[Solved] Windows 7 memory not reading correctly...

Hey all!

I recently upgraded my system with the following specs:

Asus Sabertooth X58 Motherboard
Intel i7 970@ 3.20 ghz
G-Skill (f3-10666CL9D-8GBRL) 16GB DDR3 memory (4x 4GB)
Scythe Mugen x2 CPU cooler
Windows 7 Pro X64

My problem is that sometimes when windows boots, it only reads my ram as 8GB whereas other times it reads the full 16gb. I also noticed that if Windows is reading 8GB (through My Computer - Properties), CPUZ actually reads it as 16GB. I'm not sure if this is just a faulty reading through windows or if this is actually an issue where my ram isn't being used to its full potential.

Any ideas whats causing it and how to fix the problem? Someone said it might be due to the CPU cooler being seated either too tight or too loose???

Thanks!

Its more likely that your RAM is not playing well with Win 7. Make sure your RAM is matched up in terms of timings and brand. If that is all correct then potentially a BIOS upgrade is required. If that does not work you may have to swap the RAM out for another Brand that will work better with your board.

Oh yeah, ram is fully inserted. I'm not new to building computers by any means. All of the ram is the same brand and exact same timing etc. That's why I bought it.
My motherboard does support triple channel memory but I'm only using the first two slots for all the ram, maybe this is the problem? I'm planning to buy another 8GB kit in a week or so.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/I [...] TOOTH_X58/

^The latches are closed, but the modules somehow used the middle of the slot as a fulcrum and the lower part of the modules eased out. I don't know if it's a fault in my motherboard's design (insert lower end fully, insert upper end fully), but in any case, I'm aware of it now. Like the OP I'm not new to building computers, it's just that the motherboard had a dirty trick up its sleeve.

@topic
Maybe one of the slots is faulty?

Does your motherboard require some slots to be filled first? My mobo doesn't boot unless I fill up the blue slots before the black ones.

I'm already using dual channel only. Do I have to change a setting in the BIOS for this though? If that's the case, wouldn't adding an extra two dimms (and filling all the slots) fix the problem?

Oh right! Gracefully makes a very good point that I somehow missed before... I was thinking in terms of dual channel memory in that it would be ordered AC - BD - EF how stupid of me. So yeah it probably is because I'm only using A, D, B and E. out of the entire AD - BE - CF combo. I'll change it tomorrow morning and see what happens. Funny that it was reading the full 16 gigs some of the time and that CPUz can still see the fully amount of memory.

Best answer selected by TorQueMoD.