Is my RAM correct? [RESOLVED]

[Madboy]

It shows up as 111Mb ram, but is it not supposed to be 128.0Mb ram?

[dglienna]

Well, no doubt there is a 128M stick in your machine (or 2 64M sticks)
but your CPU is tying up a small portion of the RAM for internal memory.
That is not unusual. In fact, we were discussing it a while back. My computer is supposted to have 256M, but it starts up with 240 or so, and when I boot up it drops down to 220 and goes down from there. Things work fine as long as things don't drop below 160M. Norton tells me what I have while it's running.

[Dreamlax]

Well, no doubt there is a 128M stick in your machine (or 2 64M sticks)
but your CPU is tying up a small portion of the RAM for internal memory.
That is not unusual. In fact, we were discussing it a while back. My computer is supposted to have 256M, but it starts up with 240 or so, and when I boot up it drops down to 220 and goes down from there. Things work fine as long as things don't drop below 160M. Norton tells me what I have while it's running.

Actually it is more likely being reserved as Video RAM. The CPU does not reserve anything. It's very unlikely that it is showing up an odd number, though. Go into your BIOS settings (press DEL during the first few seconds of boot), and if you have a Phoenix BIOS installed, you will be given a menu, and of the first three or four is an option which allows you to alter how much video RAM you need. If you never play games etc, set it low, otherwise if you run graphic intensive apps, set it high.

On most new motherboards with integrated graphics chipsets, please be aware that they only have about 512kb of memory themselves, and require the use of installed RAM.

If you do use graphic intensive apps, it's much wiser to buy a graphics adapter with its own memory.

[Madboy]

On my old pc, i had 128.0Mb ram, when i right clicked My Computer > Performance it showed up 128.0, how come this pc only shows 111Mb then? I thought it was impossible, and memory only came n 64,128,256,512Mb ram?

[dglienna]

I called it a cpu, when in fact it is all the hardware in the system that may use up RAM. You are right about 64/128/256/512 MB.

[Madboy]

Ok, but the actual question was, can i get it to show up as 128, or does it mean my Ram might be broke?

[visualAd]

Like dreamlax and dglienna have said, other hardware may be using your system memory too. Most likely the graphics system if you are using an old PC. As mentioned earlier, you can see the total amount of "Physical Memory" present in your PC when your computer starts up by going into the BIOS.

[Dreamlax]

Like dreamlax and dglienna have said, other hardware may be using your system memory too. Most likely the graphics system if you are using an old PC. As mentioned earlier, you can see the total amount of "Physical Memory" present in your PC when your computer starts up by going into the BIOS.

It is quite common even for newer motherboards to come with a built in graphics adapter. Even big computer distributors like Dell and Acer simply use in-built adapters as it is far cheaper than buying a separate one. They require a minimal amount of RAM themselves (which is why they usually come with 512kB), just in case the computer is booted with no installed memory, but ultimately it is the first piece of hardware to grab memory. As far as the operating system goes, it considers extended RAM and video RAM to be entirely independent of each other.

For there to be 111 MB of RAM, you must have 128 MB installed, and 16 MB reserved for video. The remaining 1 MB is probably a rounding error. Don't worry about it though, and if it really bothers you, then you have two options. Shell out for a new graphics adapter, or take the cheaper option of buying a little extra RAM.

Edit:
Actually, I could be wrong here, but if you have a SoundBlaster AWE32 or any SoundBlaster released after that, some RAM may be reserved for the default SoundFont. The earlier AWE32 and AWE64 had RAM of its own, and I know for sure that newer models first enquire with the operating system about snatching RAM (and Windows would still report the full amount (less the video RAM of course)), but some models might snatch RAM before the operating system even loads.

[Madboy]

ok, i see now :blush:

Thanks :p

[thegreatone]

I kow your pain, mine used to show up as 703MB RAM... i recently bought a ATI Radeon 9550 with 256MB RAM onboard, and now mine shows up fine @ 768MB RAM.

I would also like to say that Ram goes up like so -
16/32/64/128/256/512/1024/2048
i have yet to see higher in a single stick :-P

[Dreamlax]

i have yet to see higher in a single stick :-P

Should see some of the servers they have now. The RAM is used like a hard drive now.

[thegreatone]

Should see some of the servers they have now. The RAM is used like a hard drive now.
Link me :P

[<ABX]

Link me :P
http://www.valueram.com/products/ProductList.asp

(Search for 4096mb on the page to find it quick)

Note that 4096mb is the absolute maximum (excluding workarounds :/) for a 32bit processor to use.

The limit for a 64bit processor is 16TB (1TB = 1024GB = 1024^2 MB)