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11927
May 7th, 2009 20:00
RAM issues
I bought a Dell XPS M1530 not too long ago and i made sure that i had 6gb of ram installed on it, i have been using it for a while and i stumbled on some specific details of the computer. What i learned was that the laptop has 6gb of physical memory installed but the maximum available memory for the laptop is about 4gb. Now i want to know is what happens to that extra 2gb and if i can't use it then why did i pay extra for the ram?
Dave576
170 Posts
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May 7th, 2009 23:00
animefreakdan,
I have been searching RAM questions previously and found some answers on this subject.
Check if your system is 32bit. If it is, and it sounds like it might be, the OS can only utilize max 4GB. As explained below it might not be able to use the entire 4GB for RAM.
If you do have a 64bit OS, it could be that one of your memory Dimms is not seated correctly or the Dimm is bad. There are other things that can cause this, first send more info on your system.
A 64bit OS, which must be supported by the processor and motherboard, can use much higher RAM up to 128GB (and possibly more), although my Studio 1737 with 64bit OS has a maximum of 8GB RAM due to the motherboard (I think) and Vista premium is limited to 16GB RAM.
Please post more information/specs about your computer. OS Vista? 32bit or 64bit? Memory slots (laptop are usually 2)? Any more info tht you can find.
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19250695.aspx
Mr._Pseudonym
Joined on 09/08/2008
Posts: 217
Points 56,938
Re: 4GB Laptops and no 64bit support?
10 Jan 2009 02:10PM
:^/ Well, a 32 bit processor can reach 4,294,967,296 addresses, or 4GB of RAM. But, the processor must also communicate with other things, such as the graphics card, sound card, input/output controllers for the keyboard, mouse/touchpad, optical drive, hard drive, USB and othe ports, and so on. Since the range of addresses used by these must exist within the 4,294,967,296 address space, the whole range cannot be used for RAM.
How much you'll have left is partly due to how much is used by everything else. The bigger your graphics card, the less RAM is left, etc.
The only way around that is to use a 64-bit operating system, which requires a 64-bit processor.
:^/ As for 64-bit drivers for Vista, I expect that it includes appropriate drivers for most popular components, but if your Vostro 1510 has a 32-bit processor as my XPS M1210 does, then you won't be able to use a 64-bit OS, and will be maxed out at 4GB's of RAM, just as I am now.
From another source:
Memory maximums for current Microsoft® Windows OSs include:
Windows Vista (32 bit)
Windows Vista (64 bit)
As for your last question, did you call Dell sales before or after (before it was shipped) you placed the order?
I have always done this to let them check if my order is complete and/or correct. They will usually offer free or discounted upgrades also, and the normal upgrades of coarse.
They hopefully would have caught this!
Hope this helps,
Dave
animefreakdan
3 Posts
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May 8th, 2009 17:00
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/7571/comspec.jpg
Well there is a picture of probably all the info on the computer i know, this was my first time i ordered from dell and i had ordered online so i wasn't speaking to a dell representative in order to check what it does and what not. The computer recognizes that it has 6gb's of memory installed but is only able to use 4.5gb of it.
Dave576
170 Posts
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May 8th, 2009 22:00
animefreakdan,
Your computer has a 64bit operating system (System Type: X64-based PC). Using Vista Premium its max memory is 16GB, your computers max is probably less, my 64bit is max 8GB.
The 64bit OS allows you to use more memory than the 32bit OS max 4GB.
Your 'System Information' window is showing:
Installed Physical Memory 6GB
This is the actual GBs on the Dimms that are sitting in your computer
Total Physical Memory 6GB
This is the amount of GBs your computer sees in the memory slots. This is the total amount available to your computer.
Available Physical Memory 4.18GB
This is the amount of memory that isn't being used right now, it's available to be used. The other 1.82 Gb is currently being used by programs, Vista will always be using some. If you have several programs running the 'Available memory' will be lower, if one program is running the 'Available memory' will be higher. If you have a lot of programs running in your system tray this will also be using your memory.
You can check in 'Windows Task Manager' on the 'Processes' tab what programs are using how much memory. Most of the ones that you might not be able to recognize are likely vista programs.
Your computer has 6GB memory installed and Vista is using all of it.
Hope this clarifies how your memory is working.
Dave
animefreakdan
3 Posts
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May 9th, 2009 08:00
oh ok, now i get it, before i thought that what total available memory meant was the maximum my computer was allowed to use at any certain point. I guess i was wrong and thx for clearing up that misunderstanding. It did help a lot.