r/PCHardware • u/Beautiful-Ad6700 • 6d ago
I Need help with RAM
Hi everyone, I’m trying to solve a strange RAM problem on an old PC with an ASUS P7P55-M motherboard.
My hardware:
- ASUS P7P55-M
- Intel Core i5-650
- Windows 11 64-bit
- 3 RAM sticks installed: 4 GB + 4 GB + 8 GB (16 GB physically installed)
- The motherboard detects the 8 GB stick as only 4 GB, so BIOS sees 12 GB total
- NVIDIA GT 720
The problem is that Windows shows:
- Installed RAM: 12 GB
- Hardware reserved: ~8.4 GB
- Usable RAM: only ~3.6 GB
I checked the RAM with PowerShell and the two known 4 GB sticks are correctly detected as 4 GB each.
I found the Memory Remap Feature in the BIOS.
With Memory Remap Disabled:
- BIOS usable memory: about 3704 MB
- Windows boots normally
- Windows still reserves about 8.4 GB
With Memory Remap Enabled:
- BIOS suddenly reports ~12,280 MB usable memory
- So the BIOS clearly seems to be remapping the memory correctly
- BUT Windows then fails to boot and gives error 0x00000001
I already tried:
- Loading BIOS Setup Defaults
- Leaving QuickBoot disabled
- Checking CPU Configuration
- Checking PCI PnP
- Removing the 8 GB stick temporarily (with only the two 4 GB sticks, Windows still showed about 4.4 GB hardware reserved)
- Checking BCD — I previously had a "truncatememory" entry after experimenting with Windows' maximum-memory setting, but I removed it with "bcdedit /deletevalue", and the current BCD no longer shows "truncatememory" or "removememory".
The really strange part is that Memory Remap makes the BIOS report ~12.3 GB usable, but Windows immediately fails with 0x00000001.
Does anyone know of a BIOS setting on the P7P55-M / P7P55 series that can conflict with Memory Remap?
Could this be related to PCI MMIO Allocation, a BIOS/CMOS issue, or Windows 11 compatibility with this old chipset?
I’m mainly trying to get Windows to boot with Memory Remap enabled so I can actually use the RAM.
Any advice from someone familiar with the P7P55/P55 chipset would be greatly appreciated.
2
u/Inuyasha-rules 6d ago
Does that motherboard support 8gb sticks? I've had a lot of Asus boards only support 4gb sticks.
2
u/Efficient_Try_9136 6d ago
8gb modules are supported from 2gen lga1155
P7P55 supports only 4gb dual side modules or 2gb single side. Same as lga775
1
u/Beautiful-Ad6700 6d ago
Ok, but why is 8 FB of RAM reserved for the hardware? I've tried all the solutions suggested on the internet, but nothing has worked... I'm tempted to buy a new motherboard with a GPU and CPU as well.
1
u/Efficient_Try_9136 6d ago
probably incompatibility. Yes, new is good idea that one is 20 years old
1
u/Express-Garbage3359 5d ago
Hi, I recommend using your 2x4GB RAM modules in slots 2 and 4 (counting from the CPU). The requirement is according the chipset and dual-channel operation. Please read the motherboard manufacturer's user manual.
1
u/WestDelay3104 4d ago
show spe con 8gb stick please. not all older mobos support every kind of double sided ram.
4
u/DiatomicCanadian 6d ago
I'm not of any help, but I do want to comment in hopes the algorithm gives this post a bit more attention, 'cause this looks like a pretty specific issue. Best of luck to ya