Pavilion Desktop RAM only 16GB. I purchased 32GB.

[nobody_here]

I bought this system with 32GB of RAM, but Windows and the bios are only showing two sticks of 8GB each.

Did HP build my system wrong?

[NonSequitur777]

@nobody_here,

Let's do two things: type system information in your Windows search bar, click on "System Information" and look to the right of "Installed Physical Memory (RAM)".  How many GB does it show?

And now more detail. Second, download and run the most useful free utility program "Speccy" from here: Speccy - Free Download (ccleaner.com).  Right-click on the Speccy icon, choose "Run as administrator", and you'll see something like this:

Left-click on the "RAM" and you'll see something like this:

It shows all available RAM slots, which one(s) are occupied, and with how much RAM.  And since we are at it, what is your "DRAM Frequency"?  You can left-click on each little blue triangle which will provide additional RAM information, like this:

Please note that I blued-out the serial number as per HP Forum protocol.  Please provide the Size, Manufacturer, Max Bandwidth, and Part Number of your RAM sticks.

Let's figure this out by the book.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[nobody_here]

Thanks for the quick response!

> system information

16GB

Looking at Speccy, it doesn't seem to show the RAM detail.

[NonSequitur777]

@nobody_here,

Also, if you don't mind and if you're comfortable doing do, remove your desktop's access panel and take a peek.  Should look something like this (with fancy-looking gaming RAM):

Or this (most likely Samsung or Crucial RAM -just as powerful performance-wise):

(You may want to gently press straight down on each RAM stick to make sure your RAM has been fitted properly.)

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[nobody_here]

So there are only two DIMM slots on this board.  I hadn't bothered to open it up until now.  

If there are 2 8GB modules in there (according to the BIOS), then it looks like HP stiffed me on the order, which should be 2 x 16GB.

I've been trying to reach the support site today, but the pages aren't loading.  I'll keep trying.

[NonSequitur777 · Accepted solution]

@nobody_here,

Btw, is your Speccy version v1.32.774 or later?

Regardless, let's use Command Prompt.  Type cmd in your Windows search bar, right-click on "Command Prompt" and left-click on "Run as administrator".

You are likely familiar that CMD can determine many details about the system memory installed on your computer.

To find out the memory manufacturer, type the following command to determine the memory manufacturer name and press Enter:

wmic memorychip get devicelocator, manufacturer

Next, to determine the part number for each of the memory modules, type the following command to determine the memory part number and press Enter:

wmic memorychip get devicelocator, partnumber

Next, to find out the amount of memory available in each stick, type the following command to determine each module capacity and press Enter:

wmic memorychip get devicelocator, capacity

Next, to find out the speed of the memory modules, type the following command to check the memory speed and press Enter:

wmic memorychip get devicelocator, speed

You can also query all the memory specs with a single command on Windows 10 or 11.

To view all the memory details, type the following command to view all the memory details and press Enter:

wmic memorychip list full

Hope this helps.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[NonSequitur777]

@nobody_here,

There's something that I find strange. Speccy should say: "Number of SPD Modules 2", followed by Slot #1 and Slot #2.

The fact that you don't see this is puzzling.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[nobody_here]

It turns out the amount of RAM is correct in my machine.  Sorry for the noise.

And thank you NonSequitur777 for the super fast reply and ultimately the system commands I could use to actually inspect the hardware directly.  

Thank you!

[NonSequitur777]

@nobody_here,

You are quite welcome!  -Happy to be able to assist.

Good luck Gaming!

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777