new gameing computer 2 problems help needed

[deeinc]

hi
i have just build a new gameing pc for myself but have 2 problems the first is i have 4 gb of ram but when i check (control panel , system) its shows up i have 3.25 gb

second problem when i turn the computer off about 5 mins later it restarts so i have to turn the switch of at the back so this does not happin

everything has been updated bios ,drivers etc and nothing has been overclocked not shure if i should overclock

windows xp media center
dfi lanparty ut rdx200cf-dr
amd fx60 dual core
sapphire radeon x1900xtx 512mb ddr3 graphics card
4x1gb sticks ocz platinum series DDR pc3200 400mhz (matched pairs)
sound blaster X-Fi xtreme music - sound card
aver media tv card
120gb and 40 gb maxtor hard drive
hyper type r series 580w power supply
2 sony 8.5gb dvd burners (dru-810a)


cheers dee

 

[Bobthelost]

Remove half the RAM, it's not helping things.

 

[deeinc]

its says my board can take up to 4 gb of ram how would me taking 2 gb of ram out help would it not slow down a bit

 

[xanis]

I hate to break it to you, but 4GB of RAM is pretty useless. Even with heavy system loads, you probably won't need more than 2GB. I would try what Bobthelost said and take out half of the RAM.

 

[deeinc]

i hear what yous are sayin about not needing it but i though the more the better i do alot of audio work on this computer aswell and i spent just under £400 on 4 sticks of 1gb ram and it looks good in my case would hate to take it out

the computer runs very good its just that the computer is telling me i only have 3.25gb when i have 4 gb is there any way to fix it

 

[TD77077]

I agree with Xanis and Bob - There is a point of diminishing return on RAM where you are at the limits of the capacity of the system to access all of the RAM and the more memory slots that are filled, the more it slows down access to the memory. Maybe 3G would be a more acceptable tradeoff, although performance will prob not be any better than with 2G.

As for your computer restarting - check your ACPI (Power control) settings in the BIOS, sounds like some event is waking the system up. Turn off all the events except any you intend to use.

Happy trails...

 

[deeinc]

so the more sticks of ram i have in can slow down my computer is that what you are saying TD77077


and thanks very much 2 every one that has replyed

 

[TD77077]

Yes, deeinc. I know, for instance, 2 sticks of 512M are slower than 1 stick of 1G, etc. But I don't know exactly where the tradeoff happens. Maybe someone who is more expert about this issue can explain better.

But in your case, I think most of the issue is going to be whether the system and software can actually make use of 4G RAM any faster than it can use 2 or 3Gs of RAM. And the issue of having more slots filled will come more into play with 3 or 4 lots filled.