Memory Upgrade on Acer Aspire 5552

Hi,

I have just upgraded from 4GB of RAM to 8GB on my Aspire 5552. However when I display System Properties it has detected 8.00GB of RAM, but only 3.74GB is usable. How do I enable the rest of the extra memory that I have added?

The RAM I have installed is 8GB of PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 Ramaxel laptop RAM, made up of 2x matched 4GB SODIMMS.
The RAM Memory in BIOS is showing as 8192MB Total Memory with 256MB for Video Memory.

Acer Tech Suuport advised the following:

1. Click Start, type msconfig in the Search programs and files box, and then click msconfig in the Programs list.

2. In the System Configuration window, click Advanced options on the Boot tab.

3. Click to clear the Maximum memory check box, and then click OK.

4. Restart the computer.

When I checked msconfig the Maximum Memory option was already unchecked. I tried checking it (it set to 8192) and rebooting, but no change, and then I unchecked and rebooted again, but still only 3.74GB are available.

Acer Tech Support are now out of ideas. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Accepted answers

palaceben

I have found the answer...

" in start>msconfig>boot>advanced> make sure number of cores is 2 as you have a dual core processor"

I'm not sure if this was such a simple thing that it was assumed I already knew it, but I didn't and now I do, and I have 7.74GB of usable memory.

Thanks for all the help.

All comments

rhuephus1234

(1) What is specific model of Aspire 5552 ??

(2) What OS is installed ??

"System Properties" memory is what is retrieved from the BIOS (physical memory).

"Usable" memory (3.74gb) is what the OS recognizes and/or addressable. If in fact the video is dedicated 256MB (based on the specs), you should still see 4gb usable (as reported by the OS) if the OS is 64bit.

If your OS were 32bit, the "usable" memory would show only about 3.25GB, since that is maximum addressable memory.

Suggest running a memory test (MEMTEST86+ or Windows Memory Test or the built-in memory test if available). Suggest running with all 8gb first and post the results.

Also. verify your specific Acer 5552 (by S/N or SNID) does in fact support 8GB (The general specs indicate this, but sometimes it depends on the CPU and chipset installed).

Good luck.

palaceben

Thanks for responding.

As far as I can tell it is just a basic 5552. The SNID is [edited for privacy]

It is running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. I have already run the memory test, and it came back ok.

I checked the Crucial Memory scanner to find out how much memory I could upgrade to, and it said 8GB.

I have AMD Athlon II X2 P340 chipset.

I don't understand what you mean by "you should still see 4gb usable (as reported by the OS) if the OS is 64bit." - Surely I should be able to use almost all of the 8GB with 64bit?

Thanks again. Let me know if there is any more info you need that could help.

rhuephus1234

(1) Is there anything in the BIOS for "memory remapping" ??

(2) You might want to check the Microsoft link (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978610) for more info on "usable vs installed memory".

palaceben

Sorry for the delayed response. I've updated the BIOS to the latest version, but there is nothing in there about memory mapping. The memory info is not changeable at all - it just gets tabbed over.

I've looked at the Micrtosoft page, and it basically seems to suggest doing all the things I've already done as far as I can tell.

This all seems really strange. I'm thinking I might as well switch back to my 4GB of memory and sell the new stuff!

palaceben

I have found the answer...

" in start>msconfig>boot>advanced> make sure number of cores is 2 as you have a dual core processor"

I'm not sure if this was such a simple thing that it was assumed I already knew it, but I didn't and now I do, and I have 7.74GB of usable memory.

Thanks for all the help.

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