Usable memory less than installed!

[scherade]

I have installed the 4 slots with 8gb memory modules, but windows tells me that it only uses half, that is, about 16 of 32gb installed. I do not understand why. On the other hand, I have a pagefile.sys file of just over 20 gb. And I thought that something was wrong here. I am rusty and could use some help. I already tried that trick of:

"press the Windows + R key combination to display the "Run" window on the screen. In this window, please write the command “msconfig” without quotes and then press the enter key.

In this window, click on the tab called "Startup", and then select the "Advanced options" button. There, check the box for maximum amount of memory, and take it to the top, according to the capacity of the memories you have installed.

Finally, restart the computer to apply the changes."

I also tried taking out the memories, cleaning and changing the location of the modules... and it did not get solved. My computer is a Ryzen 7 1700X, Windows 10 Pro 64 bits, gigabyte ax370-gaming 5 motherboard, TridentZ F4-3200C15Q-32GTZ DDR4-3200 CL15-15-15-35 1.35V 8GBx4 memories and the Geforce GTX 1080 graphics.

Perhaps this will help:

Thanks

[cobito]

By ruling out physical problems, how much memory does the BIOS recognize you?

[scherade]

@cobito The 32 gb, all of it.

[cobito]

@scherade What version of Windows 10 are you using?

[scherade]

@cobito said in Usable memory less than installed!:

@scherade What version of Windows 10 are you using?

[Fassou]

I deduce that your motherboard is this one, and many times that problem is solved by updating the BIOS.

The list of supported memories for that model is here

Regards!

[scherade]

@Fassou Thanks

Yes, that's my motherboard. I have the F10 BIOS, from a few years ago, but that didn't stop the 32gb from working when I upgraded.

Yesterday when I entered the BIOS, it gave me a message that it had returned to factory settings or something like that, which surprised me. It had been a long time since I entered, but I don't know what could have happened for that to happen only...

The BIOS already has many new versions and I don't know if I can update to the latest one all at once or if I should go step by step. I also don't understand some details, like which functionalities are lost and whether they affect me, for example, this that they mention about:

Due to BIOS ROM size limited, NO Bristol Ridge (AMD 7th Gen A-series/ Athlon X4 series) APU support.

As for the memories, they are not on the list, but I'm not worried, they already worked in the past, it just seems that something was misconfigured or there was some change that I don't know about.

Thanks for the help, I'll try to update the BIOS

[Fassou]

@scherade said in Usable memory less than installed!:

The bios already has many new versions and I'm not sure if I can update to the latest all at once or if it should be done gradually.

Surely if you enter the BIOS with a wired internet connection, it will offer to update.

But there are several notes in the versions, recommending not to update certain versions without at least already having a specific version (especially if you update with the Flash Utility), and recommending certain versions of the latest AMD Chipset drivers before doing so.

I would start by updating the AMD Chipset drivers and the App Center (if you have it installed), before entering the BIOS.

Starting from the F10, following the recommendations you could put the F31 and then the F40 or directly the latest of the F50, but from within the BIOS I don't think you'll have problems if you update directly to the latest, which they must have already planned to do in this way.

After updating, it is recommended to Load the default values, save and exit, (in this first start it is almost better if you don't let it load W10 so that nothing changes and you tell it to start from
a LiveCD/USB or if the HDD is SATA, simply remove the data cable so that it doesn't find it) and on the next restart you can enter the BIOS again and put the configuration you want.

Due to BIOS ROM size limited, NO Bristol Ridge (AMD 7th Gen A-series/ Athlon X4 series) APU support.

This note refers to the fact that when updating to the F30, processors prior to Ryzen will no longer work on that board.

Salu2!

[scherade]

@Fassou Many thanks, because with the last clarification I no longer have any hesitation in getting my hands on the update.

I will comment later on what happens.

[scherade]

Well I respond months later...

Update the bios to the latest version following the steps on the gigabyte website. If I put all four memories, it doesn't matter in what order or slot I place each module, I get 1866 mhz speed and half caught for hardware... But the curious thing is that if I put only two modules they work at 3200 mhz and windows only reserves 53 mb for hardware

What explanation could this have?

Goodbye!!

[Fassou]

Use the CPU-Z to better display the two cases...

Salu2!

[scherade]

@Fassou said in Usable memory less than installed!:

Use the CPU-Z to better show the two cases...

Salu2!

Ok, here they are with the CPU-Z

Salu2!

[Fassou]

@scherade Everything seems to indicate that at the hardware level everything is fine, and that it is the OS that is giving you the hassle, so leave all the modules plugged in as I understand it is a kit and they are all the same.

If you have not touched anything in msconfig, check anyway that you do not check the Max Memory box in Boot - Advanced Options. You can try activating it and putting 16384 and if it is still the same after restarting you go back in to deactivate it (it seems that this has worked for some).

If it does not work, open a CMD console in Administrator Mode and paste:

bcdedit /deletevalue {current} removememory bcdedit /deletevalue {current} truncatememory bcdedit /deletevalue {default} removememory bcdedit /deletevalue {default} truncatememory 

And then restart.

Salu2!

[scherade]

@Fassou said in Usable memory less than installed!:

bcdedit /deletevalue {current} removememory
bcdedit /deletevalue {current} truncatememory
bcdedit /deletevalue {default} removememory
bcdedit /deletevalue {default} truncatememory

I've tried both things but without result. When I put the code I got the error:

Error trying to delete the specified data element.
The element was not found.

Thanks anyway. Why can it give that error?

Best regards!

[Fassou]

Delete boot configuration lines, which could be causing the memory reservation failure.

If you can't find them, the problem isn't there.

If you have another disk, have you tried doing a clean install to see if it does it? Because the problem is that "something" is forcing that memory reservation, and on the networks you can find the most unusual stories of solving it by uninstalling some apps, ranging from boot managers to antivirus, which with the continuous update that W10 is, is fertile ground for this type of problem.

Then there are those who clean the contacts of some memory module and it is solved, but I suppose that is not your case.

Salu2!

[scherade]

@Fassou said in Usable memory less than installed!:

Delete boot configuration lines, which could be causing the memory reserve failure.

If you can't find them, the problem isn't there.

If you have another disk, have you tried doing a clean install to see if it does it? Because the problem is that "something" is forcing that memory reserve, and on the networks you can find the most unusual stories of solving it by uninstalling some apps, ranging from boot managers to antivirus, which with the continuous update that W10 is, is fertile ground for this type of problem.

Then there are those who clean the contacts of some memory module and it is solved, but I suppose that is not your case.

Salu2!

Thanks

Boot configuration lines? It sounds sophisticated to me... The fact is that the problem must come from the very beginning because when I put the 4 modules it doesn't start. It makes two attempts and starts again when the check shows "F9", then it loops and I have to restart manually, then Windows starts.

F9, I've looked in the motherboard manual and it says: <F9> Recovery capsule is not found.

It's an error code but I don't know what it means.

On the other hand I've seen this table, which I also don't know what it means but with the 4 modules it marks the speed that I reach with them.

It can be found here: https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/amd/ryzen_7/1700x

[Fassou]

@scherade said in Usable memory less than installed!:

The thing is that the problem must have been there from the beginning because when I put in the 4 modules it doesn't start. It makes two attempts and starts again when the check shows "F9", then it gets stuck in a loop and I have to manually restart it, then Windows starts up.

F9, I've looked in the motherboard manual and it says: <F9> Recovery capsule is not found.

Until now you hadn't mentioned that putting in the 4 modules it wouldn't start.

If the computer is giving you false starts and restarting several times before it can actually load the OS, there is a memory configuration problem.

Go into BIOS and load the default options, and try booting with them.

If it's no longer reserving 16GB, you've found the problem, and you can keep testing until you find the fastest memory configuration that allows you to use it without that limitation.

Perhaps that kit isn't designed for Ryzen.

Cheers!

PD: If your memory is this, it shows up as tested for Intel platform but not for AMD, so activating the XMP profile is likely to cause problems.

[scherade]

@Fassou

It has always given me boot problems with the 4 modules. No matter if I put the default options or not. It stutters with the 4 modules, what I don't understand is why 2 don't and 4 do... This kit is not for amd, it's for intel... I bought it because the ones that were for amd were very expensive and very scarce at the time. Looking for someone who said it worked with my configuration... and I bought them. They have the famous samsung b-die.

Thanks Fassou, Salu2!

[Fassou]

@scherade You'll have to play around with the timings by hand to get it to work, but success is not guaranteed.

Salu2!

[scherade]

@Fassou

Muchas gracias Fassou

I think I'm going to try a memory kit that the manufacturer says is fully compatible with my setup and if they work well I'll try to sell these I have, because I can't use them at 100% or so it seems. From G.skill they responded with this:

Please also understand that Ryzen platform does not natively support odd number CL timing (such as CL 15, 17, 19…etc) it will automatically adjust to the closest even number, this is why we did not include any odd CL timing memory kit into our AMD motherboard QVL.