How much ram will Windows Memory Diagnostic test?

nine9s

Senior member
May 24, 2010
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Does Windows Memory Diagnostic test 8GB (2X4GB) memory? It does not show how much ram you have while running and I cannot find any officials sources confirming. I found some Ask.com article stating that a con of it is that it only tests 4GB but no Microsoft source listed or anything.

Anyone know any official confirming of any memory size limits for it?
 

nine9s

Senior member
May 24, 2010
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I found some websites stating that the ISO Windows Memory Diagnostic is 32-bit and warns it cannot test all memory when it runs if you have over 4GB. While the one built into a X64 Windows 7 is 54-bit and does not show such warning - when I ran it, I saw no such warning.

Anyone know if the built-in one handles over 4GB?
 

ZeroRift

Member
Apr 13, 2005
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When I first built my rig I used that tool (among others) to test 4GB of memory. It took about the same time to run through as the aggressive settings of memtest86, as I recall.

Later, I upgraded to 16GB and it took WAY longer to test than when I had 4GBs (difference of ~2hrs to having to run it overnight). I also broke the test up into 4GB chunks (1 DIMM at a time) and each took about a quarter of the time of the whole 16GB set.

Sure looks like it does if you have a 64bit OS.