have AlienGUIse installed (basically windowblinds) I can no longer cite "it looks cooler" as a reason.
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post #8 of 26
9/20/06 at 5:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kesmith
@soulsaver, isn't 2x1gb in dual channel supposed to be better than just 1x2gb like you suggested? I'm not worried about it, since I'll probably get Vista when it comes out. Not 100% sure of purchasing it yet or not, I'm still looking for a good solid reason to buy it. Now that I have AlienGUIse installed (basically windowblinds) I can no longer cite "it looks cooler" as a reason.
filling up all 4 dimm slots isnt recomended by any means, what would you rather do, run to 4 diffrent resturants for a buger, fries, soda, milkshake? or go to 1 resturant to get all?

2x2 gig sticks > 4x1 gig sticks

maybe costly as hell but if you can afford 4x1 gig you can afford 1x2 gig for now, and upgrade later

same with if you had 2x512, 1x1 gig > 2x512, the preformence increase for dual channel is 7-10% iirc......(cf)Eclipse on hardforums will help you out with that, im unsure if hed agree, but he knows his shit, he might agree with me tho :P he has in the past many times :P

just dont be caught in a placebo effect, just cause dual channel is better than single channel, doesnt mean YOU will see a diffrence, unless, like Eclipse youre a benchmark junkie, he doesnt brag but others like him brag till the cows come home

my advice would be to get 1 2gig stick, and keep it that way for futureproofing

soulsaver
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post #9 of 26
9/20/06 at 7:11pm
Thread Starter 
I'll probably stay with what I have, just because I have it already. I've never been a RAM junkie, nor have I ever researched it much.

The reason I got onto dual-channel RAM was on the first PC I ever put together that support dual-channel, I tried to just put my traditional 1-stick into it (I was like... I donno, 14, so I don't remember all details). Anyway, it never would boot. We put a dual-channel kit into and it worked. Thus, I've always purchased 2xwhatever for all my dual-channel supporting motherboards since then. Maybe that was an isolated experience, or that single stick was bad, I don't know if we used it or not, too long ago.
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post #10 of 26
9/21/06 at 12:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kesmith
I'll probably stay with what I have, just because I have it already. I've never been a RAM junkie, nor have I ever researched it much.

The reason I got onto dual-channel RAM was on the first PC I ever put together that support dual-channel, I tried to just put my traditional 1-stick into it (I was like... I donno, 14, so I don't remember all details). Anyway, it never would boot. We put a dual-channel kit into and it worked. Thus, I've always purchased 2xwhatever for all my dual-channel supporting motherboards since then. Maybe that was an isolated experience, or that single stick was bad, I don't know if we used it or not, too long ago.
thats a very flawed mentality to have, it could have been as simple as you putting the ram in the wrong dimm slot

i had 1 stick of ram in my dual channel ram supported mobo, worked just fine

soulsaver
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post #11 of 26
9/21/06 at 2:02am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by soulsaver_8229
thats a very flawed mentality to have, it could have been as simple as you putting the ram in the wrong dimm slot

i had 1 stick of ram in my dual channel ram supported mobo, worked just fine

soulsaver

I agree, it is flawed; nonetheless, that was what 'taught' me to always use two sticks. Who knows what I did wrong, we'll never know. Too late now, unless anyone wants to buy 4 matched sticks of RAM?
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post #12 of 26
9/21/06 at 3:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kesmith
I agree, it is flawed; nonetheless, that was what 'taught' me to always use two sticks. Who knows what I did wrong, we'll never know. Too late now, unless anyone wants to buy 4 matched sticks of RAM?
id buy 2 sticks if they are ddr1 :P ddr400-500ish


soulsaver
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post #13 of 26
9/21/06 at 6:14pm
Thread Starter 
No, they're DDR2-667 if I remember right. Supposedly good for overclocking, I thought I'd see if they can hit 800 and leave it there. Some people claim they got up to like 1082 or some crap like that.
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post #14 of 26
10/9/06 at 7:40pm
Thread Starter 
Ok, this thought just hit me a little bit ago... If WinXP can't support 4gb RAM, why does Dell offer it on some of their systems? It's a pricey upgrade, but still. What's the point of having it available if you can't use it? Do they just assume that all users who do that will install a different operating system? Is there some kind of patch to make it work right? Also, I think the Clevo powerhouse laptop D900 series supports 4gb too. Some people say it supports 4, some say 3, I don't honestly know.
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post #15 of 26
10/9/06 at 10:29pm
probably in preparation for Vista, which will support 4 Gb's of RAM.
Plus you can run Vista right now, I'm typing on it...
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post #16 of 26
10/9/06 at 11:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kesmith
Ok, this thought just hit me a little bit ago... If WinXP can't support 4gb RAM, why does Dell offer it on some of their systems? It's a pricey upgrade, but still. What's the point of having it available if you can't use it? Do they just assume that all users who do that will install a different operating system? Is there some kind of patch to make it work right? Also, I think the Clevo powerhouse laptop D900 series supports 4gb too. Some people say it supports 4, some say 3, I don't honestly know.
the OS is limited to the ram, NOT the hardware. there are some app;s that will use it all PS: dell's going bankrupt next year soulsaver
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post #17 of 26
10/11/06 at 7:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by soulsaver_8229
PS: dell's going bankrupt next year

Lol, what makes you say that?
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post #18 of 26
10/11/06 at 8:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevineugenius
Lol, what makes you say that?
they arent making the money like they used to, they've cut so many corners that they are actually losing money

not trying to do insider trading illegal crap, but all the people i have spoken to about this and have brought it up to my attention, have all sold their dell stock

apparently what the problem is, is that normaly dell makes 33% profit off each system, or somthing to that effect, and now they are lucky to make 3%

plus theres a class action lawsuit that is slowly building on dell, aparentlly they sold customers 3 year full coverage warentys, but didnt let them know, so even when the 1 year was up, they would tell them since it isnt under warrenty, that they have to chagre more


soulsaver
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post #19 of 26
10/11/06 at 8:39pm
I did get a little paper about that lawsuit, but I'm not eligible. I can almost guarantee you they won't go out of business though. They'll continue to "restructure" themselves like they've been doing, capitalize on the markets they do make money in, and I believe they can pull out of any spiral they may be in. They'd be smart to operate somewhat like Gateway, Compaq/HP, and Sony, and sell a small selection of their machines out of Best Buy, Office Max, etc type stores. Still, they've got a huge hold on the market. WalMart can't be making much more than 3% on some of the stuff they sell. Dell has a large enough customer base that they can continue on for years. They'll just have to deal with smaller profits. Sucks, but as those of us in the small-business-ownership field say: WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!
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post #20 of 26
10/12/06 at 5:54am
walmart makes amazing profit, id think more than 3% off 1 item, as much bulk as they buy

i know the sam's my brother works for makes around 250k a week, iirc walmart worldwide even with all of their sub companies, makes around 280 million a month or somthing? i forget could be way more, i know they profit around 2-4 billion a year bleh im not good with numbers

time will tell

soulsaver
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