4 GB RAM (2.99 GB usable), reported the same on 3 OSes - Hardware & Software

Hi, so I came across 3 booting Dell Vostro 1710s, but I have a problem. They all ran XP on an enterprise server (which I hadn't signed onto for 2 years), so I reformatted and installed Windows 10 on one :v:, 7 on another, and XP on the third. They are all x86, because I wasn't sure about the Merom Core 2 Duo (2.0GHz) being x64 or not (even though they have a Vista Business COA on the bottom) Dell's drivers site lists them under Vista 32-bit. Win10 lists itself as a 64-bit processor. Now, on to the problem. XP, 7 and 10 all list RAM as 4.00 GB installed, but only 2.99 GB usable. I've tried updating BIOS and fooling around in msconfig. But Resource Monitor shows that 1000 MB of RAM is reserved for the hardware. This is driving me insane, is there anything I can do?

[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;48504778]Sounds like Integrated graphics taking that entirely.[/QUOTE] Odd, Halo CE reported 64 MB vram on the 7 :v:

[QUOTE=chipsnapper2;48504790]Odd, Halo CE reported 64 MB vram on the 7 :v:[/QUOTE] A lot of old games have weird trouble with memory amounts way larger than was around when they were made. I wouldn't credit that number too much. Check in your BIOS - there might be a setting to change how much memory is allocated for the GPU, or at least something to say how much is being used. And something like GPUz might have an indicator for it as well.

So wait, what version of Windows are you running? 32 or 64 bit? Your post has me confused. Because 32 bit consumer versions of Windows will acknowledge that 4 GB are installed, but will not use all of it because some memory is reserved for the system. That being said, checking how much RAM your allocated to integrated graphics isn't a bad idea either. Also the Meroms C2D's are 64 bit processors.

[QUOTE=gman003-main;48504984]A lot of old games have weird trouble with memory amounts way larger than was around when they were made. I wouldn't credit that number too much. Check in your BIOS - there might be a setting to change how much memory is allocated for the GPU, or at least something to say how much is being used. And something like GPUz might have an indicator for it as well.[/QUOTE] Halo CE's latest patch supports modern graphics and doesn't need a disc check. [QUOTE=Demache;48505293]So wait, what version of Windows are you running? 32 or 64 bit? Your post has me confused. Because 32 bit consumer versions of Windows will acknowledge that 4 GB are installed, but will not use all of it because some memory is reserved for the system. That being said, checking how much RAM your allocated to integrated graphics isn't a bad idea either. Also the Meroms C2D's are 64 bit processors.[/QUOTE] 32, they all ran XP and I only had a x86 Dell OEM disk

[QUOTE=chipsnapper2;48505389]Halo CE's latest patch supports modern graphics and doesn't need a disc check.[/QUOTE] Plenty of games will work absolutely fine, they'll just report completely preposterous numbers. UT99 reports I have 2GB of RAM and 4GB of VRAM (actual amounts: 12GB and 2GB). Runs just fine. Numbers are wrong. I seem to recall something weird with Halo when I put it on my desktop, even with the latest patch, but I'm not at my desktop right now so I can't check.

x86 suffers from the 3gb barrier -> [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_GB_barrier[/url] There is a 3.5gb mode in msconfig, although depending on your chipset and gpu, it might not do anything, or not be available. That integrated chip won't have 1gb of dedicated memory, and on x86-64, you'll get to use more ram.

[QUOTE=Cold;48505664]x86 suffers from the 3gb barrier -> [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_GB_barrier[/url] There is a 3.5gb mode in msconfig, although depending on your chipset and gpu, it might not do anything, or not be available. That integrated chip won't have 1gb of dedicated memory, and on x86-64, you'll get to use more ram.[/QUOTE] Odd, I thought it was 4 GB. Anyways, will changing Win10 from x86 to x64 remove the key from the hardware? ( if the key is stored on Vista-era hardware)

I installed x64 today on the W10 one, I didn't delete the 100MB partition Win7 left or the 500MB partition x86 Win10 left. It still asked for a key both times, am I in trouble?

[QUOTE=chipsnapper2;48510167]I installed x64 today on the W10 one, I didn't delete the 100MB partition Win7 left or the 500MB partition x86 Win10 left. It still asked for a key both times, am I in trouble?[/QUOTE] Did you save the one that was in Windows? From what I understand, Windows 10 upgrades have a generic key, and as long as you upgraded on your current hardware, your Windows install will activate. Someone else correct me if I'm wrong. [editline]21st August 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=chipsnapper2;48507053]Odd, I thought it was 4 GB. Anyways, will changing Win10 from x86 to x64 remove the key from the hardware? ( if the key is stored on Vista-era hardware)[/QUOTE] 4 GB is the limit, but some memory addresses are reserved (usually around 512 MB), and it also has to allocate some space for VRAM.