Alright, I have a computer that I built from scratch out of money I had when I was still in high school. No bills back then so I could actually pour money into the beast.

The issue I have is that my computer reads that I have 8-GBs of memory, but only 3.95-GBs of it is usable.
Normally my computer runs at around 66% memory used daily... Sometimes reaching into 90-99% when I'm gaming, which is a real problem.

This is my build. Minus things like a case, cpu cooler, etc;
Screenshot of what my PC says.

I've done a few things already.
I've rearranged my RAM, put them in systematically (Like 1, 3, 2, 4) in every combination.
I've unchecked Maximum memory in advanced boot settings.
I've even tested the RAM on a program and it showed no errors.
I've updated the BIOS. (Forgot to include this before)
It was also like this on my old motherboard.

I also have no idea how to test if my OS is a true 64-bit OS, how to change BIOS to register it as a 64-bit, or even activate memory remapping since my BIOS is quite different than most peoples.

I need help on fixing this issue.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Sep 8 2015, 5:47 pm by BloodyZombie117.

I'll quote jjf here because he had a lot of useful recommendations.
I also suspected your hardware, but they are all 64 bit capable. Still there could be some defect causing it, so changing around ram sticks and memory banks could lead somewhere. Anything else (that makes sense, i.e. CPU, mobo) is hard to swap out.

A wild guess here, but could it be because you upgraded from a 32 bit OS to Win 10 64 bit?

The wrong BIOS setting or necessary BIOS update jjf mentioned would be my strongest suspect at that point.

The only thing I haven't been able to figure out from jjf's post is finding a place to change the BIOS to 64-bit.
I also upgraded from Windows 7 64-bit to Windows 10 64-bit and it still persisted.
I forgot to include that I updated my BIOS.
The only things I can think of is that either I need new RAM sticks, or I probably have to reinstall the OS on my SSD while re-formatting the drive... But that's sorta my last resort option since it's a hassle to get everything all set-up again.

There probably isn't a setting like this, but since it's free it's worth a look

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Try to isolate what, if any, piece of hardware is causing problems; if you have extra hardware lying around you can swap it in... Otherwise you can try going to system properties, advanced system settings, advanced, change virtual mem to 16gb (16384 MB), turn off & take out all but 1 RAM chip, restart and see if your machine can use more mem; if it can the problem is prolly your RAM sticks & you'll need to get new ones.

Otherwise it's probably the mobo or CPU, mobo is usually cheaper so I'd replace it first; may be worth trying new some RAM after the mobo as CPU's are expensive.

As always you can google around to see if similar problems were solved using some free method, and I personally would reinstall the OS before buying stuff.

from another thread: You need to enable memory remapping in your BIOS. That should fix it.

The other option my quick google search has brought up is that you may have overclocked the ram (set to 1333 MHz), CPU or GPU, possibly including undervolting.

A workaround could be to forfeit the 5% increase in speed and put your RAMs into single channel mode.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Sep 8 2015, 7:11 pm by NudeRaider.

I did notice that my BIOS was saying that my RAM was set to 1333 MHz... Although wouldn't that be technically underclocking since the RAM itself is 1600?
I'll give it a try and see if that helps.
I also tried what jjf proposed, but while I was doing that, my graphics card didn't want to send a signal to my monitor, so I had to re-wire my whole PC again just to get it to work. Hopefully the next time I do that I don't fuck up.

Which of his proposals? Important, because if some configuration fails this could be a hint for the cause of the memory issue. To know that we gotta know which configuration did fail, though.

IIRC 1333 MHz is what DDR3 is designed for. Anything above is always considered an overclock by strict standards, even if the manufacturers of a component guarantee it runs faster they can't guaranteee that all components involved work properly at that speed. And even if all are certified for that speed there's always a small chance for an incompatibility.

Underclocking components is no problem at all (within boundaries). Nowadays alls processors do that anyway when idling (and yes, they also reduce RAM clock).

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Sep 9 2015, 10:02 pm by NudeRaider.

Maybe underclocking is the issue? You can try playing with your bios to make it 1600mhz by playing with (XMP?) ram profiles or volting to 1.65 but dont go over 1.65
Manual says placing ram into dimm slots 1 and 3 puts it in dual channel mode so maybe the issue is that its in the wrong slots?

The proposal I tried was the one where you change the paging size to 16 GBs and take out all but one RAM sticks.


There are four RAM sticks... How could I determine if they're in the wrong slots? Wouldn't it say I have 6 GBs if a single stick failed? That's what I don't get about RAM.

I just got back from re-installing Windows 10 on my PC, and I made definite sure that I only got the 64-bit version. That didn't solve my issue. I'm gonna try to set my BIOS to 1333 MHz of RAM (Since I've already tried 1600), and I'll also check to see if the voltage has anything to do with it.

Though, from other places I've seen, it sounds heavily like the memory remap is what I need, but for the life of me I just can't find it in my BIOS. I mainly bring that up because they say the graphics card is usually the portion of RAM they can't access, and my card is a 4GB one... I unfortunately don't have another card to test that on.

Did the card never send a signal? Like also not during POST where RAM is counted and you can go into BIOS? Because the failing would only make sense as early as windows is starting because paging size is a Windows setting. This strongly suggests that the RAM stick and/or memory bank are faulty or incompatible. Try putting this stick into one of banks 1 or 3 if it was in 0 or 2 and vice versa. Then try putting the other RAM sticks in those banks one at a time and see if you find a bootable configuration.
If you found a single problematic stick leave it out and check if you get 6 GB usable. In any case you have no other option as to replace the problematic sticks. Maybe you can sell them on ebay. Just make sure you mention your problems.
If you found one or 2 problematic memory banks all you can hope for is RMA or you need a new mobo.

I wanna get this straight so that way I don't mess up and have to re-wire my computer... Again.
My computer booted up, but my monitor said that there was no signal coming through. Didn't matter if it was through HDMI or VGA, it just didn't recieve a signal. It didn't even show my BIOS or any startup screen at all, even when I put all four sticks back in.

But with what you're saying. Basically take all the sticks out and put one in either slot 1 or 3 and boot up, and keep doing that to find the issue, and if I can't find an issue start using two sticks, then three, then four? Then if having three in there makes it so that 6GBs is useable instead of the 4 I'm currently getting, then most likely it's one of the RAM I'm having issues with?

Close.
I was assuming you knew which stick and bank you used when the screen stayed black. Start with that stick and bank, and if it goes black again check if you can get it to work when changing banks. If not try the other sticks, one stick at a time.

For now this should be all you need to do.

I'm also assuming you know the basics: Remove power plug when changing components, and to be safe turn it on without power to remove any residual charges. Also make sure you're not unseating other parts. If unsure, remove the part entirely and plug it back in just to be sure.

When nothing seems to work, remove power cord, residual charges, BIOS battery and short the battery pins to reset the motherboard. Put everyhting back together and it'll work again. No need to rewire everything.

basically.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Sep 10 2015, 3:21 pm by NudeRaider.

After playing around for a bit (Luckily I have an SSD for uber fast boot times)
I found out that I have 4 GBs of my RAM come from slots 1 and 2. If I try using slots 3 or 4, they come up 4 GBs, only 1.95 usable. (also I mean from left to right 1 2 3 4, not the usual 1 3 2 4 that the manual says to follow)
So with slots 3 and 4 empty, and slots 1 and 2 filled... It says I have the full 4 GBs of RAM that my two sticks make.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that if I get two bigger RAM sticks, I'll be able to actually use 16 GBs instead of 4.
Now, I'm confused as to why the third and fourth slots aren't working.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Sep 10 2015, 3:45 pm by BloodyZombie117.

Likely because the mobo is faulty. But you gotta check with different kind of RAM first to confirm it's not just an incompatibility.

Alright, update time.
I bought two 8GB sticks of RAM and slotted them in the first two slots. I now have 16GB of usable RAM.
The last two slots fail to work still. It says I have 20GB, but only 15.95GB usable.
I honestly have no idea if it's these problems:
1) The CPU.
2) The Motherboard.
3) No Memory Remapping feature in the BIOS.

I wish I had the money to test everything out.
Issue isn't solved, and it would be nice if this was kept unlocked for when I do manage to find out the issue in the future.

Have you tried the other way around? 4 GB in the working slots and 16 GB in the faulty slots?
If that shows only 4 GB out of 20 usable it's 95% the mobo.

To get another 4.9% of certainty you gotta cross check your RAM sticks in another mobo. Bring them to a friend, for example.

It's 100% not the memory remapping thing because that affects only total RAM addressable and is independent of bank equipping.

Hm, CPU is an interesting alternative. That would mean that the CPUs memory controller is faulty, in which case it would behave the same as a faulty mobo unless you get your hand on a compatible mobo or CPU. With that in mind read the above %s as mobo/CPU combo.

Not sure aboout the legalese in your country, but you could order online, test it out and return it. Stores/laws often offer a 14 day return policy.

A lot of places often charge a restocking fee for products that are returned due to 'change of mind'. 15% is a common figure.

I'll check the different slots when I get home from work.
The only reason I bring up the memory remapping feature is because without it, the video card takes a certain amount of RAM from the system. Although from earlier testing, it's the other slots causing the problem. Like when I plugged only two sticks in (Either slots 1 and 3, or 1 and 4) and it says 4GB (2 Usable).
I was also told that bent pins in the CPU cause this problem too.

I'm in debt $9000 from student loans and car loans... So I used backup money to pay for RAM because me and my friends are gonna start a game channel to try and make a living like "Abridgers" or other youtubers do, using Patreon because ads aren't nice anymore.
I also feel really bad for returning a product even for testing procedures.
Those two reasons are why I don't want to do something like that.

Edit: It's not the RAM. It's definitely something with the slots acting up. I wish I had PC friends around here. >.>

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Sep 17 2015, 8:50 pm by BloodyZombie117.

If you're sure it's your slots, try googling your motherboard model number and "unusable RAM" and see what comes up, I guess.

It's likely slot 3 that is faulty. From the way you describe the issue, it sounds like what you call slots 3 and 4 are on the same channel (which is consistent with the manual's description of a "dual-channel" setup being 1 & 3). I'm not as familar with PC vs. enterprise BIOS settings, but I would expect the channel to be unusable if slot 3 is empty or if it has a "dead" DIMM in it (BIOS will think DIMM is dead if it can't talk to it). This is for signal integrity reasons on the channel.

It's also possible the whole channel has a problem somewhere on the board. Was it always like this? I would highly doubt there is an issue with the CPU, since a problem like this should be really obvious in test and isn't likely to suddenly develop. A bad connector, however, is quite possible.