Ram issue.

C

Colten

New Member
Ok I bought a used pc and i knew buying something used it would come with some issues. I changed out hard drives put a ssd in it and a storage drive. but besides that i have 16 gb of ram installed 4x4 and it reads all of them. The problems is i only have 7.96 usable. ive read forums and tried different things trying to fix it and i cannot get it i wanna figure it out im some what new to pc but i rather figure this out and learn then take it some where. Thanks
 
What motherboard is it? What OS are you using? Have you tried the memory remapping option in bios and then max mem in windows? Tried resetting the cmos?
 
GA-990FXA-UD3 rev. 4.1 with the update f2 im using windows 10 64 bit i will say its fresh install on a ssd i just installed it Wednesday i did not try memory remapping or cmos.
I did try setting to max in windows threw config but got nothing..
 
I just looked at the manual to see what bios options it had for memory and couldn't find anything for memory remapping. Since this is a used pc, it might not hurt to go into the bios and set default settings.
 
Yep just did that got nothing and i ran cupz to see if it read all the ram and it does.. Now is it suppose to be in dual channel mode for 4 sticks or is that just for 2?
 
Yea its not and i have no idea how to change it there all the same ram it was a 16 gb kit of g skill 4x4
 
According to that link, those are 2x2gb sticks so seems have 4 x 2gb sticks which means you only have 8gb?

Here is the actual 16gb kit.

F3-12800CL9Q-16GBXL

What does the sticker on the ram say?
 
F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

Windows tells me i have 16 gb and when i take two out it goes to 8 gb but only 3 gb usable.
 
Ok try this. Lets try resetting the cmos. First thing though is check to see what the sata controller setting is set at in the bios. Should be set to AHCI. Unplug power from power supply, remove cmos battery from motherboard, press power button on case for 10 seconds, then wait 10 minutes. Then reinsert battery, reconnect power and boot up. If windows doesn't boot go into the bios and make sure sata controller setting is what it used to be. Check to see what windows detects your ram as.
 
Do you get the same behavior populating a single channel with RAM in each channel? What about the other channel?

You should be able to turn the PC off, take out all sticks and install two sticks in slots 1 and 3. If it boots and works, shut down and move them to slots 2 and 4. Does it still POST?

CPUz should really say dual channel with 4 sticks installed. Losing a channel and half your RAM makes me wonder about the board or IMC.
 
Ok reset the cmos dident solve it and the sata was set to AHCI. I took the two ouy left it on 1 and 2 it booted saidhad 8 gb but only 3 usable took those out put them in 3 and 4 it booted said the same thing..
 
Colten said:
but i can try the 1 and 3 and 3 and 4 if i need to
Click to expand...
Why didn't you just test 1,3 and 2,4? Testing 1,2 and 3,4 still gives you RAM in each channel in both test cases. Testing in 1,3 and 2,4 will fill a single channel with memory so you can independently verify if a particular channel is giving you issues.
 
Ok yea new to this sorry.. but i tested 1,3 2,4 1 and 3 it booted said i had 8gb and the usable thing was gone 2,4 dident boot just black screen no bios nothing
 
No problem. It sounds like there is an issue somewhere between/including the memory controller that is on the cpu and the RAM memory slots for that specific channel.

Personally I'd take out the board and visually inspect for any damage between the dimm slots and the cpu socket (or stupid things like stray screws or incorrect standoffs).

If you had a spare cpu, you could limit it down to the board or processor, although the board is most likely the culprit.
 
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