I have two 4GB RAM sticks for a total of 8GB, but my system is only recognizing 3.9GB as usable. Is this normal, or is there something wrong?
4 Answers
Make sure your BIOS is up to date; sometimes that can affect RAM recognition. Also, double-check that your RAM sticks are installed correctly in the motherboard.
Nope, that's not normal! You should definitely be on a 64-bit OS to access more than 4GB of RAM. Check your system settings and see what you're using.
Another thing to check is if your motherboard has shared memory configured for the GPU, which can take away from your usable RAM. Look into that, too!
It's likely that you're using a 32-bit operating system, which can only utilize up to 4GB of RAM. If you're on a 64-bit OS, it should show the full amount.
Haha, right? I can't believe people still use 32-bit OS's!