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

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  1. Posts : 136
    Windows 7 Pro x64
       #1

    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
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,546
    Windows 10 Pro x64 RS 10586.586
       #2

    Hi!
    It seems your graphics use the missing ram.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 3,367
    W10 Pro x64/W7 Ultimate x64 dual boot main - W11 Triple Boot Pending
       #3

    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.
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 133
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
       #4

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


  5. Posts : 3,257
    Windows 10 Pro
       #5

    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.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 13,895
    Win10 Version 22H2 Pro and Home, Win11 Pro and Home
       #6

    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.
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 3,257
    Windows 10 Pro
       #7

    Berton said:
    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.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 2,832
    Windows 10 Pro X64
       #8

    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,
      My Computers


  9. Posts : 133
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
       #9

    From the link I posted:
    The GPU does not have dedicated VRAM and will access main system memory (depending on the APU: single-channel DDR3L-1066/1333/1600).
    The OP has a laptop with no dedicated video card.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 2,832
    Windows 10 Pro X64
       #10

    Wish I had X-ray vision too.

    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,
      My Computers


 

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