RAM

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bob
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B

Bob

I ordered an eMachines computer that was advertised with
128 MB DDR. The system says I only have 112 MB RAM.

Can this be corrected or am I stuck with it. Neither
eMachines or Windows have responded to this issue.

Any advice greatfully appreciated.

Thanks!

Bob
 
Here's what is probably going on.
The system has 128 MB of RAM.
To save money, manufacturers like eMachines will put
video cards in the system that do not have their own RAM,
and instead take RAM from the system.

Your video card probably wants 16 MB of RAM, taking it
out of the system RAM, and hence you 'see' 128 - 16 = 112
MB RAM.

Unless you replace the video card (which may or may not
be possible depending on the system) with one that has
its own RAM, or you add additional system RAM, you're
stuck with it.
 
I ordered an eMachines computer that was advertised with 128 MB DDR. The
system says I only have 112 MB RAM.

Can this be corrected or am I stuck with it. Neither eMachines or Windows
have responded to this issue.

Any advice greatfully appreciated.

Thanks!

Bob
Click to expand...

This is typical of a computer that has the video graphics controller on
the motherboard. When configured this way, the graphics chip on the
motherboard uses some of the main memory for video memory. How much it
uses is usually configurable within the BIOS. In this case it looks like
it is configured to use 16MB of RAM for video use leaving you with 112MB
for the OS to use which is why XP reports 112MB.

My recommendation would be to install a second 128MB memory module which
would make XP run considerably faster.

Bob T.
 
You have an onboard video adapter which shares system ram. You can check in
the bios to adjust the size of video memory.
 
I ordered an eMachines computer that was advertised with
128 MB DDR. The system says I only have 112 MB RAM.

Can this be corrected or am I stuck with it. Neither
eMachines or Windows have responded to this issue.
Click to expand...


This is not a Windows issue. Instead of having a separate video
card, you have onboard graphics support, and that support uses
16MB of your main memory, which it takes away from Windows's use.

There's nothing to correct. That's the way it is.

Whether 112 or 128MB, this is much too little RAM for decent
Windows XP performance. You should almost certainly upgrade by
installing another 128MB.
 
The reason I found it was slow, too much was running at start-up that
didn't need to be.

Turn off hibernation that speed up my system.

Make Sure you get the correct memory type if you upgrade.

Some emachines are picky on what type of memory they will accept.

Greg P Rozelle
My advice is as-is
 
Bob said:
ordered an eMachines computer that was advertised with
128 MB DDR. The system says I only have 112 MB RAM.

Can this be corrected or am I stuck with it. Neither
eMachines or Windows have responded to this issue.
Click to expand...

They will be using an on-board video chip instead of a separate graphics
card, and 16MB of the RAM is being used for that. The BIOS probably has
a setting to reduce the usage to 8MB, which should be enough.

128 is in any case rock bottom for XP, and the performance will be very
slow. Purchase of another 128MB would pay off. Make sure you get it
from a reputable source, like www.crucial.com specifying the machine
model number it is for use in.
 
Currios,
Can your turn it off or down? The onboard video card if you have more
the 256? I know how to. Is that ok to do?

Greg P Rozelle
 
Do not turn your onboard video RAM off unless you have a video card
installed, otherwise you will totally mess up your monitor resolution.



Greg P Rozelle said:
Currios,
Can your turn it off or down? The onboard video card if you have more
the 256? I know how to. Is that ok to do?

Greg P Rozelle
Click to expand...
 
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