Physical memory

Hi,

In the 32-bit version of the operating system, there is a maximum of 4GB of
address space available. This is regardless of the capacity of the hardware.
Some of this address space is reserved for the hardware, typically around
..7GB but it can be as high as 1.5GB depending on the hardware and
configuration. Whatever remains is utilized for addressing the system ram,
roughly 2.5-3.4GB. This is a limitation of the 32-bit system (PAE is not
available in consumer Vista versions), you'd need to use the 64-bit version
to address larger amounts of memory.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
Vote for my shoe: http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"benson.gs" <guest.DeleteThis@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
news:4f0c07c29ac2bfaa14ffb0e64274224f@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> I just recently added a 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 PC8500 memory to my laptop
> which now has a total physical memory of 4GB. Checked if the Vista
> recognized the added RAM and the System info shows 4GB. Likewise, the
> Memory diagnostic tool reported "No errors found" in the 2 x 2GB memory
> modules. However, the task manager reports total physical memory is only
> 2516 MB and cache is reported at 1173 MB. Can somebody in the forum
> enlighten user of what's going on? Does this indicate that only 2.5GB is
> "used" by Vista? Where is the 1.5GB RAM?
>
>
> --
> benson.gs

What SP version of Vista are you running?
Are the two memory dims a matched pair? Vista only like to run in memory all
of which is running at the same speed.
Do the specs for your laptop say it will support 4GB, some laptops such as
mine will not due to the amount of heat that would be generated.
Vista does reserve memory and memory address space required for all graphic
operations and on may not show that memory as available for general use by
the OS.

"benson.gs" <guest.TakeThisOut@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
news:4f0c07c29ac2bfaa14ffb0e64274224f@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> I just recently added a 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 PC8500 memory to my laptop
> which now has a total physical memory of 4GB. Checked if the Vista
> recognized the added RAM and the System info shows 4GB. Likewise, the
> Memory diagnostic tool reported "No errors found" in the 2 x 2GB memory
> modules. However, the task manager reports total physical memory is only
> 2516 MB and cache is reported at 1173 MB. Can somebody in the forum
> enlighten user of what's going on? Does this indicate that only 2.5GB is
> "used" by Vista? Where is the 1.5GB RAM?
>
>
> --
> benson.gs

"benson.gs" <guest.DeleteThis@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
news:4f0c07c29ac2bfaa14ffb0e64274224f@nntp-gateway.com...
>
> I just recently added a 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 PC8500 memory to my laptop
> which now has a total physical memory of 4GB. Checked if the Vista
> recognized the added RAM and the System info shows 4GB. Likewise, the
> Memory diagnostic tool reported "No errors found" in the 2 x 2GB memory
> modules. However, the task manager reports total physical memory is only
> 2516 MB and cache is reported at 1173 MB. Can somebody in the forum
> enlighten user of what's going on? Does this indicate that only 2.5GB is
> "used" by Vista? Where is the 1.5GB RAM?
>
>
> --
> benson.gs

Upper 768MB (0.75GB) of memory is reserved for add on peripherals. That's
leaves 3.25GB for program and OS use.

It's hard to tell where the rest of the memory went without the make/model
of your laptop.

Your laptop maybe using a video chip that uses main memory as video memory
and has carved itself some 800MB chunk of memory from your pool of 3.25GB.
You might be able to reduce that in the BIOS, but without knowing what the
make and model is I couldn't give you a definite answer.