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Chris G
Chris G asked in Computers & InternetOther - Computers · 10 years ago

Computer question: Only showing 2.5GB out of 4GB ram?

So I have 4GB ram installed and BIOS is detecting all of it. But when I go to my computer settings, it is saying 2.8GB. I had onboard graphics at that time and knew it must be taking some of the RAM. Then I just installed a graphics card (Zotac GeForce 9500GT has 1GB ram) and it is now at 2.5GB! I thought adding a graphics card will increase my available ram.

I checked both device manager and BIOS and they are saying the integrated VGA is disabled and that it is only showing the 9500GT. The graphics card is 1GB -- does that mean it has 1GB ram on it or that it will take 1GB of my ram??

Update:

I have both XP-32bit and Vista-32bit and they are both saying 2.5GB

Update 2:

My other HP desktop has integrated graphics, same vista 32-bit and is showing 3.5GB ram. It has 4x1GB sticks and this one has 2x2GB if that makes a difference. And it doesn't make any sense that I started with 2.8GB with onboard graphics and then went down to 2.5GB after adding a graphics card?? What the hell?

4 Answers

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  • steve_loir
    Lv 7
    10 years ago

    Firstly, if you are running a 32-bit version of Windows then it can only see about 3.5GB of RAM.

    And yes, some graphics cards do use some system memory (RAM).

    You can check your graphics card if you go to Control Panel, Display, Screen Resolution, Advanced Settings. It will tell you how much System Memory it is using.

    DXDIAG will also show useable RAM.

  • Anonymous
    10 years ago

    The 1GB of ram on the video card has nothing to do with your 4GB, it is built in to the video card.

    my best guess would be that you are using a 32-bit operating system, you require a 64-bit operating system in order to use more than 3GB of RAM

  • eric
    10 years ago

    You need a 64 bit OS to use 4GB of RAM or more. So your need to upgrade your OS.

  • jonsey8008
    10 years ago

    Scypher's answer is right on the money

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