Windows 10: Only 3.5GB (of 4GB) RAM usable; running Win 10 x64

Curious, this computer is showing me that only 3.45GB out of 4GB installed memory is actually usable by the OS. It does have Windows 10 x64. Anyone got a fix for this?

Laptop CPU: AMD E1-6015 APU

:)

 

System memory support in Windows10, 32 bit

My win 10 32 bit system sees all of my 4GB installed ram but only 3.5GB of it is useable by the system.

 

I have 4gb ram installed but 2gb is only usable already done the ms config fix it doesn't work and returns to default and already checked if my motherboard is compatible

<Original title: 4gb ram 2gb usable how to fix>

I have 4gb ram installed but 2gb is only usable already done the ms config fix it doesn't work and returns to default and already checked if my motherboard is compatible witth my ram and it is please help already frustrated done the ms config fix many times
already and i know that 32 bit OS only dislays 3-3.5gb usable memory but 2gb is too low.. will appreciate your help

 

Hi!
It seems your graphics use the missing ram.

 

Beisdes any degree of memory reserved by hardwares which is typically small when you are seeing the deduction of 5.55mb don't forget that is how much 10 is taking off the top when simply sitting idle! Here I see 1.5gb approximately taken off of the top which includes a number of startup items which account for the increase here. That's 1.5gb roughly out of the 16gb total.

 

May want to read here. Talks about the video using RAM: http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Rad....115402.0.html

 

I suspect you are not actually using the 64 bit version of windows. You just have a 64 bit CPU and the 32 bit version.

When you have the 32 bit version of windows, it cannot remap the memory used by hardware devices outside of the of 4GB address range, and thus it must "steal" memory to be usable. In 64 bit windows, you should have the full 4GB available.

 

No matter whether using 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows there will always be a portion of the physical RAM assigned by the BIOS to the onboard/built-in video adapter. Notebooks seem to be hit a bit harder than Desktops due to their limit of slots for memory modules, usually only 2 where Desktops may have 2 or 4, have seen 6 and 8 slots on high end motherboards. If having 4GB on a motherboard with the 32-bit version of Windows it may normally see about 3.5GB, maybe a bit less, it's a limit of 32-bit.

 

Yes, but in 64 bit windows, this memory does not need to occupy the lower 4GB, and the OS can remap this to allow full use of the 4GB address space to applications.

 

Hi,

A MS 32 bit OS is limited to 4Gb of RAM so if AMD CPU are using a similar scheme to Intel incorporating a GPU in the CPU then my guess is that's what sharing this 500Mb of RAM with the system.
If you go into your bios you can either reduce this or even increase it should you like to do so.


That said, if you're using a dedicated graphics card you can safely set the graphics memory usage in the bios to 0 Mb and you should then be able to use the full 4Gig for the OS.


Cheers, *Wink

 

From the link I posted:

The OP has a laptop with no dedicated video card.

 

Wish I had X-ray vision too. *Wink

Wouldn't be the first time I came across a machine with dedicated graphics card and on chip GPU with shared mem still set to max.

Cheers, *Wink

 

That is not the case. Unless the video card has no dedicated VRAM (and hence uses RAM), it does not occupy any physical RAM, but virtual address space in the lower 4GB of virtual address space - the address range is invariant for historical and compatibility reasons. This is virtual address space RAM cannot use. In 32 bit windows, there is nothing you can do about it and the RAM in that address range cannot be used. In 64 bit windows, the RAM in this range can be remapped to a higher virtual addresses enabling the full amount of RAM to be used.

 

It is probably the case that your on-board video does not have dedicated VRAM so uses system RAM. There may be an option in your BIOS to setup how much memory it will use.

 

AMD's APU processors have GPU on die in the processor chip (some Intel processors too) so some of the RAM has to be dedicated for it. For any decent resolution 512 MB is absolute minimum. No VRAM can be used in such configurations.