Windows 7 64Bit only 2.72GB Ram usable...got 4GB though... How to fix ??

[imperialnavy]

Hi,
i am having following problem : In my newest MBP (Mid09) i have 4GB ram, but Windows 7 64Bit shows that only 2.72GB ram are usable. Interestingly though, dxdiag shows that the Geforce 9600m GT is using about 1520Mb of Video ram. So thats probably where it went, right ? Now, is there any way i could reduce the video memory and put it to the ram ? I would like to be able to use more than 2.72 GB ram...

 

[kryptonianjorel]

Hi,
i am having following problem : In my newest MBP (Mid09) i have 4GB ram, but Windows 7 64Bit shows that only 2.72GB ram are usable. Interestingly though, dxdiag shows that the Geforce 9600m GT is using about 1520Mb of Video ram. So thats probably where it went, right ? Now, is there any way i could reduce the video memory and put it to the ram ? I would like to be able to use more than 2.72 GB ram...

Yeah, it looks like your video card is overstepping its bounds a little bit. I'm about to install Windows 7 on bootcamp, so i'll let you know if I run into the same problem

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Video card has nothing to do with system memory. Unless you are using the 9400M which sucks system memory but by default, the 9600M GT is installed and used by default. Try re-installing or just updating the system rating thing.

 

[imperialnavy]

I can try to reupdate the system rating, but currently there is no way i am going to reinstall the whole system...it took me weeks to configure the system and all the games

 

[imperialnavy]

Well i tried re-rating my system, still the same
There has got to be some way to reduce the video memory amount to lower levels..

 

[nigameash]

hmm vram has nothing to do with system memory! reinstall all the drivers perhaps?

 

[Marcus263]

ALL Windows versions do this. I have a PC with 4GB RAM, and with XP, Server 2003, Vista and Windows 7 it only shows 3GB. The explanation I got from the guys at PC Mech is that the Hardware GFX card is using some of it up. There is apparently nothing you can do about this.

 

[xparaparafreakx]

ALL Windows versions do this. I have a PC with 4GB RAM, and with XP, Server 2003, Vista and Windows 7 it only shows 3GB. The explanation I got from the guys at PC Mech is that the Hardware GFX card is using some of it up. There is apparently nothing you can do about this.

3GB of memory, that means you do not have the 64-bit version.

To the OP, when you use the nvidia control panels, does it show 9400m or 9600GT?

 

[Marcus263]

3GB of memory, that means you do not have the 64-bit version.

To the OP, when you use the nvidia control panels, does it show 9400m or 9600GT?

It did the same with the 64 but was lower.

 

[runebinder]

Re imperialnavy: When you bring up System properties, how much RAM does it show?

Win 7 and Vista use DWM> Desktop Windows Manager which is used to control Aero. Part of what it does is allocate extra system memory to bump up the available graphics memory, first noticed this on my desktop PC, had 2GB and it was using about 800MB for the graphics, upgraded to 4GB and that rose to about 1800MB used for graphics, so it's exponential.

On my MBP its shows total graphics memory: 2035MB, Dedicated video memory 256MB and Shared System memory: 1779MB.

If your System Properties shows 4GB than what you're experiencing is perfectly normal, unfortunately there is no way to turn this off (have looked into it). If System is showing 2.72GB then there is a problem with your install. I take it that the memory is all fine in OS X?

 

[kntgsp]

3GB of memory, that means you do not have the 64-bit version.

To the OP, when you use the nvidia control panels, does it show 9400m or 9600GT?

Get your point but still irrelevant. W7 32 Bit is supposed to show all 4 GB, even if it doesn't use it. So is Vista as of an update a few months back.

 

[imperialnavy]

I am using the 9400m isnt in use under windows Only the 9600m Gt is.
As for my ram, it shows 4Gb ram in total and 2.72 usable..
In Dxdiag it show that i have around 1641mb shared video memory.
In OS X i dont have that problem however
I would love to switch completly to OS X, Fallout 3 however wont like that at all So i suspect there is no way i can actually solve this problem ?
From what i have heard now, even if i would put in 8Gb ram, i would only get 4gb usable ram with a lot of luck..

 

[Diseal3]

What build are you using?

 

[Anuba]

I am using the 9400m isnt in use under windows Only the 9600m Gt is.
As for my ram, it shows 4Gb ram in total and 2.72 usable.

Where does it show that? It can't be in system properties since even the 32-bit version shows 4 GB there, despite the fact that it can't use all of it.

If you're talking about the Task Manager where it shows physical memory total/cached/available/free, the "available" number refers to the amount of RAM not in use (my MBP shows 2564 MB available there). All 4 GB are still available to the system, but the part that's occupied at the moment is obviously not immediately up for grabs.

I noticed another issue, though, while digging around in the Device Manager (I'm using Win7 64-bit on a MBP too)... a resource conflict lurking under System Devices > NVidia nForce System Management > Resources.

It reads...

I/O Range 4180-41BF
I/O Range 4140-417F
I/O Range 4100-413F

The last two have red icons on them, and in the "Conflicting device list" it reads

Input/Output Range 4140-417F used by:
Motherboard resources

Input/Output Range 4100-413F used by:
Motherboard resources

What's up with that?

 

[blackhand1001]

Your fine. Its all part of WDDM. If your system needs that memory for other things it will reallocate it.

 

[hazmatzak]

As for my ram, it shows 4Gb ram in total and 2.72 usable..

What exactly is "it"? Maybe you post a screenshot in case there is other relevant info nearby.

Video card has nothing to do with system memory

Unfortunately, it's not that simple, because of memory-mapped I/O. Here's both a Windows and Mac perspective on a general x86 hardware "problem". It's so much of a problem that, as mentioned, Windows recently changed the way they report installed memory.

Switching to 64-bit helps, but there's still the issue of running 32-bit programs under a 64-bit OS. There may always be a difference between:

• the amount of RAM installed
• the RAM that is addressable by the OS for all apps as part of its virtual memory management
• the memory that each app can "see at once" at any given time

especially when you run into the various limits (bit-size, chipset, MMIO, etc.)

 

[jxsilicon9]

Hi,
i am having following problem : In my newest MBP (Mid09) i have 4GB ram, but Windows 7 64Bit shows that only 2.72GB ram are usable. Interestingly though, dxdiag shows that the Geforce 9600m GT is using about 1520Mb of Video ram. So thats probably where it went, right ? Now, is there any way i could reduce the video memory and put it to the ram ? I would like to be able to use more than 2.72 GB ram...

Your video card is taking too much.Mines is 3.87gb. Well anyway its called turbocache. Basically uses your main memory/on-board memory with video card memory.Nvidia says it improves performance but who knows. Its hard to disable or change. Do a google search and there are plenty of people giving you ways on how to disable or change it.You should also check everest and see if its reporting accurately all the memory installed. It could be a memory module failure.

 

[ayeying]

Your fine. Its all part of WDDM. If your system needs that memory for other things it will reallocate it.

Not true... On my 9400, it only takes 256MB of ram even when it says I have over 800MB of ram available for the video card. No matter what, it should say "3.73GB Usable" if the OP has the 64-bit version. I suspect he has the 32-bit.

 

[RedRaven571]

No matter what, it should say "3.73GB Usable" if the OP has the 64-bit version.

That's what my iMac says, with W7 64 bit, 4GB RAM (3.73GB available).

 

[ryannazaretian]

Crazy that this thread was resurrected today. I just noticed that I only have about 3GB usable today.

 

[ri0ku]

Crazy that this thread was resurrected today. I just noticed that I only have about 3GB usable today.

View attachment 202611
View attachment 202612
View attachment 202613

huh I get 6.4 for gaming with my 9600 update your driver (btw i have 3.72gb usable in win 7 64bit)

 

[ryannazaretian]

huh I get 6.4 for gaming with my 9600 update your driver (btw i have 3.72gb usable in win 7 64bit)

These are the latest drivers that I can get. From laptopvideo2go.com... the one's the nVidia has on their website right now are slow. Using driver 191.56. Before my graphics were even lower.

Also, I messed around with drivers today, and couldn't get it to use the full 4GB still.

EDIT: I reran the assessment, and it's up to 6.4. My hard drive is still the slowest thing, even being a 7200RPM.