RAM Not Registering?

[Whibble]

So I bought this new rig with 8 GB of ram, two 4 GB chips. 240 pin slot or whatever. However, it's telling me I only have 3.24 GB of RAM. Any ideas as to why not all of my ram is registering? Windows 7 Home Premium.

 

[Hawg]

Windows 7 Ate all of the rest.

Ensure your RAM is compatible in every aspect with your Mobo and CPU, imo.

 

[Whibble]

It is.

 

[Hawg]

Trry swapping the sticks between ports

 

[Xero]

You're most likely using Windows 7 32-Bit, which only detects up to 4GB.

If you install the 64-Bit version of Windows 7, it can detect up to 192GB. (If you bought Windows separately or it came with its own case, it should have come with two disks; 32-Bit and 64-Bit.)

 

[Hawg]

Or that, 64 Bit is always superior.

 

[Whibble]

It is 32 bit. Are you serious, it only gets 4 GB? That seems like a serious OS flaw.

 

[Zaubermuffin]

32 bit systems can't handle more than 2^32 bytes of ram because they are unable to manage it, address wise. So it's not just "not detecting" your RAM, it's simply unable to use it.

To imagine that, you have a hotel with 100 bedrooms but only a clipboard with ten lines. You won't be able to hold more than ten customers at once.

 

[Hawg]

64 bit is cooler anyways, Whibble.

Bigger is better!

 

[Whibble]

My processor is also 32 bit. And it was $250.

Guess I'll make due with 4 GB.