HELP...Weird Problem Vista Bugs and Problems Discuss HELP...Weird Problem in the Windows Vista forums; I have an Asus M2N-E SLI MB....Processor AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5400+....Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate (32-Bit)...BIOS Phoenix Technologies, LTD ...

[jacobsgm]

I have an Asus M2N-E SLI MB....Processor AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5400+....Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate (32-Bit)...BIOS Phoenix Technologies, LTD ASUS M2N-E SLI ACPI BIOS Revision 0701, 3/2/2007 (Latest Version)...2 1 Gig sticks of 800Mhz kINGSTON (K4T51083QC) (KVR800D2N5/1G) which the manual says is compatible memory.

I decided to upgrade to 4 gigs ( 4 1 gig sticks) of the same exact memory. When I add the 2 extra sticks...Vista takes a good 3 minutes to boot, and half of my drivers won't load. If I remove them, then everything is fine once again. Can anyone help me out with this problem. I hate to think that I wasted $120 on new memory.

[felix8406]

You might first want to test your RAM, this shouldn't be too difficult if you know exactly which sticks you just installed. For example, if you had two sticks already installed, remove them and run your PC with just the two newer sticks. If they work fine, then the issue might be with your motherboard. If they don't work, removed one of the sticks and run Vista with just one stick. If that work or even if it doesn't, remove it and try the other stick. If one stick works, and the other doesn't, then you'll know what the problem is.

If neither of the two work, but the PC runs fine with the older sticks, then you need to take them back. Make sure your ground yourself before handling the RAM chips, they can easily get damage by static electricity.

[Snuffy]

You might TRY only 3GB... and leave the 4th OUT.

Summary:
If you are running 32-bit Windows, you must live with it. You will not ever see all 4GB of RAM you've paid for.

If you are running 64-bit Windows, you may have to live with it. Depending on your motherboard's chipset, your system may support memory remapping. If so, you will be able to use all 4GB of RAM.

Detailed:
Due to an architectural decision made long ago, if you have 4GB of physical RAM installed, Windows is only able to report a portion of the physical 4GB of RAM (ranges from ~2.75GB to 3.5GB depending on the devices installed, motherboard's chipset & BIOS).

This behavior is due to "memory mapped IO reservations". Those reservations overlay the physical address space and mask out those physical addresses so that they cannot be used for working memory. This is independent of the OS running on the machine.

Significant chunks of address space below 4GB (the highest address accessible via 32-bit) get reserved for use by system hardware:

• BIOS – including ACPI and legacy video support

• PCI bus including bridges etc.

• PCI Express support will reserve at least 256MB, up to 768MB depending on graphics card installed memory.

additional c/p that will make you MAD..

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes Gear for Geeks Machines Vista May 30th, 2007
Vista will drive users to 4GB RAM, and the 4GB limit will driver users to 64-bitPosted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 7:01 am

Categories: Microsoft, Components, Hardware, Vista

Tags: 64-bit, Operating System, Microsoft Windows Vista, RAM, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
But … if you’re running a 32-bit OS you’re not going to see 4GB even if you do spend the money. After everything else has taken its share you don’t end up with 4GB, you end up with only 3GB. The OS swindles you out of 1GB. The fix? Jump to 64-bit.

The tale of the 4GB Ram and Windows Vista 64-bit
by Milo on May 30th, 2007
Adrian over at ZDNET says that the key for consumers moving into 64-bit platform is by breaking the 4GB RAM barrier. Currently, Windows Vista 32-bit version can only read 3GB of RAM and the only way you could utilize a 4GB of RAM is by moving to 64-bit versions.

Sorry to send you this NEWS... but Vista 32Bit is NO WAY for 4GB... but 3GB is YES

[crabby]

If you of the sticks is a dud you need not worry, you can just return it DoA

crabby

[jacobsgm]

Originally Posted by jacobsgm

I have an Asus M2N-E SLI MB....Processor AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5400+....Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate (32-Bit)...BIOS Phoenix Technologies, LTD ASUS M2N-E SLI ACPI BIOS Revision 0701, 3/2/2007 (Latest Version)...2 1 Gig sticks of 800Mhz kINGSTON (K4T51083QC) (KVR800D2N5/1G) which the manual says is compatible memory.

I decided to upgrade to 4 gigs ( 4 1 gig sticks) of the same exact memory. When I add the 2 extra sticks...Vista takes a good 3 minutes to boot, and half of my drivers won't load. If I remove them, then everything is fine once again. Can anyone help me out with this problem. I hate to think that I wasted $120 on new memory.

I was wondering if what felix8406 said about the motherboard being the problem...because no matter what memory stick i install or which slot I put it in...it is fine. But, if I try to put in either 3 or 4 sticks, it is extreme slow, and refuses to load half of my device drrivers. But after Vista does finally boot, it shows the 3gigs that you are talking about...but most of my devices do not function.

[Snuffy]

Windows Vista 32B CAN NOT READ 4GB of MEMORY.
simply stop trying to use 4 sticks... 3GB will run work AOK.

Its not your mobo.. it is the OS made by Microsoft.
If you want to run 3 sticks of memory make sure the slowest stick is first, the fastest stick goes in last ... and 800 Mhz Kingston Memory... is almost surely the FASTEST memory you have.

Sorry to send you this NEWS...3GB is YES, and slowest memory goes in first...
If all 4 sticks are (?) the exact same... then use a memory tester and test ea stick, marking to insure them by SPEED ... You might also insure the BIOS is set to DeFAULT setting for Memory.

[jacobsgm]

Sure...I understand the barrier, but I have read some of the other people's posts that say when they put the other memory in the system, they boot-up flawlessly. The memory above 3gigs is just not readable by Vista.The part about the drivers not loading, is what has me stumped. And another thing about the MOBO is that the SLI never has seemed to work right even at 2gigs ram. Could it be that the the 32-bit memory limit includes the Video memory? They are 2, NVIDEA 7600 GS 512K video cards which take it up over the 3 gig limit.

[crabby]

Have you read the version changes for your updated BIOS flashes? Do they mention anything about this?

crabby

[felix8406]

Now that Crabby mentioned the BIOS, when you insert all four modules, does it shows on your BIOS? Also, while checking the BIOS, check to make sure there isn't something that need to be changed; which I doubt, but just in case.

I still think it's the MOBO. Not necessarily that it's bad, but that the BIOS software has flaws.

[jacobsgm]

Hi All,

Thanks for all your help, but I found the problem...Take heed this may happen to you.

Over the years, I have bought many of my computer parts from Tiger Direct, and they always treated me right. I had bought the Motherboard and Processor off them as a combo offer to save a little money. And since I have always done this, I wouldn't have guessed or even thought that they would sell me a motherboard/processor bundle that was not compatible with each other. After digging some more, and 2 hours on the phone, I finally had to threaten Tiger Direct with a lawsuit, because the sale was over 30 days old!!...well anyway I am going to get an exchange, After all, it is my opinion it was their fault selling something in a combo that really wasn't!!! Not sure I want to do business with them again!!!!