Memory not being recognized in bios

I have exactly the same issue but technical support have told me that its a BIOS problem.

The BIOS needs a memory re-mapping feature which doesn't currently exist!

My machine arrived with 4GB, the BIOS could see 2GB, windows could see 4GB but only 2GB was usable with the rest apparently being reserved by BIOS for hardware.

I wish it were that simple. I'm getting all sorts of memory readouts from different sources. I have 8gb installed and working, which is confirmed by running CPU-Z (what a great resource that is). BIOS, as we know, says I have 4gb and, as you say, there is no memory re-mapping function in BIOS but can we assume that the BIOS has grabbed 4gb for itself? I believe if it has, it should still show 8.  When I run Resource Monitor (Ctrl/Alt/Del - Performance tab then click on Resource Monitor) this does indeed show I have 8gb, with 4gb 'reserved for hardware'. Why we don't know. Seems it's using a simple algorithm - half for me, half for you. BUT.....when I run the Dell Support Center Application in Windows, the 'Memory' tab tells me I have 4gb of which only 2.5gb is 'available'. So it looks like something is grabbing another 1.5gb from memory, as well as the BIOS take of 4gb. Frankly, this seems ridiculous- only 2.5gb of available memory out of 8gb installed. Something clearly is wrong. First Dell told me it was a software problem and therefore was not supported under the warranty. But finally I persuaded them to replace the motherboard - and the tech is due in the next couple of hours to do that. I'll report back on the outcome. The amazing thing is - and this is a credit to the i7 processor and Windows 7 - the PC is still zipping along and my 'memory' gadget has so far only shown about 40% utilization. But 40% of what? I haven't the faintest idea!

Please keep me posted. I've already upgraded to 8GB and have exactly the same results as you. I'm at my wits end with it but if a new board solves it i'll be happy (could it really be one bad batch of boards???).

Incidentally, I noticed that the NVIDIA GT220 has been allocated 1787MB of shared system memory i.e. almost twice the onboard memory but that doesn't explain why so much and where the rest has gone. I tried upgrading the driver for it but it made no difference.

Well, here's the skinny. The tech replaced the motherboard - which he said would take 20 minutes - and over an hour latter was still struggling. Bottom line: The new MB didn't make any difference. It still showed 4gb. He was on the phone to XPS engineers for a long time but they couldn't help. Said it was a new one on them. One suggested it could be a 'software' problem but the tech had already disconnected the hard drives and the BIOS was still only coming up with half my installed memory. Being a Dell employee (or contractor) the tech was cagey and wouldn't advise me on what to do but he told me the XPS engineers said if I wanted a refund or exchange I should contact customer support. In other words, the door seems to be open for those options. I guess an exchange would just produce the same result. Here's my opinion (and I'm non-tech): Dell have screwed up in some way; there is a mismatch between the DDR3 modules and the MB or chipset. They're simply not working together properly. The problem hasn't come to light because we are among the very early users and, let's face it, most people would never check their BIOS or even the system settings, so they don't know they're being short-changed on memory function. I would invite other 8000 users who are reading this to check their BIOS and report back. Is anyone seeing the correct installed memory? And how does it look from inside W7? As for me, I think I'll be going for a refund and trying an i7 860 combo or similar from another manufacturer, unless I know for sure there is a BIOS update on the way. This is such a pity because this is the machine I want.

Received Studio XPS 8000 today , ordered November 4th 8 gig of memory installed and no issues with the memory.

We simply replaced the motherboards while under warranty and that fixed it for some users. We know that all of the memory must match. So if you had one 4GB 60KD4, P382H 1333MHz stick, the other three 4GB had to match it. Same applied to 4GB N852H 1066MHz, other three had to match.

One user posted this =
* Click START then type "MSCONFIG" in the search bar.
* Hit the "BOOT" tab then the "ADVANCED OPTIONS" button.
* Uncheck the box for MAXIMUM MEMORY - hit OK - hit APPLY - hit OK.
* Shutdown your PC.
* Install one memory stick then boot up. Check Windows System info to see if it is having all the ram as usable. If you installed 1 x 2GB, check if usable is 2GB or something close like 1.73GB or something. As long as it is not half or lower, you should be on the right path.
* Add the other memory sticks but do it one at a time while rebooting and checking System info. Make sure that the sticks "click" when you install it. I don't know if this is an issue but I always put the locking tabs in the locked position even though there are no memory sticks installed in a particular socket.