Upgrading Ram on Laptop help

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by shocksl, Jul 15, 2012.

  1. RichyV

    RichyV Megabyte Poster

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    Hi, definitely 2.25GB? Or is it 3.25GB, as this would be normal for a 32-bit OS...
     
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  2. shocksl

    shocksl Byte Poster

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    deffo 2.25gb
     
  3. dmarsh
    Honorary Member 500 Likes Award

    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    The amount of memory you lose depends on various factors, you have a virtual address space but regions of this virtual address space are mapped by IO devices for DMA. This means that you graphics card, ethernet chipset, IO controllers etc can take chunks out of this range. The chunks can be very significant for graphics cards as they have large amounts of memory that the OS may want to address.

    2 pow 32 = 4,294,967,296 addressable bytes = 4 GB

    But as mentioned you will typically lose between 500 MB and 1 GB.

    The answer is to get a 64 bit OS.

    2 pow 64 = 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 addressable bytes = 16 EB (Exabyte), so theorectically thats a huge amount of RAM.

    Windows 7 64 Bit currently supports upto 192 GB.
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2012
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  4. shocksl

    shocksl Byte Poster

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    thanks for the detailed response, but why in my case have I lost more than 1GB? is there anyway to restore without getting a 64bit
     
  5. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    How much memory can your graphics chip address in your laptop ?

    Since its a cheap graphics chip you should only lose a small amount 128 MB most likely for that device. Other devices and windows can allocate more though.

    Where are you getting your numbers from ?

    Try using CPU-Z to check both DIMMS are installed and working correctly.

    (Since you are reporting over 2GB I'd expect both to be working.)
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2012
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  6. RichyV

    RichyV Megabyte Poster

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    But with a 4GB address space he will not 'lose' any with just 2GB installed.

    shocksl, does it change if you remove the mem and install it the other way round (ie swap slots)?
    Also, can you see the full amount installed either in the BIOS or on POST?
     
    Certifications: B.Sc.(Hons), MBCS. MCP (271,272), MCDST, MCTS (680), MCITP:EDST7, MCSA:WIN7, MCPS, MCNPS
    WIP: 70-686, then onto MCSE: Desktop Infrastructure via MCSA: Server 2012...
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  7. shocksl

    shocksl Byte Poster

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    i tried changing the sticks around. Didnt make a difference.

    the way i checked it was by right clicking on computer and then selecting properties.

    I dont know how to use cpu z
     
  8. RichyV

    RichyV Megabyte Poster

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    Then it sounds as if both slots and DIMMs are OK.
    Check what your BIOS says is installed with just the one SODIMM attached. If it matches what Windows reports then you may have incompatible memory modules (possibly cheaper High-density stuff). What is the make/model of the sticks BTW?
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2012
    Certifications: B.Sc.(Hons), MBCS. MCP (271,272), MCDST, MCTS (680), MCITP:EDST7, MCSA:WIN7, MCPS, MCNPS
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  9. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    CPU Z if free and dead simple just click on the memory tab.

    You sure they are both 2GB ? Maybe one is 1 GB and one 2 GB ?
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2012
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  10. shocksl

    shocksl Byte Poster

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    well i'm guessing their both 2gb each, as they say on the label and even the (computetr - right click and properties) says theres 4GB but only can use 2.25 GB
     
  11. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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  12. shocksl

    shocksl Byte Poster

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    bios shows:
    system memory 633kb
    extended memory 5631mb
    video memory [256mb]
     
  13. RichyV

    RichyV Megabyte Poster

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    This is the reason that with 2GB installed there is only 1.75GB available to Windows, so there's no problem with just one stick installed but 2.25 is still too low for a system with two working 2GB sticks installed...

    This on the other hand seems very wrong; that's 5.5GB!
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2012
    Certifications: B.Sc.(Hons), MBCS. MCP (271,272), MCDST, MCTS (680), MCITP:EDST7, MCSA:WIN7, MCPS, MCNPS
    WIP: 70-686, then onto MCSE: Desktop Infrastructure via MCSA: Server 2012...
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  14. shocksl

    shocksl Byte Poster

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    just double checked thats exactly what it says. when i go over the video memory, it allows me to change it to 16, 32, 64,128, 256mb or auto.... shall i change this?
     
  15. RichyV

    RichyV Megabyte Poster

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    Can you re-check the numbers with only one stick installed and also with the graphics set to 128 please?
     
    Certifications: B.Sc.(Hons), MBCS. MCP (271,272), MCDST, MCTS (680), MCITP:EDST7, MCSA:WIN7, MCPS, MCNPS
    WIP: 70-686, then onto MCSE: Desktop Infrastructure via MCSA: Server 2012...
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  16. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    Double check to see if you have a memory mapping or memory hole option in your BIOS settings. If you do, enable it.

    Make sure you don't have any funky msconfig settings for memory, boot with default options.

    Normally with Windows 7 Retail you get both 32bit and 64bit DVDs, why not just install 64bit version ?
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2012
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  17. shocksl

    shocksl Byte Poster

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    rich i have done that, ive set it to 128mb. extended memory now is 1918, system memory is 633.

    dmach that is set to default and i dont have that optioon on the bios. Also how would I be able to sintal 64bit version on a 32 bit laptop?
     
  18. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    Specs for you laptop are listed as :-

    AMD Turion™ 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-50
    (1.6 GHz, 2x 256 KB L2 cache)
    or
    AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile Technology MK-36
    (2.0 GHz, 512 KB L2 cache)

    Both processors are 64 bit processors.
     
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  19. RichyV

    RichyV Megabyte Poster

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    Which is precisely correct.

    I'd say there's a problem with either incompatible RAM or an outdated BIOS that needs updating with a flash, as it is obviously reporting the wrong (too high) amount of RAM with both sticks installed.

    What numbers do you get when you pair one of the new 2GB RAM sticks with one of your original smaller ones? Do the numbers make sense then?
     
    Certifications: B.Sc.(Hons), MBCS. MCP (271,272), MCDST, MCTS (680), MCITP:EDST7, MCSA:WIN7, MCPS, MCNPS
    WIP: 70-686, then onto MCSE: Desktop Infrastructure via MCSA: Server 2012...
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  20. dmarsh
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    dmarsh Petabyte Poster

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    I'd flash the BIO's anyway if in doubt, check to see the BIOS rev number and date and see how old it is compared to newer revisions, 4GB is the max limit for the mobo, its possible early BIO's versions didn't cope with larger DIMM's.
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2012
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