Windows – Why is the usable RAM only half of the Installed RAM

memorywindows 10

I recently installed another 8GB of RAM, but my computer isn't able to use it. Apparently, it's all "hardware reserved." I don't think that Windows 10 needs 8GB of RAM to run, and I would like to be able to use the memory I installed. Can anyone help?

My MB is the MS-7693 970 Gaming by MSI, and the memory in question is Corsair Vengeance (CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10)

16.0 GB (7.95 GB usable)

Best Answer

Read about mixing computer memory.

Identify your motherboard with powershell. See if your choice of motherboard and cpu supports 16GB of the type of memory you have installed by reading your manual.

Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_BaseBoard | Format-Table Manufacturer, Product, SerialNumber, Version

Identify your memory with powershell:

Get-WmiObject win32_physicalmemory | Format-Table Manufacturer,Banklabel,Configuredclockspeed,Devicelocator,Capacity,Serialnumber -autosize

If you have used a supported amount / type of memory read the following.

Windows 10 Won’t Use Full RAM

  • Modify RAM used on Boot
  • BIOS limit Windows from using the full amount of RAM installed
  • Windows 10 showed less amount of RAM usable due to a physical defect