[Sassasfrass]

I bought my laptop in August 2005. It said it had 512 MB of RAM, but when I check my system information, it says I only have 384MB of RAM. I ran the TuneUp System Optimizer, and it also says I only have 384MB and that I should upgrade to 512MB. So now I'm all confused

Any suggestions?

[Advertisements]

hi,

sounds like it really does have 384mb. what does it say when you right click on my computer, then properties. that will list the true amount of ram in the system.

what kind of laptop is it?

[ajcool123]

hi,

sounds like it really does have 384mb. what does it say when you right click on my computer, then properties. that will list the true amount of ram in the system.

what kind of laptop is it?

[WindyPants]

"What model/Type of Laptop?" is also my question.

The only clear way, IMO, to determine the true amount of RAM installed is to actually take a look at the memory sticks.

Q: When you said that SI reported 384 mb, was that TOTAL PHYSICAL MEMORY?
Q: You indicated that you purchased the laptop in 05, was this a new laptop?

[MNOB07]

You can physically take a look at the RAM by opening up one of the doors on the bottom of the laptop...

However more than likely you have 512MB RAM but 128MB of the RAM is being used as video memory. It is a bit much, there's a possibility of being able to adjust your integrated graphics to use only 32MB or 64MB in the BIOS.

[Anton1382]

Total memory would show how much memory the computer has. Even if 128MB is used up for graphics memory, it wouldn't show it. It would just take away 128mb from the amount of memory left.

[rddg]

wrong-o, anton.
128mb is the average RAM hijacked by bios for onboard graphics nowdays. Windows never sees it.
outta be able to adjust it from bios, you'd do best performance-wise to upgrade the ram and leave it be.
after bios and xp + background services, startup proggies carve up the pie, 512mgs of ram just aint what it used to be.
xp outta default the welcome chime to sssssssssssllllllllllllllllluuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrppppppp.wav heh.
first computer i had(owned) was a deskpro (90 Mhz pentium pro) when i was young. what was it, like 6 slots for ram? I had a handfull, about 5 sticks of ram. Now, the order you installed the ram changed the amount win95 recognized (or bios, dont remember wich) Booting takes half as long as it took to install the [bleep] os, heh, I would spend like all day and a half trying every possible combination. I think I came up with like 58 or 59 mgs finally, re-arranging and then rebooting (time to go smoke a cigarette. slowly.) those where the days. what the heck was I talking about now?


I dont understand why a mobo cant come with RAM onboard in tandem with the graphics chip, and leave the installed ram alone. seems like it'd be cheap and faster.

Edited by rddg, 09 July 2006 - 10:18 PM.

[Sassasfrass]

Hi there, sorry it took me so long to get back, I couldn't find my post!

I have a Toshiba Satellite M45 S165 and it was new when I bought it in August 05. I opened the bottom door and it says:

hynix
512mb DDR
333MHz CL 2.5

I'm just wondering if there is something that is automatically set by Windows that is taking up all of my memory, maybe something I could change?

When I go to System in the control panel, it does report 384 MB, not 512, so I'm obviously missing something. If I wanted to upgrade to more, what would I actually be buying? I mean, more memory, right? But when I'm shopping for it, what would I be looking for? And it is difficult to do myself? I did take my daughter's laptop apart & replace the motherboard and her computer still works, so I must have done something right

Thanks again!!!

Edited by Sassasfrass, 28 July 2006 - 05:00 PM.

[MNOB07]

As I already mentioned in the 4th post in this topic, your GPU is probably using 128MB for video memory.

You may be able to change how much it uses in the BIOS (the BIOS is the "setup" screen, you press F10 or whatever to get to it when you start up your computer.), or possibly through Windows if you look through the driver settings. You may be able to change it to 64MB at least. which will leave you with 448MB RAM

If you want to upgrade, look for 200-pin DDR notebook memory. The speed can be anything, but the computer will run all sticks of memory at the same speed, and that is the speed of the slowest stick. So best to go with at least 333 which is definately fast enough anyway. If you live in the US here's one that I would recommend online:

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820211126

You could get similair for cheaper I'm sure so shop around if you like

EDIT: you can get however much extra memory you want depending on how much more RAM you need, and the total system memory will be stick 1 + stick 2 - GPU video "shared" memory.

Edited by MNOB07, 28 July 2006 - 05:24 PM.