BIOS sees 12GB Windows 7 x64 Ultimate sees 12GB but only 4GB usable.

[↑↑↓↓←→←→BASelect]

Ok my wifes motherboard got fried. So i bought her a new one along with a slightly upgraded cpu. She has a gtx 960 2gb pci-e 16x dedicated card. But windows for some weird reason is seeing all 12 gb of her ram but only 3.96 gb is usable. I got her a motherboard that has no onboard video to avoid the memory sharing unless you switch it over to dedicated in the bios.
With only 3.96 usable she can't run most of her games.
Any way to fix this? I never ran into this problem in the decades i have been building pc's. Mine don't do this and her's didn't do this on her old msi motherboard. The only time i seen this was with onboard video since it shares the ram.

Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P
AMD FX 8350
GTX 960
12GB ram.
700 Watt PSU
2TB WD Black 7200RPM drive for steam games.
Windows 7 x64 Ultimate installed on an SSD
Running stock speeds on Ram and CPU. Fresh install of windows 7 x64. I always do a fresh install on a major hardware change like motherboard and or cpu. Ram i don't. Bios sees all 12 GB of ram.

Here is a picture of her basic information about her computer along with what steam says.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1585894447


Computer Information:
Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Model: To be filled by O.E.M.
Form Factor: Desktop
No Touch Input Detected

Processor Information:
CPU Vendor: AuthenticAMD
CPU Brand: AMD FX(tm)-8350 Eight-Core Processor
CPU Family: 0x15
CPU Model: 0x2
CPU Stepping: 0x0
CPU Type: 0x0
Speed: 4018 Mhz
8 logical processors
8 physical processors
HyperThreading: Unsupported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Supported
SSE41: Supported
SSE42: Supported
AES: Supported
AVX: Supported
CMPXCHG16B: Supported
LAHF/SAHF: Supported
PrefetchW: Unsupported

Operating System Version:
Windows 7 (64 bit)
NTFS: Supported
Crypto Provider Codes: Supported 311 0x0 0x0 0x0

Video Card:
Driver: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
DirectX Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll
Driver Version: 25.21.14.1722
DirectX Driver Version: 25.21.14.1722
Driver Date: 11 29 2018
OpenGL Version: 4.6
Desktop Color Depth: 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
DirectX Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
VendorID: 0x10de
DeviceID: 0x1401
Revision: 0xa1
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Logical Video Cards: 1
No SLI or Crossfire Detected
Primary Display Resolution: 1360 x 768
Desktop Resolution: 1360 x 768
Primary Display Size: 18.90" x 10.67" (21.69" diag)
48.0cm x 27.1cm (55.1cm diag)
Primary Bus: PCI Express 16x
Primary VRAM: 2047 MB
Supported MSAA Modes: 2x 4x 8x

Sound card:
Audio device: M260VA (NVIDIA High Definition

Memory:
RAM: 4053 Mb

Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
Media Type: Undetermined
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 2613497 Mb
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 293675 Mb
OS Install Date: Dec 31 1969
Game Controller: None detected
VR Headset: None detected

Tested all her 4 sticks in my pc and my pc seen all 12GB and all 12GB was usable. Her bios sees 12GB and windows sees 12GB but only 4GB usable.

[↑↑↓↓←→←→BASelect]

引用自 HALO_run：

引用自 Connoisseur of Tanqueray：

Yes fresh install of windows 7 x64 ultimate.

i wouldn't use windows 7 x64 ultimate,
that's the worst one out of the lot,
try and get Windows 7 Home Premium, this would help, could be wrong, but that's what i use,
and it shows my 16gb ram.

or it's your NVIDIA driver

Nvidia drivers are up to date. Also i use win 7 x64 ultimate and no problems at all. She did also and never had this problem till a mosfet blew out on her motherboard and i had to replace her motherboard.

[HALO_run]

引用自 Connoisseur of Tanqueray：

引用自 HALO_run：

i wouldn't use windows 7 x64 ultimate,
that's the worst one out of the lot,
try and get Windows 7 Home Premium, this would help, could be wrong, but that's what i use,
and it shows my 16gb ram.

or it's your NVIDIA driver

Nvidia drivers are up to date. Also i use win 7 x64 ultimate and no problems at all. She did also and never had this problem till a mosfet blew out on her motherboard and i had to replace her motherboard.

could be that you need bios driver update , because i have a feeling you formatted it,
that or you may have to reformat and try to install windows again.

Or last but lest because it's Windows 7 you may need a fix, like what would come with a h170.

ill take a look on google when i get back home.

[Talby]

A quick test to see if it is a HW or OS problem, get a USB stick and put ubuntu on it and boot from it, in live mode[tutorials.ubuntu.com] and see if it can see all the memory under linux. it is a very good sanity check.

You should also consider installing win10 pro, and using your win7 ultimate key to register it. Does not make any sense not to.

[↑↑↓↓←→←→BASelect]

引用自 HALO_run：

引用自 Connoisseur of Tanqueray：

Nvidia drivers are up to date. Also i use win 7 x64 ultimate and no problems at all. She did also and never had this problem till a mosfet blew out on her motherboard and i had to replace her motherboard.

could be that you need bios driver update , because i have a feeling you formatted it,
that or you may have to reformat and try to install windows again.

Or last but lest because it's Windows 7 you may need a fix, like what would come with a h170.

ill take a look on google when i get back home.

Bios is up to date and i did not format the bios. I'm not sure how you would format it.
I'm thinking it might be a bad ram stick as it don't happen till i put the last stick in. Will run mem test on it in the morning.

引用自 Talby：

A quick test to see if it is a HW or OS problem, get a USB stick and put ubuntu on it and boot from it, in live mode[tutorials.ubuntu.com] and see if it can see all the memory under linux. it is a very good sanity check.

You should also consider installing win10 pro, and using your win7 ultimate key to register it. Does not make any sense not to.

I tried getting her to upgrade to 10 but she don't want it.

I'll try the ubuntu boot from usb option and see what it says before i run memtest64.


*this was edited by a mod for unknown reasons. I write everyone back as an individual so they know i talking to them not everyone.*

[_I_]

if bios shows 12g of ram its fine

most likely windows limiting it

start -> run -> msconfig boot tab -> [advanced]
and untick the ram limit

[[☥] - CJ -]

is there a RAM/Memory Remapping setting in the BIOS?

[HALO_run]

引用自 Connoisseur of Tanqueray：

引用自 HALO_run：

could be that you need bios driver update , because i have a feeling you formatted it,
that or you may have to reformat and try to install windows again.

Or last but lest because it's Windows 7 you may need a fix, like what would come with a h170.

ill take a look on google when i get back home.

Bios is up to date and i did not format the bios. I'm not sure how you would format it.
I'm thinking it might be a bad ram stick as it don't happen till i put the last stick in. Will run mem test on it in the morning.

Naa not the bios, i mean windows may need a reinstall\format.

and yeah i'd try the ram 1st.
i've had something like this happen to me some time ago, new ram or format ya windows,
for me new ram worked.

just looked on google here are two links

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2100972/installed-8gb-ddr3-usable.html

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/11/523898291498662351/?ctp=2
this may also help, at lest i hope it dose

[TehSpoopyKitteh]

Motherboard fried and Windows reading only a certain amount of RAM.? Check each RAM Module in each slot.

[rotNdude]

引用自 ☥ - CJ -：

is there a RAM/Memory Remapping setting in the BIOS?

This is probably the answer!

[↑↑↓↓←→←→BASelect]

引用自 🎄The Xmas Kitteh🎄：

Motherboard fried and Windows reading only a certain amount of RAM.? Check each RAM Module in each slot.

No old msi motherboard fried. This gigbyte is a brand new motherboard from newegg.

引用自 rotNdude：

引用自 ☥ - CJ -：

is there a RAM/Memory Remapping setting in the BIOS?

This is probably the answer!

In the UEFI bios i don't see anything like that. This is for amd.


*this was edited by a mod for unknown reasons. I write everyone back as an individual so they know i talking to them not everyone.*

[[☥] - CJ -]

引用自 Connoisseur of Tanqueray：

引用自 rotNdude：

This is probably the answer!

In the UEFI bios i don't see anything like that. This is for amd.

Intel or AMD its all the same
due to the systems age its likely it has such a setting

But as youve pointed out, who knows where it could be
Under BIOS Advance memory settings make sure max memory limit isn't checked. While there also see if the XMP profile is enabled and selected.

after doing some researching, a bent pin can also cause this to happen

[rotNdude]

There seems to be a BIOS setting for OS Type.

http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_ga-970a-ds3p_v.2.x_e.pdf

Look for an X64 OS

[↑↑↓↓←→←→BASelect]

引用自 rotNdude：

There seems to be a BIOS setting for OS Type.

http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_ga-970a-ds3p_v.2.x_e.pdf

Look for an X64 OS

All it got for os type is other os windows 8 and windows 8 whql no windows 7 x64. Also if you look at the pic in my op you will see she is running a 64 bit os.

Also why are you combining my posts for? There is no reason to when i answer each person as an individual. I don't like replying to 2 people in the same post as it makes it hard to read and understand please put them back they way they was please.

引用自 ☥ - CJ -：

引用自 Connoisseur of Tanqueray：

In the UEFI bios i don't see anything like that. This is for amd.

Intel or AMD its all the same
due to the systems age its likely it has such a setting

But as youve pointed out, who knows where it could be
Under BIOS Advance memory settings make sure max memory limit isn't checked. While there also see if the XMP profile is enabled and selected.

after doing some researching, a bent pin can also cause this to happen

Can the pin be bent out of the box as it was brand new cpu that i bought her. I also put the cpu straight in no moving it around to get it into place. I also matched the gold triangle corner to the white triangle corner by the socket. So if there is a bent pin it had to come from the factory like that or neweggs shipping did it.

I'm going to be uploading pics i took of her bios maybe that will help. In all the years i have been building computers this issue never came up this is a first for me.

Here are pics from my wifes bios. Maybe someone can see the problem i'm overlooking. Sorry the pics are not that good my wifes phone only has a 16MP camera.

See what is weird, when her motherboard fried i borrowed my dads pc i built him cause i didn't want to take out my noctua to put my wifes parts in it to much work to take my pc apart plus it weighs 86 pounds.
So i borrowed my dads amd 3+ computer took out his ram and put my wifes ram in it along with her ssd that had her old copy of windows on it and windows read all 12gb of ram no problems at all. Her new motherboard came in along with an upgraded amd fx cpu she upgraded from 8320 to 8350. Installed the new mobo and cpu and her ram and got this problem after a fresh install of windows. Will have to see if i can see bent pins. maybe try her old cpu the 8320 and see if it don't have the problem then i will have to send her 8350 back and get a new one.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1587164191

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1587165217

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1587167828

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1587170568

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1587172441

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1587174296

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1587175062

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1587179450

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1587180155

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1587181003

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1587181710

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1587182753

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1587183336

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1587183957

[_I_]

the first pic shows 12g of ram, so its working

on img #3, enable xmp, the one thats highlighted
(mit/advanced freq settings)
that sets the ram freq, timings and voltage for the dimm/kit

on the last image, for the os boot selection, pick windows 8

[↑↑↓↓←→←→BASelect]

引用自 _I_：

the first pic shows 12g of ram, so its working

on img #3, enable xmp, the one thats highlighted
(mit/advanced freq settings)
that sets the ram freq, timings and voltage for the dimm/kit

on the last image, for the os boot selection, pick windows 8

I did put it to profile 1 under XMP as it's the only one there and saved and booted back into windows now it says 12GB (9.96GB usable) so it did go up. But i went in and turned it off and rebooted and still says 12GB (9.96GB usable) So no matter if it's on or off it still says the same.

Since BIOS is seeing all 12GB could a pin on the cpu still be bent?
I will try to put it to windows 8 even though she is running windows 7 X64.