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    M9750 - usable memory issue

    Discussion in 'Alienware Area-51/Aurora and Legacy Systems' started by LaptopAdept, Jul 17, 2011.

  1. LaptopAdept

    LaptopAdept Newbie

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    Hi guys,

    I know this topic is all over the net, but I just couldn't find the "one and only" answer. I have 4 GB of ram installed, Win7 Prof 64-bit and in control panel it says that I have 4GB but only 3GB is usable. I noticed that I have 1GB allocated to "hardware reserve". So please all M9750 owners can you tell me if there is any way to fix that or that's the way it is and we can't change it.

    Thanks all
     
    LaptopAdept, Jul 17, 2011
    #1
  2. granyte

    granyte ATI+AMD -> DAAMIT

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    depends on your gpu
    your absolute memory limit is 4096MB including the memory the GPU use

    so if you have a gpu that got 512 of ram your absolute limit will be 3.584GB

    if you use one that got 1GB your limit will be 3.072GB
     
    granyte, Jul 17, 2011
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  3. LaptopAdept

    LaptopAdept Newbie

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    I have one GeForce 7950GTX with 512mb, so should I see 3.5 GB ?
     
    LaptopAdept, Jul 17, 2011
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  4. granyte

    granyte ATI+AMD -> DAAMIT

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    in theory yes but maybe if you are not using the lastes bios you are limited to a lesser amount
     
    granyte, Jul 17, 2011
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  5. LaptopAdept

    LaptopAdept Newbie

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    Maybe, that's why I hoped someone with M9750 will tell me what to do. I can see there are users here with the same system and in their sys info it states 4GB (don't know if it's installed or used) but anyway, thanks for looking at it :)
     
    LaptopAdept, Jul 17, 2011
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  6. kevmanw4301

    kevmanw4301 Notebook Deity

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    I had an M9750, there is no way whatsoever to get all 4GB useable. Sorry.
     
    kevmanw4301, Jul 18, 2011
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  7. cc//mini

    cc//mini Newbie

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    alienware told me that the reserve memory was for the sli.
    But no one really gave me a for sure answer.
    But you should look at some posts on the alienware support forums. There are some pissed off owners, most of all the people who bought the 4 gigs, were surprised when vista sp1 meant they could see the ram they had bought.
     
    cc//mini, Feb 15, 2012
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  8. simonmpoulton

    simonmpoulton Notebook Deity

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    I know i'm a bit late to this post but let me clarify it for you.
    The 4gb usable issue lies with a limitation in the Intel Chipset the M9750 is using. Intel designed it in such a way to only be able to address 32 bits of memory or 4gb. So if you add your SLI video cards in you lose 1GB usable. Essentially 64-Bit is utterly pointless on this machine.
     
    simonmpoulton, Mar 28, 2012
    #8