[Cherve]

Computer specs:

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Power Supply: Antec 850watt
Motherboard: Asus P6T
CPU: Intel core i7 920 2.67
Hard Drives: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB
Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB
GPUs: (2) Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6950 crossfired
RAM: previously only 6GB Super Trends (2x3)
added 6GB Corsair Vengence (2x3)

Well as stated I previously had Super Trends 6GB (2x3) and I wanted to increase the amount to 12GB so I recently purchased Corsair Vengence 6GB (2x3). I took out all the sticks of ram and placed the Corsairs in the first three slots and they work fine. I then added the Super Trends to the three extra slots. In system information it states there is 8GB of installed physical memory, and total virtual memory is 16GB.
In CPU-Z it states there is 10GB installed and the sixth slot is empty, the third Super Trends stick. Im getting mixed numbers and none of them are what im looking for (12GB). I have tried countless times shutting down and removing the sixth slot and replacing the stick. I have tried swapping the Super Trend sticks and still the sixth slot is empty. I need help I don't know if i am doing something wrong, not doing enough, or how to fix this. Thank you for any feedback.

[waldojim]

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit is limited to 8GB by Microsoft. They feel that buying a 64bit OS does not entitle you to use the memory range supported by the OS. Rather they did this to force users to "upgrade" to Professional edition or Ultimate edition.

EDIT: Added linky above.

This post has been edited by waldojim: 10 March 2012 - 12:19 PM

[waldojim]

Now - where are all the nay-sayers claiming the average user would never see a problem with the Windows money suck limits?

[Cherve]

So does that mean the extra 4GB are wasted and will never be used? What is the reason behind my sixth slot having a stick of ram there but not existing on the computer?

This post has been edited by Cherve: 10 March 2012 - 12:54 PM

[LiveBrianD]

waldojim, on 10 March 2012 - 12:16 PM, said:

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit is limited to 8GB by Microsoft. They feel that buying a 64bit OS does not entitle you to use the memory range supported by the OS. Rather they did this to force users to "upgrade" to Professional edition or Ultimate edition.

EDIT: Added linky above.

NO, home basic (not sold in the US) is limited to 8GB. Home Premium is limited to 16GB.

So, in CPU-Z, only the 6th slot is detected? What if you just put known good ram in slots 4, 5, and 6? Is all of it detected then? If not, either that last stick is defective or you have some bent CPU pins, which can cause this issue. Also, is all of the ram shown in the bios? I had an issue with bent CPU pins, and although all 4 modules were detected, only 2 were enabled. Windows said 8GB RAM (4GB enabled).

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 10 March 2012 - 01:59 PM

[Cherve]

In CPU-Z the first 5 slots are detected the 6th slot is not. CPU-Z says that there is 10GB of ram total.All the ram works in the first 5 slots. In the bios it says system memory has 8GB. How do you know it is bent CPU pins and how would you go about fixing that if it is?

[LiveBrianD]

So, does it see that the motherboard has a 6th slot but it's empty, or is there no 6th slot at all?

Second, just to be a little clearer, the CPU doesn't have pins, it has flat contact plates. The motherboard's CPU socket has a bunch of tiny little wires bent to the side that the CPU rests on. Remove the CPU and look VERY VERY VERY carefully at the socket for pins that look out of place. DO NOT TOUCH THE SOCKET! Also, when you put the CPU back on you'll need to use fresh thermal paste to avoid air bubbles, which hurt the CPU cooler's ability to transfer heat. If you have bent pins, beware that you will probably f*** up the socket in the process of trying to fix it. I removed my CPU and tried to correct the bent pins with a mechanical pencil, and when I was done, the machine gave beeps and wouldn't POST. I RMA'd the motherboard, and when I got it back 2 weeks later (note: mine's a Gigabyte, I'm not sure how asus's support is), and when I reassembled it it all worked perfectly.

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 10 March 2012 - 02:25 PM

[Cherve]

It sees the motherboard has the sixth slot but it is empty. The computer works fine and ive never touched the cpu ever since it was put in almost three years ago. can they become bent while it just exists

[coastie65]

Cherve, on 10 March 2012 - 02:33 PM, said:

It sees the motherboard has the sixth slot but it is empty. The computer works fine and ive never touched the cpu ever since it was put in almost three years ago. can they become bent while it just exists

Hi, It isn't bent pins, as wj has stated Windows is only seeing 8 Gb, but I need to look into something regarding that. Using the Corsair memory, put the 3 sticks in Slots 2, 4, & 6 ( Tri Channel configuration ). It should work and show 6 GB. That is all I am running in my 1366 based machine with the 960 processor and to be honest, it is plenty. You could have a bad stick and teh reason it is not showing. Try the configuration I suggested and see what happens. If you get 6 Gb then the DIMM slot is fine ( I don't know if the Corsair is in there at present or not ).

VersionLimit on X86Limit on X64Windows 7 Ultimate4 GB

192 GB

Windows 7 Enterprise4 GB

192 GB

Windows 7 Professional4 GB

192 GB

Windows 7 Home Premium4 GB

16 GB

Windows 7 Home Basic4 GB

8 GB

Windows 7 Starter2 GB

N/A

This post has been edited by coastie65: 10 March 2012 - 02:49 PM

[LiveBrianD]

It's possible that you accidentally bent a pin or two when installing the CPU, and never noticed it until now. I'd check the bios to see if it detects the ram. Also, what happens if you put a different stick of ram in the 6th slot? Does that show up? And are you sure you firmly put in the ram?

[LiveBrianD]

coastie65, on 10 March 2012 - 02:38 PM, said:

Cherve, on 10 March 2012 - 02:33 PM, said:

It sees the motherboard has the sixth slot but it is empty. The computer works fine and ive never touched the cpu ever since it was put in almost three years ago. can they become bent while it just exists

Hi, using the Corsair memory, put the 3 sticks in Slots 2, 4, & 6 ( Tri Channel configuration ). It should work and show 6 GB. That is all I am running in my 1366 based machine with the 960 processor.

Yeah, but he wants to put in 6 sticks, 2GBx6=12GB. He already had 3 working.

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 10 March 2012 - 02:40 PM

[Cherve]

LiveBrianD, on 10 March 2012 - 02:39 PM, said:

It's possible that you accidentally bent a pin or two when installing the CPU, and never noticed it until now. I'd check the bios to see if it detects the ram. Also, what happens if you put a different stick of ram in the 6th slot? Does that show up? And are you sure you firmly put in the ram?

I didnt install the CPU i had a local computer store build it for me. Im not too educated in the bios so im not to sure how to go about looking in there. Well i tried to put the super trends in the first three slots and the corsairs in the other three slots the computer wouldnt boot on. im guessing the computer is reading only the 3 corsairs and one super trend since it says the computer has 8GB. CPU-Z is reading 3 corsairs and 2 super trends which is 10GB.

[coastie65]

LiveBrianD, on 10 March 2012 - 02:40 PM, said:

coastie65, on 10 March 2012 - 02:38 PM, said:

Cherve, on 10 March 2012 - 02:33 PM, said:

It sees the motherboard has the sixth slot but it is empty. The computer works fine and ive never touched the cpu ever since it was put in almost three years ago. can they become bent while it just exists

Hi, using the Corsair memory, put the 3 sticks in Slots 2, 4, & 6 ( Tri Channel configuration ). It should work and show 6 GB. That is all I am running in my 1366 based machine with the 960 processor.

Yeah, but he wants to put in 6 sticks, 2GBx6=12GB. He already had 3 working.

He could have a bad stick and the reason I had him go with the three slots, 2,4,& 6 ( It is tri channel after all ). If it doesn't show up with the corsair, then he can try the other set. If the slot doesn't show up with that set, then I would hazzard to say the slot is bad. It will be time consuming, but if there is a bad stick it wil show up in whatever slot it may be in.

[waldojim]

If you guys are looking for a single bad stick, then the easy test - is take them all out, and test one at a time.

And sorry guys, I read that wrong. For some reason I remembered Windows 7 being limited to 8GB. That must have been the original plans while it was still in beta.

Also - what is the clock speed of the ram? The internal controllers are under considerably more stress with all banks populated, and may simply need the ram slowed down to 1333mhz.

[Cherve]

coastie65, on 10 March 2012 - 02:55 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 10 March 2012 - 02:40 PM, said:

coastie65, on 10 March 2012 - 02:38 PM, said:

Cherve, on 10 March 2012 - 02:33 PM, said:

It sees the motherboard has the sixth slot but it is empty. The computer works fine and ive never touched the cpu ever since it was put in almost three years ago. can they become bent while it just exists

Hi, using the Corsair memory, put the 3 sticks in Slots 2, 4, & 6 ( Tri Channel configuration ). It should work and show 6 GB. That is all I am running in my 1366 based machine with the 960 processor.

Yeah, but he wants to put in 6 sticks, 2GBx6=12GB. He already had 3 working.

He could have a bad stick and the reason I had him go with the three slots, 2,4,& 6 ( It is tri channel after all ). If it doesn't show up with the corsair, then he can try the other set. If the slot doesn't show up with that set, then I would hazzard to say the slot is bad. It will be time consuming, but if there is a bad stick it wil show up in whatever slot it may be in.

I don't have bad sticks both sets of 3 work by themselves. Also everything set in bios is on auto I never messed with the settings cause I don't know what to do safely.

[coastie65]

@ wj - Windows 7 Home Basic is limited to 8 Gb and starter even less.

@ Cherve, you were using two different brands of memory and I can only assume they were at the same speed, but was the latency and timings the same on both sets ? Also, you did buy Tri Channel sets of ram didn't you ( Three matched sticks in the set ) ?

[Cherve]

coastie65, on 10 March 2012 - 05:21 PM, said:

@ wj - Windows 7 Home Basic is limited to 8 Gb and starter even less.

@ Cherve, you were using two different brands of memory and I can only assume they were at the same speed, but was the latency and timings the same on both sets ? Also, you did buy Tri Channel sets of ram didn't you ( Three matched sticks in the set ) ?

I have windows 7 home premium 64 bit that does support 12GB right? I did buy tri channel sets of ram, three matching sticks for both super trends and corsair. The attached picture is of all the tabs in CPU-Z. The 5th slot is the same as slot 1 and slot 3 i didnt put it there so i could fit what the 6th slot shows.

[waldojim]

Looks to me like your ram timings, and speed have been loosened up as far as your controller allows. I don't think the CPU memory controller is going to take all those sticks of ram.

[LiveBrianD]

The ram's running at 1066MHz, which is not likely to be a problem. To check the bios, look at the key that it says you push to enter setup (usually delete or F2). See if you can look at the installed ram config there.

[Cherve]

LiveBrianD, on 10 March 2012 - 06:30 PM, said:

The ram's running at 1066MHz, which is not likely to be a problem. To check the bios, look at the key that it says you push to enter setup (usually delete or F2). See if you can look at the installed ram config there.

All the info in bios is on auto. I dont know about the bios so i would need steps or detailed descriptions of stuff to look for. This attachment is the DRAM Timing Control menu.