Not all installed RAM usable.

[Vercas]

So, when I bought this new PC it came with one DIMM of 2 GB memory. So far so good, but I wanted more so I bought another 2GB DIMM, but, to my surprise, in the properties window of my computer I read the following:
Installed memory (RAM): 4.00 GB (3.50 GB usable)

Well, it turns out that I need that half of a Gigabyte for a game!
I have checked again and again in my BIOS and there isn't any memory shared anywhere!
(EDIT) I don't know if it matters, but I am running a 32-bit version of Windows 7 Ultimate Edition.
(EDIT #2) My pagefile is set to 6 GB initially and the max is 10 GB. I have enough HDD space.

How do I get to use all my installed RAM?

 

[Dr Super Good]

1. Reformat your boot disk, deleting all data on it. Or get a new Hard disk for a boot disk.
2. Buy or download a 64 bit Opperating system.
3. Install the 64 bit opperating system.
4. Gasp at how all your memory is usable! The game may not be able to use all that memory though.

Basically, 32 bit OS can only allocate 3 GB (XP) or 4 GB (vista/7). Of this memory, next to some small reserved stuff, the top of it is your video memory, the rest of it is RAM. If you have a 1 GB graphic card and 4 GB ram then only 3 GB of ram can be addressed in 32 bit opperating systems.

I use windows 7 64bit which is able to address many Terabytes of RAM. I have 6.75 GB of memory (750 graphic and 6 RAM) and so all of it is able to be addressed. If I used a 32 bit opperating system I would be limited to on ly 3.25 GB of RAM.

Also what hellish game ar you trying to run? I have only ever seen SC2 uses 2 GB of RAM and thats prety demanding.

 

[Vercas]

Arcania, but with a mod I am developing, that is the game.
Well, the game requires minimum 2 GB and recommends 4, but the editor also takes 1 GB so it's kinda much...

So the solution is basically installing a 64-bit OS? I was afraid of that.

Edit: Wait, I (should) have 1GB video memory.

 

[Dr Super Good]

If the game is 32 bit, it may not be able to use all the memory properly.

 

[Vercas]

If the game is 32 bit, it may not be able to use all the memory properly.

Ah... Would that mean that I have to reinstall ALL my games?

 

[Dr Super Good]

Obviously you would have to if you changed OS...

Not all games have 64bit distributions. For example SC2, WC3 and WoW are all 32 bit. 64 bit OS technically can not run 32 bit programs, but it can run them via an emulation mode (WOW64, Windows on Windows64) which works extreemly well (my PC runs SC2 flawlessly despite it bing 32bit).

Those games will always be bound to the restrictions of 32bit OS otherwise they may exibit undesired behaviour.

 

[Vercas]

Obviously you would have to if you changed OS...

Not all games have 64bit distributions. For example SC2, WC3 and WoW are all 32 bit. 64 bit OS technically can not run 32 bit programs, but it can run them via an emulation mode (WOW64, Windows on Windows64) which works extreemly well (my PC runs SC2 flawlessly despite it bing 32bit).

Those games will always be bound to the restrictions of 32bit OS otherwise they may exibit undesired behaviour.

Thanks for all the information. I will install the 64 bit Windows tomorrow. +rep for your time

 

[BlargHonk]

Thanks for all the information. I will install the 64 bit Windows tomorrow. +rep for your time

If you install without a format it will relegate all your files to Windows.Old

A simple move with some registry mucking will get games in working order without a reinstall usually (don't forget Appdata folders)

 

[Dr Super Good]

Warcraft III, Diablo II and probably SC2 actually do not need to be installed, it creates its registery on demand as long as it was installed at some time and the main program and data files were moved in the same strucutre.

 

[Ironside]

Also I wish to point out that on x64 you will probably have to set your warcraft III resolution via regedit else it will be maximum 3/4 of the screen. (well at least I had to, so I'm not sure)

Anyway if that's the case, they are located in HKEY_Current_User/Software/Blizzard/Warcraft/Video/reswidth & resheight

Something like that, can't check currently (Linux)

 

[Vercas]

Warcraft III already doesn't support my (new) screen size so I am changing the registry.
I must get a DVD tho...

 

[BlargHonk]

Also I wish to point out that on x64 you will probably have to set your warcraft III resolution via regedit else it will be maximum 3/4 of the screen. (well at least I had to, so I'm not sure)

Might just be your video drivers, Catalyst 10.12 does Wc3 fine on Win7-64

 

[Ironside]

Might just be your video drivers, Catalyst 10.12 does Wc3 fine on Win7-64

Very possible too.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Its entirly the driver. In nvidia drivers you can tell it to eithor stretch the image to full screen if at a lower resolution or to keep aspect ratio or even not to scale at all.

 

[andreasaspenberg]

i run a 32 bit system and can use 4 gigabytes of ram.(which is all my pc have.) maybe a software update can solve the problem the topic starter have.

 

[Dr Super Good]

andreasaspenberg, he can also use 4GB of RAM however his graphic card is eating up 512 MB of that 4GB limit and as such he can only allocate 3.5 GB of main RAM.

If you are using a laptop with intigrated graphic card (no dedicated memory), it can allocate 4GB of main system RAM but that comes at the cost of poor graphic performance.

Software updates can not alter how much RAM is allocated, the restriction is deeply embeded into the opperating system (3GB on XP due to the OS reserving 1GB) or is due to technical restrictions of the 32 bit mode processor opperation (only has enough addresses to allocate 4 GB of memory into bytes).

Inorder to allocate more than 4GB of memory, you need to run your processor in 64bit mode (most processors for desktops and laptops support this). This bumps the memory address size to 64 bits so it is stupidly large. Infact the only limits on memory allocation 64bit opperating systems have is simlar to XP, where there is a software limit in place by the actual opperating system itself.

Also do keep in mind that this limit applies to programs as well. You can not get a 32bit program to allocate more than 4GB of memory due to 4GB virtual address size.

 

[Vercas]

So I'll buy a Windows 7 Ultimate Edition x64 next week.

 

[Disasterpiece512]

Arcania works fine on my comp, and I only have 2 GB of ram. How could you possibly require 4 GB or RAM to play it?

Still, it's badly optimized, and it's very picky with hardware. It doesn't run well on any computer. Try installing a 64 bit OS and having the latest drivers for your video card.

 

[Vercas]

It requires MINIMUM 2 GB. But the world editor I use to make my mod requires 2 GB more!