Wheres my memory gone?

arsehley

Member
okay so my computer has 2gig of ram but keeps only going too 1.6 gigs when i open alot of memory hogging applications and then it'll start slowing down but my ram stay at 1.6 (and its set too high performance in the power options to)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Apire m3201
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9150e Quad core processer 1.8ghz
    Memory
    4gig corsair 800 mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon 4870 512mbs gdr5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    32"
    Screen Resolution
    1920-1080
    Hard Drives
    320gb
    PSU
    ocz extreme 600 watt
    Internet Speed
    4.0mbs
I would consider adding RAM.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    pair of Intel E5430 quad core 2.66 GHz Xeons
    Motherboard
    Supermicro X7DWA-N server board
    Memory
    16GB DDR667
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS 640 MB video card
    Hard Drives
    SAS RAID
Although your system specs are quite funny they dont tell us anything we need to know. For instance if your using onboard graphics then it could be using something like 256 MB of ram which would take you down to 1.75 GB of ram etc
 

My Computer

okay so my computer has 2gig of ram but keeps only going too 1.6 gigs when i open alot of memory hogging applications and then it'll start slowing down but my ram stay at 1.6 (and its set too high performance in the power options to)
In Vista your RAM availability is subject what ever is left after addressed memory is used.

So say your MoBo can only address 2GB, but uses 400MB addressed to GPU and peripherals- this is memory that is not overwritable, and is therefore subtracted from your "Ram", that only leaves you with 1.6GB that are actually usable. This Available RAM Memory is then "prefetched" by Vista ( process in which the operating system loads key pieces of data and code from disk into memory before it's actually needed). That means you really have no "extra" memory available for other applications- When you use one of these, Vista dumps the prefetch to the Hard drive, and reloads the memory for the current applications(s).
 
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My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    T7600G Core2Duo 2.66 Ghz
    Motherboard
    Intel 945PM + ICH7 Chipset
    Memory
    4GB DDR2 PC2-5300 667MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Mobility Radeon x1900 256MB
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    WUXGA 17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    640GB 7200RPM SATA/RAID 0 (2x320GB)
    and 320GB 7200RPM External
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft 3000
    Internet Speed
    10 mbps/2 mbps
    Other Info
    Optical Drive:
    Panasonic UJ-220 DL BD-RE (Blu-Ray)
Although your system specs are quite funny they dont tell us anything we need to know. For instance if your using onboard graphics then it could be using something like 256 MB of ram which would take you down to 1.75 GB of ram etc
kk thats must be it then

but is this onboard graphics? ATI Radeon HD3200 i NOT SURE HOW TO TELL

<<<<<specs updated
 
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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Apire m3201
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9150e Quad core processer 1.8ghz
    Memory
    4gig corsair 800 mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon 4870 512mbs gdr5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    32"
    Screen Resolution
    1920-1080
    Hard Drives
    320gb
    PSU
    ocz extreme 600 watt
    Internet Speed
    4.0mbs
Although your system specs are quite funny they dont tell us anything we need to know. For instance if your using onboard graphics then it could be using something like 256 MB of ram which would take you down to 1.75 GB of ram etc
kk thats must be it then

but is this onboard graphics? ATI Radeon HD3200 i NOT SURE HOW TO TELL

<<<<<specs updated

HD 3200 is an integrated GPU (class 3 card)/can be upgraded to a dedicated card.

Your Acer Aspire M3201 supports up to 8GB of ram (PC2-6400) 2GB x4 800MHz sticks

300W PSU

This is designed for basic Muti-tasking (school/editing). The CPU is abit slow at 1.8GHz (contrary to what you may have heard the core speeds are not combined- i.e., a dual core 1.5GHz does not result in 3GHz speed. Al your cores operate no faster than 1.8Ghz), and GPU is integrated. Your performance level in regards to playing newer games will be very low.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    T7600G Core2Duo 2.66 Ghz
    Motherboard
    Intel 945PM + ICH7 Chipset
    Memory
    4GB DDR2 PC2-5300 667MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Mobility Radeon x1900 256MB
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    WUXGA 17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    640GB 7200RPM SATA/RAID 0 (2x320GB)
    and 320GB 7200RPM External
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft 3000
    Internet Speed
    10 mbps/2 mbps
    Other Info
    Optical Drive:
    Panasonic UJ-220 DL BD-RE (Blu-Ray)
Although your system specs are quite funny they dont tell us anything we need to know. For instance if your using onboard graphics then it could be using something like 256 MB of ram which would take you down to 1.75 GB of ram etc

Uh...that might be true if he had 4 or more gig of system memory.

A 32-bit operating system has a maximum memory address space of 4GB. This means that the address ranges that need to be reserved for certain devices in the PC must be located within 4GB. This reduces the amount of memory space available to Windows.

So, I you have 4gig of memory and a 512meg video card, the available memory space to the 32-bit OS is 3.5gig of memory. If you have a 1gig video card installed plus 4gig of memory, windows will only have 3gig of system memory to use.

http://www.corsair.com/_appnotes/AN804_Gaming_Performance_Analysis.pdf, page 2-3 ;)
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel D975XBX2
    Memory
    Corsair TWIN2X4096-PC8500 (2x2GHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 4890 (1GHz)
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium - Fatality Pro Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    hp w2207h (22" widescreen)
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    One 750GB, 2x500GB Western Digital Caviar Black Hard Drives (32meg)
    PSU
    Antec Neo HE 550
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9500 AT
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Revolution
    Internet Speed
    "High" Speed DSL? Is that like low speed FIOS?
    Other Info
    Q6600 B3 Revision OC to 3.0GHz
Although your system specs are quite funny they dont tell us anything we need to know. For instance if your using onboard graphics then it could be using something like 256 MB of ram which would take you down to 1.75 GB of ram etc
kk thats must be it then

but is this onboard graphics? ATI Radeon HD3200 i NOT SURE HOW TO TELL

<<<<<specs updated

HD3200 is an integrated GPU
thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Apire m3201
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9150e Quad core processer 1.8ghz
    Memory
    4gig corsair 800 mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon 4870 512mbs gdr5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    32"
    Screen Resolution
    1920-1080
    Hard Drives
    320gb
    PSU
    ocz extreme 600 watt
    Internet Speed
    4.0mbs
I would consider adding RAM.
no need.. i never use more than 1 gig anyway. i didnt explain it properly above .i was bored :sleepy:and just opened internet explorer about 1000 times :D just to see when my comp starts freezing up
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Apire m3201
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9150e Quad core processer 1.8ghz
    Memory
    4gig corsair 800 mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon 4870 512mbs gdr5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    32"
    Screen Resolution
    1920-1080
    Hard Drives
    320gb
    PSU
    ocz extreme 600 watt
    Internet Speed
    4.0mbs
Although your system specs are quite funny they dont tell us anything we need to know. For instance if your using onboard graphics then it could be using something like 256 MB of ram which would take you down to 1.75 GB of ram etc

Uh...that might be true if he had 4 or more gig of system memory.

I dont think thats entirely true. I dont use onboard graphics but i beleive theres settings in the bios where you can choose how much ram it uses. I googled the HD 3200 and it seems it can use up to 512mb of ram Notebookcheck: ATI Radeon HD 3200 so with 2 gigs of ram installed its probably using either 128mb or 256mb of ram. I dont know for certain though :huh: but checking your bios would be a good idea as you may be able to change it.
 

My Computer

Uh...that might be true if he had 4 or more gig of system memory.
I've setup a laptop which had an integrated ATI card and depending on how much RAM I dedicated towards it in the BIOS, the amount of RAM detected by task manager would change.

Although on my laptop with an integrated GMA 950, it doesn't make a difference if I change the amount of GPU RAM from 256 to 64MB (my RAM is always detected as 2GB).
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5630
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 1.66GHz 65nm 667MHz FSB 2MB L2
    Motherboard
    Acer Grapevine Intel i945GM Chipset
    Memory
    2x1GB DDR2 333MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated GMA 950 256MB
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.4" WXGA Acer CrystalBrite LCD 16ms
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    200GB 5400rpm Toshiba MK2035GSS ATA-7, 250GB 7200rpm Maxtor External USB Hard Drive
Although your system specs are quite funny they dont tell us anything we need to know. For instance if your using onboard graphics then it could be using something like 256 MB of ram which would take you down to 1.75 GB of ram etc

Uh...that might be true if he had 4 or more gig of system memory.

I dont think thats entirely true. I dont use onboard graphics but i beleive theres settings in the bios where you can choose how much ram it uses. I googled the HD 3200 and it seems it can use up to 512mb of ram Notebookcheck: ATI Radeon HD 3200 so with 2 gigs of ram installed its probably using either 128mb or 256mb of ram. I dont know for certain though :huh: but checking your bios would be a good idea as you may be able to change it.
yes, i tried checking the bios out .but could not find any option:sick:
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Apire m3201
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9150e Quad core processer 1.8ghz
    Memory
    4gig corsair 800 mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon 4870 512mbs gdr5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    32"
    Screen Resolution
    1920-1080
    Hard Drives
    320gb
    PSU
    ocz extreme 600 watt
    Internet Speed
    4.0mbs
Uh...that might be true if he had 4 or more gig of system memory.

I dont think thats entirely true. I dont use onboard graphics but i beleive theres settings in the bios where you can choose how much ram it uses. I googled the HD 3200 and it seems it can use up to 512mb of ram Notebookcheck: ATI Radeon HD 3200 so with 2 gigs of ram installed its probably using either 128mb or 256mb of ram. I dont know for certain though :huh: but checking your bios would be a good idea as you may be able to change it.
yes, i tried checking the bios out .but could not find any option:sick:
k i changed it to 64mbs it uses ,but still same amount of ram

but when i changed it too 512mbs my ram went down to 1500:huh:
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Apire m3201
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9150e Quad core processer 1.8ghz
    Memory
    4gig corsair 800 mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon 4870 512mbs gdr5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    32"
    Screen Resolution
    1920-1080
    Hard Drives
    320gb
    PSU
    ocz extreme 600 watt
    Internet Speed
    4.0mbs
I dont think thats entirely true. I dont use onboard graphics but i beleive theres settings in the bios where you can choose how much ram it uses. I googled the HD 3200 and it seems it can use up to 512mb of ram Notebookcheck: ATI Radeon HD 3200 so with 2 gigs of ram installed its probably using either 128mb or 256mb of ram. I dont know for certain though :huh: but checking your bios would be a good idea as you may be able to change it.
yes, i tried checking the bios out .but could not find any option:sick:
k i changed it to 64mbs it uses ,but still same amount of ram

but when i changed it too 512mbs my ram went down to 1500:huh:

That is because it also reserves adddressable memory for your Peripherals. All you are doing is reserving more addressable memory for the GPU.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    T7600G Core2Duo 2.66 Ghz
    Motherboard
    Intel 945PM + ICH7 Chipset
    Memory
    4GB DDR2 PC2-5300 667MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Mobility Radeon x1900 256MB
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    WUXGA 17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    640GB 7200RPM SATA/RAID 0 (2x320GB)
    and 320GB 7200RPM External
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft 3000
    Internet Speed
    10 mbps/2 mbps
    Other Info
    Optical Drive:
    Panasonic UJ-220 DL BD-RE (Blu-Ray)
yes, i tried checking the bios out .but could not find any option:sick:
k i changed it to 64mbs it uses ,but still same amount of ram

but when i changed it too 512mbs my ram went down to 1500:huh:

That is because it also reserves adddressable memory for your Peripherals. All you are doing is reserving more addressable memory for the GPU.
yes .but im sure it used to say 2000 in dxdiag:rolleyes: unlike now
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Apire m3201
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9150e Quad core processer 1.8ghz
    Memory
    4gig corsair 800 mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon 4870 512mbs gdr5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    32"
    Screen Resolution
    1920-1080
    Hard Drives
    320gb
    PSU
    ocz extreme 600 watt
    Internet Speed
    4.0mbs
k i changed it to 64mbs it uses ,but still same amount of ram

but when i changed it too 512mbs my ram went down to 1500:huh:

That is because it also reserves adddressable memory for your Peripherals. All you are doing is reserving more addressable memory for the GPU.
yes .but im sure it used to say 2000 in dxdiag:rolleyes: unlike now

Highly unlikely unless it was total installed ram (2048MB), considering you have no dedicated GPU memory and have peripheral devices that also allocate addressable memory.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    T7600G Core2Duo 2.66 Ghz
    Motherboard
    Intel 945PM + ICH7 Chipset
    Memory
    4GB DDR2 PC2-5300 667MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Mobility Radeon x1900 256MB
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    WUXGA 17"
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    640GB 7200RPM SATA/RAID 0 (2x320GB)
    and 320GB 7200RPM External
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft 3000
    Internet Speed
    10 mbps/2 mbps
    Other Info
    Optical Drive:
    Panasonic UJ-220 DL BD-RE (Blu-Ray)
I dont think thats entirely true. I dont use onboard graphics but i beleive theres settings in the bios where you can choose how much ram it uses. I googled the HD 3200 and it seems it can use up to 512mb of ram Notebookcheck: ATI Radeon HD 3200 so with 2 gigs of ram installed its probably using either 128mb or 256mb of ram. I dont know for certain though :huh: but checking your bios would be a good idea as you may be able to change it.

I'm not sure where your disagreement is coming from??? Let me clearify

If a video card has 512meg of video RAM (VRAM) and you add 4gig of system memory, you effectively have 4.5gig of total RAM installed! However, since a 32-bit OS only has a max memory address of 4gig, something has to give! Since the video card(s) is automatically allocated memory space, regardless of RAM amount, the sacrificial lamb becomes the added available memory beyond the 4gig limit!!! Meaning anything beyond 4gig is ignored with regards to available memory!!! Available memory means anything outside the realm of the VRAM!!!

Here's two quotes from the link I provided (http://www.corsair.com/_appnotes/AN8...e_Analysis.pdf, page 2)

However, part of this 4GB ‘address space’ must be reserved for devices that require MMIO (Memory-Mapped Input Output). In simple terms MMIO is a process by which some devices in the PC exchange data with the CPU/memory. One such device is the graphics card, which requires an amount of address space equal to its frame buffer size (the amount of memory installed on the card) to be ‘reserved’ for such data exchanges. This reserved address space is therefore not available to Windows as accessible memory.
Meaning the video card's VRAM (video RAM) takes precedence over any installed RAM going beyond the 4gig limit.

While there are numerous devices in a PC that require MMIO, graphics cards have the most significant impact on available memory since they can be equipped with up to 1GB of on-board memory. This means that the available memory in a PC equipped with a 1GB graphics card will be reduced by at least 1GB. For systems with multiple graphics cards the total amount of memory on all cards installed in the system must be taken into account.
The above statement pretty much sums up my point. ;)

Now I personally don’t think a lot of people with 32-bit OS’s running 4 or more gig of RAM with crossfire/SLI setups give this a lot of thought; nor do I think they understand that they’re just displacing system (Windows) memory with VRAM!!! Especially if they’re trying to push 1gig video cards!!!

Sure, you could argue that the VRAM is being used, true... but mainly for gaming or rendering purposes and not much else! :shock:

Just my two cents on my understanding of the 4gig limitation and VRAM under 32-bit OS’s
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel D975XBX2
    Memory
    Corsair TWIN2X4096-PC8500 (2x2GHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 4890 (1GHz)
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium - Fatality Pro Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    hp w2207h (22" widescreen)
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    One 750GB, 2x500GB Western Digital Caviar Black Hard Drives (32meg)
    PSU
    Antec Neo HE 550
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9500 AT
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Revolution
    Internet Speed
    "High" Speed DSL? Is that like low speed FIOS?
    Other Info
    Q6600 B3 Revision OC to 3.0GHz
Yeah i understand that but he has onboard graphics and installed ram of 2gigs. So hes nowhere near the limit and so that wont affect him.

All i was saying was that if he set his onboard graphics to 512mb it would show his available system ram as 1.5gigs as hes set aside half a gig for graphics.
 

My Computer

That is because it also reserves adddressable memory for your Peripherals. All you are doing is reserving more addressable memory for the GPU.
yes .but im sure it used to say 2000 in dxdiag:rolleyes: unlike now

Highly unlikely unless it was total installed ram (2048MB), considering you have no dedicated GPU memory and have peripheral devices that also allocate addressable memory.
im not sure if it was exactly 2048 but it was deffo 2000+
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Apire m3201
    CPU
    AMD Phenom 9150e Quad core processer 1.8ghz
    Memory
    4gig corsair 800 mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon 4870 512mbs gdr5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    32"
    Screen Resolution
    1920-1080
    Hard Drives
    320gb
    PSU
    ocz extreme 600 watt
    Internet Speed
    4.0mbs
Yeah i understand that but he has onboard graphics and installed ram of 2gigs. So hes nowhere near the limit and so that wont affect him.

All i was saying was that if he set his onboard graphics to 512mb it would show his available system ram as 1.5gigs as hes set aside half a gig for graphics.

For instance if your using onboard graphics then it could be using something like 256 MB of ram which would take you down to 1.75 GB of ram etc

Your statements appear to be contradicting themselves, or I'm confused?

If he is below the 4gig limit then he shouldn't be losing any system memory!

In short, if he had a video card with 512 or less Meg of RAM, Then anything below 3.5gig of system won't be discarded, i.e. the whole 3.5gig of RAM or less is available to Windows!

So my whole point is based on your statement below - which appears to be saying that he will lose system RAM, even if he is below the 4gig threshold. If that's what you're saying, I'm saying you're wrong. Sorry

For instance if your using onboard graphics then it could be using something like 256 MB of ram which would take you down to 1.75 GB of ram etc


If I've misunderstood what you're saying, I apologize.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel D975XBX2
    Memory
    Corsair TWIN2X4096-PC8500 (2x2GHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 4890 (1GHz)
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium - Fatality Pro Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    hp w2207h (22" widescreen)
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    One 750GB, 2x500GB Western Digital Caviar Black Hard Drives (32meg)
    PSU
    Antec Neo HE 550
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9500 AT
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Revolution
    Internet Speed
    "High" Speed DSL? Is that like low speed FIOS?
    Other Info
    Q6600 B3 Revision OC to 3.0GHz
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