Gigabyte Ram issue

[Dolben]

Hello all, im haveing a little problem with my memory not being seen by my motherboard. Im am currently useing

Windows XP SP2

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Socket 939 (Venice) -CPU

Gigabyte K8VT890-9 Socket 939 -Motherboard

XFX GeForce 7900 GT 256MB PCIe w/Dual DVI -Video Card

Corsair Dual Channel 1024MB PC3200 DDR 400Mhz Memory (X4)​

My motherboard has 4 available RAM slots.I am only able to use 2 however because there seems to be some problem. I have 4 IDENTICAL sticks of memory, and currently have 2 of them in DDR slots 1 and 2. I tried to install the other 2 in slots 3 and 4 but it idnt see 4G or total ram at all. It only saw 2.8G and i cant see why.

I then put in only 3 sticks in slots 1, 2 and 3 but then the system didnt boot at all. I tested all the sticks of memory and they all work great which leads me to belive this is a motherboard problem. I cant seem to find it so I though i would look for help here. If someone could help me out and save me from getting a new motherboard/ selling my memory i would REALLY apreciate it.

Thanks,

Dolben​

 

[muckshifter]

You have two small problems ...

You are using the wrong operating system to "see" 4gig of ram ... sorry to say even Win 64bit & Linux have a problem too. Win 2003 Server should be fine.

That may also be the problem as to why your MB cannot use three mem slots of 1gig each ... it should be able to.


Wecome to the forums.

 

[Me__2001]

theres nothing wrong with the hardware, the problem lies with XP

IIRC the only version of XP that will see more than 3GB is the 64bit version which isn't all that great

edit: i obviously need to be quicker on the post button

 

[muckshifter]

theres nothing wrong with the hardware, the problem lies with XP

IIRC the only version of XP that will see more than 3GB is the 64bit version which isn't all that great

edit: i obviously need to be quicker on the post button

The really sad thing is ... there ain't much difference in 2003 server (that can see 280Gb) and XP Pro.

Even more strange is ... some people manage to get to use their 4gig in XP.


Dolben, welcome to "mucks' number game" ... that is a copyright phrase of words.

 

[Dolben]

so basically you all are saying that with my current OS i cannot get up to 4G?

 

[muckshifter]

so basically you all are saying that with my current OS i cannot get up to 4G?

Well, not quite like that ...

XP is using all your ram, but not the way you expected ... it is a little technical to go into and I don't fancy being here all night trying to explain it.

Don't feel too bad, others are doing the exact same thing you have, and meeting the same hurdle.

The consolation prize is, you really only need 1.5gig for XP to be happy (it's the sweet spot for XP) ... using 2x1gig will just insure it has a bit more room to breath, and it's easier to install 2x1gig sticks.

Oh, and the same is true for 32bit Vista ...


I remember a famous quote ... "640k is more than enough" ...

 

[Dolben]

well, if you dont mind summing up the technechal parts, my dad's a programmer so he should understand enough to tell me my options. Thanks already for all the help, ill keep this site in mind for future problems.

 

[Dolben]

oh by the way thinking this over i forgot to mention, when i put in the 4 sticks of memory even the BIOS isnt able to see all 4G

 

[TriplexDread]

I remember a famous quote ... "640k is more than enough" ...

Bill Gates?

I thought he said 1MB?

 

[Dolben]

so, i really need to know if this problem is treatable, cause i have to decide between sending back my memory or getting a new motherboard.