Windows 10: New laptop with 6GB of RAM is only using 3GB

My coworker just got a new Windows 10 Dell laptop (64bit with an i5 and 6GB of RAM) and it's running pretty slow. I checked the System Information and it says "Installed Memory (RAM): 6.00GB (3.44GB usable)"


Within the Resource Monitor, the Hardware Reserved RAM is listed at 2624mb of RAM, In Use has 1900mb, Standby has 1500mb, and there is between 100mb and 0mb free.

The system and the processor are both 64-bit. The hard drive is a 500GB ST500LT012-1DG142, so it is 5400RPM.

I went through the msconfig > Boot > Advanced Options troubleshooting that some people find usccessful, but when I first got there, it was already unchecked with a value of zero, so that made me think it took that as no limit. I can check the box and it fills with 6144. I tried restarting after setting that and it rebooted with a value of 2440 or something. I unchecked it again, and rebooted and it's still lagging like it was at square one.


Is there any way to increase the usable RAM so that it can run a little faster? Is the video card or something else hogging more than it needs?

:)

 

problem about gaming and graphics

Hi

i have problem about my graphics, in my laptop intel 5500 3gb graphics card, intel core i3 and 6gb ram but when i play games like gta5, watchdogs 2 etc. it uses only 512mb of graphics please give me solution.

 

Windows 10 does not let CUDA applications to use all VRAM on graphics card.

Hi,

Same problem here, 6gb of video ram and only 4.8gb available.

this is creating lots of problem, I have upgraded the cards (4 cards, almost 1000$ each) from 3gb (2.5 usable) to 6gb in order to have 3.5gb more of memory, and instead i have gained only 2.3gb, this is so disappointing.

In a 3d production pipeline 1.2gb are a LOT of memory that we cannot use, now I need to upgrade to 11gb cards, so I assume I will have only 8.8 gb of actual free video ram considering that the 20% of the memory is allocated we don't know where..

can someone solve this issue?

 

This could point to a bad RAM chip or one that is poorly seated in its socket. Use the built-in Windows Memory Diagnostic tool to check the RAM chips in your colleague's laptop. Once the machine boots up and you get logged in do the following:
Right-click on Start and then Left-click on Run. In the window that appears, type "mdsched" (without the quotes). Hit Enter and follow the instructions.

 

I popped open the bottom and the RAM appeared to be in there just fine. Took it out and put it back in just to be sure, but it still had the issue upon reboot.

I ran the mdsched and it completed without issue. I also ran a Dell Diags, but that didn't give me any leads either.

The really weird thing is that he got two of the same model (one of each kid). The one from the above screenshot shows 3.44GB of RAM usable, and the other says 4.94GB of RAM usable... How is that possible?

 

Your "hardware reserved" is taking 2GB. I would look into that first. Search on this site for more on the issue.
How much is reserved on the good system? Also, see if the bios versions match.

 

Don't know if i can explain it (haven't used it much) Try running RamMap. But might or likely others on here can

 

Ram Map just frees up standby memory.

The best thing you can do for that laptop is max out the memory.

And replace that hard drive with a solid state drive.

 

????? unless you know a diffferent RamMap

 

I meant I use it to free up standby memory.

Snow`s freezing up my last 2 brain cells *Shock

 

LOL np I get those mind farts too *chuckle

 

As this is a new laptop the best option would be to return it for repair or exchange. Very likey this is a hardware problem. RAMMap won't be usefull here.

 

He only ended up bringing in the computers one day each last week, so I'm not gonna get a chance to do any further testing. I'd hoped to get a response while they were around.

I did notice this sale for the same model with an upgraded processor, 8GB of RAM, and 1TB hdd (still 5400 RPM). I suggested that since it costs the same as what he paid for the original ones to try and exchange.