Hey. So I recently purchased the DDR2 4GB KIT, 667 PC2-5300 for my desktop and am having an issue or two with it.

For starters though, my system;
Gateway GT5628, 3GB RAM DDR2 (factory 2x512mb 2x1gb) dual channel, vista 32bit, intel core 2 duo quad q6600 2.4ghz.

I checked the centon memory matchmaker and the specs listed that it supported more memory than 4gb, and the spec sheet on the gateway website says the same thing.

I installed the ram, checked bios at startup and it's recognized. 2x2gb and 2x1gb rams installed. i ran a burnintest and it shows the same thing...but it's saying that my total physical memory is only 3.3gb, which was odd. so i opened up system information (right click my computer, properties, etc etc) and it shows the same thing, 3.3gb ram.

Is it something that i need to do manually? like the paging file system? (shows 3.6gb allocation) or am i just out of luck and need to return the 4gb kit?


thanks in advance.
ian =)

As you stated, your operating system is Windows Vista 32-bit. 32-bit operating systems are limited to 4GB max. Part of that 4GB is automatically reserved for various system resources, and thus the reported RAM amount by Windows 32-bit OS will be less than 4GB.

Here are some links that you may find helpful.....

Why doesn't my computer recognize added memory?

Can my system have too much memory?

4GB RAM installed, less than 4GB detected. Why?

In order for your operating system to recognize and utilize the full 6GB you have installed, you will need to upgrade to a 64-bit operating system, such as Windows 7 64-bit edition, Windows Vista 64-bit edition, or even a 64-bit version of Linux.