Windows 10 Usable RAM, and Early March Project Roundup

My first entry since last month's feeble excuse, but at least I'm here giving it a go! For now, I intend to use this blog as a means of documenting my tech activities when lacking the time for entries with more substance. I see it all of the time with Hobby blogs, so why not try it here. I figure it will encourage me to keep writing even when time is limited. So here goes the latest:

Windows utilizing only half of available RAM (scroll down for solution): After months of saving, and shopping, I was finally able to build my first PC. I feel like my build is worth it's own entry at some point, and have every intention of doing so, but for now I'll just cover an issue which I resolved two nights ago: Approximately only half of my RAM was usable by Windows 10.

My build included 2x16GB 3200Mhz Patriot Viper Steel RAM. I wasn't sure about the purchase since it was hard to find enough information at the time about how it worked with AMD Boards, but a few reviews mentioned my components so I figured that it would be safe. I was never fully happy with how the RAM was seated as I felt like the heat shields got in the way. Indeed, on my first dry run, the PC was only recognizing 16GB in Windows and UEFI. I reseated the second stick and confirmed that I had all 32GB in UEFI. Stopping there was a BIG MISTAKE!

My First Build: x470 Taichi Ultimate, Ryzen 2700x, and Radeon VII

While the PC was handling most games like a champ, and I was overall very pleased with it, there was a sense of it being unable to handle older games as well as I thought it should. I first started investigating the issue by seeing how much memory was being used. I was averaging about 25% on idle. Although I had very little in the way of services and software, I thought W10 was just being a resource hog. My previous experience with the OS on an older system only contributed to that line of thought. Disappointing, but I could live with it. However; a recent install of Skyrim SE on ultra settings, while not awful, was slightly disappointing performance-wise.

Why wouldn't this nearly $1600 system play an old (though updated) game without a hitch? I decided to look a little further into the issue by checking out my system information in Control Panel (Control Panel > System and Security > System), and to my surprise, Windows was only using half of my RAM! To be exact, "Installed memory (RAM)" showed 32GB installed but only 15.7 was usable. Yes, I have W10 Pro 64bit, So 32bit or Home Editions were not the issue... 

There's certainly a lot of advice out there...some of it not so great. I resorted to checking out BIOS/UEFI and all 32GB were displayed, so this possibly pointed to an issue with Windows itself: I mean, why would it recognize that my system has 32GB in the first place, but not utilize it all? Before resorting to some dubious workarounds, one troubleshooting method stood out: Booting from a live Linux Distro. I had Ubuntu on USB sitting right in front of me. Perfect!

Booting into Ubuntu, eased my fears about a bad install of Windows - only half of my RAM was showing up there as well. However it gave me a little anxiety, questioning: "Will I have to buy some different RAM?"

Solution: Before giving up and breaking out the wallet (like an idiot), I decided to at least try to troubleshoot which stick was bad, but not before just reseating it all. To my surprise:

I should have known better. Period.

I dont know why I always panic first and resort to reseating RAM much later, but here I am and lesson learned yet again.  I still don't know why Windows would recognize 32GB in the first place when it would only utilize half - or why UEFI showed it all in place if it wasn't seated properly - but at least the problem is solved, and Skyrim SE runs like a champ.

Other recent projects:

• Learning C++ and GUI Programming: There's a great book on this through Raspberry Pi Press. It's also been my first attempt at using Visual Studio.
• Installing Fusion 360 after recognizing that TinkerCAD is far too basic for my needs: I use ACAD Civil3D at work so I kept wishing for more functionality at home.
• Installing the "last" of my HDDs, although having all of those HDD trays in a Fractal Define R6 is practically begging for more storage (I currently have 6TB total).

Upcoming projects:

• Keeping my fingers crossed that my budget will allow for a 3D Printer.
• Continue with Top Tech Boy's Arduino Tutorials (these things are great!)
• Begin planning for a 3D printed Vintage Radio.

So there's that for now, and hopefully I'll be writing back before next month. In the meantime, please drop me a line if you have any input as to why Windows would recognize all 32GB if it wasn't seated properly. Thanks!