acer aspire 8530g sees very poor ram

first of all sorry for my english, but i write from italy.
does anyone can explain to me why i see only 2,4gb ram free? i've 32bit vista with 4gb installed, and usually i should see 2,75-3,25 ram, dipend from hardware.
my notebook specifications are in the signature. my pc is all original and i formatted once few days ago. nothing change.

thanks

gio

Acer Aspire 8530G - Vista Home Premium 6 sp2 32bit - mb Acer Aspire 8530 - Bios Phoenix v. 1.11 - AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile ZM-80 2.1Ghz - 2x2Gb DDR2666 SDRAM PC2-5300 - WD50 SCSI 500Gb - integrated GPU1 ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics 256Mb - GPU2 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 1Gb

 

Welcome to the forums, gielle67!

The reason you're only seeing 2.4GB of usable RAM is because you are using 32-bit Windows Vista. 32-bit Windows versions have a limit of 4GB of what is called "memory address space" - essentially, RAM + GPU video memory. Since your Radeon HD 3650 uses 1GB of that address space, and your Radeon HD another 256MB, you're ending up with less than 4GB of usable RAM.

The way to fix this is to switch over to a 64-bit version of Windows Vista; that will allow you to gain access to all 4GB of your RAM. Your license key should even be valid for the 64-bit version of Vista Home Premium.

 

thanks for your answer, but i don't understand yet...
i know that 32bit with PAE can see 4gb minus the ram for hardware (included shared ram for gpu but not the dedicated ram, right?). so advance 3,25-2,75 ram. this is what i read in several sites...
i made several test, with 4gb ram, 2gb ram and in "safe mode" (modalità provvisoria) and i don't understand how the gpu ram interacts with normal ram...
SiSoftSandra software says that the 3650 has 1gb + 959mb shared (?) and the 3200 has 256mb + 959mb shared (?)... u say i have to substract all this ram from 4gb??? and also some ram for the other hardware???
but if i make the same test with only 2gb ram installed, i find the 3650 with only 639mb shared, and the 3200 with 0mb shared... and then????
i attach msinfo32 screen in 4gb, 2gb and safe mode. i don't understand the difference for the ram.... can u explain to me?

and i have another strange problem: my ram doesn't work in dual channel, but the manual says:
• Dual-channel SDRAM support
• Up to 2 GB of DDR2 667 MHz memory, upgradeable to 4 GB using two soDIMM modules
as u know i can't do anything from the bios, and i don't know why dual channel doesn't work. the ram is ok, i put them in another acer and they work in dual channel properly....
my bios is updated recently v. 1.11

can u help me?

thanks a lot

Acer Aspire 8530G - Vista Home Premium 6 sp2 32bit - mb Acer Aspire 8530 - Bios Phoenix v. 1.11 - AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile ZM-80 2.1Ghz - 2x2Gb DDR2666 SDRAM PC2-5300 - WD50 SCSI 500Gb - integrated GPU1 ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics 256Mb - GPU2 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 1Gb

 

Windows 32bit can't address more than 4GB.

THIS INCLUDES DEDICATED Graphics RAM.

 

How did you determine that your ram is not operating in dual-channel? Use CPU-Z to find out (the Memory tab should say if you're in Dual or Single channel).

 

yeah i cant see how the ram wouldnt be running in dual-channel
its not like a desktop pc where there are setting in the bios to turn it on n off
most laptop bios dont let you to that

 

@ TehSuigi: i know tha my ram is not working in dual channel with CPU-Z and HWinfo32 programs exactly, see attachments.
for the poor ram, i'd like to know exactly how total ram and ram of the two gpu and the hardware interact each other... see the differences when i put only 2gb ram....

@ MEAKER: if i put a gpu with 4 gb dedicated, i'd see 0 ram free????

@ shakennstirred: my acer has dual-channel support...

thank all

Acer Aspire 8530G - Vista Home Premium 6 sp2 32bit - mb Acer Aspire 8530 - Bios Phoenix v. 1.11 - AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile ZM-80 2.1Ghz - 2x2Gb DDR2666 SDRAM PC2-5300 - WD50 SCSI 500Gb - integrated GPU1 ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics 256Mb - GPU2 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 1Gb

 

Well, remember the Radeon HD 3200 doesn't have any of its own memory (like the Radeon HD 3650). So if the Radeon HD 3200 is grabbing 256MB for its own use from your RAM right from the get-go, that's how you get 2,048MB (2GB) - 256MB = 1,792MB, which is close to the 1,789 MB in Windows (and that difference could just be Windows being stupid).

I honestly have no idea why your RAM isn't showing up as dual-channel in HWinfo or CPU-Z, but I do know that it's practically impossible for two RAM modules in two RAM channels to be working in any other manner. Maybe it's because you're on an AMD platform? AMD Turion processors have the memory controller built into the CPU, so it's possible that more Intel-focused programs are misreading things.

As for the whole 4GB graphics card thing - those are just starting to come out on desktop format; mobile GPUs are just reaching 3GB barely. Theoretically, however, I would think that Windows would realize the situation and simply ignore some of the video memory. Thus, you'd get ~1.5-2GB of RAM and ~2-2.5GB of video memory in that situation.

Also, I would suggest putting your system specs into your signature. That way, you don't have to keep pasting it into each of your posts. Click here to edit your signature.

 

yeah i know , i was saying most laptop don't have an option to have it on or off
its always on

 

This is why 64bit is good when you have 4 gigs of ram.

 

@TehSuigi: i attach a SiSoftSandra analisys, and u can see that if i use the ati 3200, i find 256mb physical memory (own memory?) + 959mb texture memory ( = shared memory ? ), and with ati 3650, 1gb + 959 texture mem (the same as 3200??? ); when i put 2gb of ram, i see ati 3200 with 256mb + 0mb shared and ati 3650 with 1gb + 639mb shared... ??????
i attach also other four tests of my sistem...
u can also see that my mb has "4 slots" for ram, for a maximum of 8gb... but when i open my pc i can see only two slots...??????
i found something, perhaps related with dual channel theme (see other attachments):

Bank 0 1GB DIMM Registered DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-20-5-3 1T
Bank 1 1GB DIMM Registered DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-20-5-3 1T
Bank 8 1GB DIMM Registered DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-20-5-3 1T
Bank 9 1GB DIMM Registered DDR2 5-5-5-15 3-20-5-3 1T
WHY 4 BANKS?? I HAVE 2 BANKS OF 2GB IN 2 SLOTS…??? and where are these 4 banks??????
Supported Memory Types DIMM DDR2 DDR3
Channels 2 related with DUAL CHANNEL???
Bank Interleave 2-way related with DUAL CHANNEL???

can u explain to me what is the difference for the ram if a gpu is integrated in the motherboard (3200) or not (3650)?

do u think that a program that recognize my cpu AMD exactly, cannot recognize a dual channel? do u know specific analisys program for amd systems? i didn't find....

and it's true that 2048 - 256 = free memory, but when i use 4gb? 4096 - 256 = 3840 instead of the 2,4gb ram free that i can see....???

other information: when i start the pc, the bios writes: 632k system ram passed, 3838M extended ram passed, very near to 3840 value seen before... but bios doesn't write anything about total ram and dual channel; in the internal bios pages i find 4gb installed and 1gb ram video memory

in your pc, do u have one or two gpu? i know that 64bit works differently, but how much free ram do u have?

for the signature, the link says this: vBulletin Message - Sorry, you are not permitted to have a signature ? what can i do?

recently i upgrade the bios... is possible this is the cause for dual channel not working? i don't know if dual channel worked with old bios... it's difficult the downgrade?

@shakennstirred and Meaker: in your pc, do u have one or two gpu? i know that 64bit works differently, but how much free ram do u have?

thank you very much for all your time spent


Acer Aspire 8530G - Vista Home Premium 6 sp2 32bit - mb Acer Aspire 8530 - Bios Phoenix v. 1.11 - AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile ZM-80 2.1Ghz - 2x2Gb DDR2666 SDRAM PC2-5300 - WD50 SCSI 500Gb - integrated GPU1 ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics 256Mb - GPU2 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 1Gb

 

my 8930g has 1 gpu and i have 4gig ddr3 ram and 1 gig ddr2 for the gpu

 

OK, let's try to decompress these problems and attack them one at a time. I've removed a few questions that I answered before or here.

I've heard of ATi Radeon HD 3200 on desktop motherboards being equipped with their own memory, but not in notebooks.

Integrated GPUs (like the HD 3200) rarely have their own memory, so they have to borrow some from the system RAM. Discrete GPUs (like the HD 3650) come with their own memory, and don't use any RAM from the system.

No clue. This is the first case I've seen like this.

Remember, a 32-bit operating system has only 4GB of "address space" - that has to include the Radeon HD 3650's 1GB of video memory too! When only 2GB of RAM is installed, you're only using 3GB of address space (2GB RAM + 1GB video memory).
When you've got 4GB of RAM installed, Windows only sees 3GB of that RAM because the Radeon HD 3650 is taking up the other 1GB of address space. And from that 3GB, the Radeon HD 3200 takes some, getting you close to that 2.4GB figure.

I've got only one GPU - a 512MB GeForce 9500M GS - and I've got 4GB of RAM installed. If I was using a 32-bit operating system, I would probably see around 3.5GB of RAM available for use (because my GeForce needs 0.5GB of address space for its memory). Since I'm using 64-bit Windows, I can utilize all 4GB of my RAM. And you can do the same if you move over to 64-bit!

Make 5 quality posts, then wait till 11pm EST. Says so right here.

I've never heard of a BIOS upgrade wiping out dual-channel compatibility, but BIOS upgrades are tricky things, and not recommended to do unless it specifically fixes something with your system. I wouldn't know.

Please don't use capital letters and bolding like that - it reads to us like you're shouting. "Channels - 2" does relate to dual-channel; it means that your system has two memory channels in it. If both of those channels are populated with RAM modules, your system will operate in dual-channel mode. "Bank Interleave - 2-way" sounds like it means your system is running in dual-channel mode, but a Google search reveals things too confusing for even me to wrap my head around.
As for the four banks, take a look at your CPU-Z results: under each DIMM, there's a "Number of Banks - 2". So each 2GB RAM modules has two 1GB banks on it. That's a dumb way to show it in Sandra, but it makes sense.

And as for your other test results:
-Sandra shows, under DIMM1 and DIMM2, the proper RAM installation - two modules of 2GB.
-On that note, I'm a little worried about your CPU temperature. Unless you're encoding HD video or running a stress test, you should not be in the 70-degree range. Aim for an idle temperature below 55.
-PC Wizard 2010: the "Supported Channels - Dual" is further proof that you're in dual-channel mode.