Yesterday I upgrade my RAM from 2 GB to 4GB and my BIOS
Looking into my BIOS hardware spec it says total RAM 4096 MB
Appropriate 640 MB
Available 3456 MB
According to the shop where I buy my computer it is because graphic card
being a Nvidia Gforce 6200 turbo cash allocated in advance that amount of RAM.
My question is this true or not ?
Looking in My computer in opensuse it is says Total RAM 3.3 GB caches 253,9 MB available 2.9 GB
So he seems to wright about the preallocation , but still is this true ?
And if so why ?
My MOBO ASUS P5LD-X/I333
Thanks in advance

Hi,

My English is not well but If I understand true, you have 4GB RAM but computer says that it is ~3.2GB.

I have heard that 32-bit computer systems can work up to 3.2(maybe 3.5) GB RAM. Your problem can be because of this.

No my CPU is a 64 Bits Intel dual Core
The question come down to the fact do Graphic card with a turbo cash
preallocated RAM Yes or No

This is a common problem: only being able to access 3.3GB of 4.0GB of RAM when using a 32 bit kernel. What you need to do to get access to the rest is to install a PAE enabled kernel. I don't know what it's called on your distros, but it might be called bigmem or something like that. If you have a 64 bit CPU, you could always load the 64 bit version of your OS.

I refer in my original post to opensuse 64 bits version

I guess I missed that, as I don't know anything about Suse numbering. You might also go into the BIOS and reduce the video memory size to the lowest possible value. Linux will normally take it back and use it for the video card, but include it in memory totals.

Ok, I actually do not see where you said you were using the 64bit version of suse, you did say 64bit cpu. You can run the 32bit version of suse on a 64bit cpu, which is why we are making a point of this. If you post the results of "uname -a " it will clear up any doubts.

The answer is Linux-XR4p 2.6.27.7.9-default # 1SMP V2008-12-04 +100
I686 I686 I386GNULinux

That would be the 32 bit version that you have installed.

But why if I read the Live CD it says opensuse I686

i686 is a 32 bit architecture that has been around since the Pentium Pro in 1995. The 64 bit version should be labeled x86_64 or something similar.

Which takes us right back to what Quake said in Post #4. Here is what a 64bit reports back:
Personally I consider using the PAE/Bigmen solution to be a hack. It converts the register from 32bit to 36bit(?,never can remember) in software, which is by its very nature slower. Not all applications will behave well using PAE either. On the other hand switching to 64bit (on most distros) requires a complete fresh install. I guess I would consider just living without the .8gig until you are ready to update, it will not cause any issues.

Well I did a total fresh install with X686 , but the total amount of RAM is still 3.3 GB and the free RAM memory even drops down a bit because X686 use more as a cashes.
So it seems to me that my retailer was correct when he said that difference in the BIOS between the 4 GB and the available of 3.3 GB is caused by the fact that it is preallocated by my Graphic card who used a turbo cashes .

Um, why did you install 686 still again and expect a different result? As has already been said, you need to either go with a 64-bit install or a bigmem 686 install.

Yeah, you need to download a new iso and select the AMD64 (or x86_64) version this time. Just reinstalling your 32 bit system is not going to make any difference at all.