Memory question (novice)

[Sam Clemens]

Motherboard = Gigabyte MA-785GT-UD3H
Processor = AMD Phenom II X4 955 Quad Core 125w
Memory = F3-10666CL8D-4GBHK

New build with original 4gb memory installed. 4gb recognized 3.25gb usable.

Recently added 4gb additional memory. 8gb recognized still only 3.25gb usable.

Everything working fine.

Is this 3.25gb usable indication normal?

Thanks,
Sam

[JamesWH]

What operating system do you have? and what type? (32-bit or 64-bit)

[Sam Clemens]

Win7 Ultimate, 32bit

[R0B0T]

Hello

Well to answer your questions yes it is normal, the problem is the operating system, in 32bit it can only address so much memory space, cause its limited by being 32 bit, i do not know the math but its cause its 32bit that it only sees so much addressable space. when you go 64bit the operating system can address more space and then would be able to see all 8 gigs.


hope that clears things up for you, I am sure someone could probably explain it better than I.

The unfortunate truth of this is for you to see your investment in that extra storage you need a 64bit OS.

[Sam Clemens]

Thanks for the reply.
Sam

[JamesWH]

Thanks for the help!