diff --git a/test/null/test_uops_stats.py b/test/null/test_uops_stats.py
index 72e8b73d3b..a9bf4459ef 100644
--- a/test/null/test_uops_stats.py
+++ b/test/null/test_uops_stats.py
@@ -68,6 +68,25 @@ class TestMemoryCount(unittest.TestCase):
     _, mem = get_stats(a.assign(a+a))
     self.assertEqual(mem, 1024*1024*2)  # 1 read + 1 write
 
+  def test_setitem_slice_const(self):
+    t = Tensor.empty(100, dtype=dtypes.int).realize()
+    GlobalCounters.reset()
+    t[20:50] = 3
+    self.assertEqual(GlobalCounters.global_mem, 30*4)  # 30 elements written
+
+  def test_setitem_slice_tensor(self):
+    t = Tensor.empty(100, dtype=dtypes.int).realize()
+    v = Tensor.empty(30, dtype=dtypes.int).realize()
+    GlobalCounters.reset()
+    t[20:50] = v
+    self.assertEqual(GlobalCounters.global_mem, 30*4*2)  # 30 read + 30 written
+
+  def test_setitem_full(self):
+    t = Tensor.empty(100, dtype=dtypes.int).realize()
+    GlobalCounters.reset()
+    t[:] = 3
+    self.assertEqual(GlobalCounters.global_mem, 100*4)  # full buffer written
+
   @unittest.skipIf(Device.DEFAULT == "CPU", "test copy to CPU from other device")
   def test_copyout(self):
     a = Tensor.empty(32, dtype=dtypes.uint8).to("CPU")
diff --git a/tinygrad/engine/realize.py b/tinygrad/engine/realize.py
index af114609c9..b18546970b 100644
--- a/tinygrad/engine/realize.py
+++ b/tinygrad/engine/realize.py
@@ -172,7 +172,6 @@ class ExecItem:
       if et is not None: GlobalCounters.time_sum_s += et
       if DEBUG >= 2:
         lds_est = sym_infer(self.prg.estimates.lds, var_vals)
-        mem_est = min(mem_est, lds_est)   # there can't be more memory accessed than loads/stores. remove this when symbolic is fixed
         header_color = 'magenta' if jit else ('green' if self.prg.first_run else None)
         ptm = colored(time_to_str(et, w=9), "yellow" if et > 0.01 else None) if et is not None else ""
         flops, membw, ldsbw = op_est/(et or 1e-20), mem_est/(et or 1e-20), lds_est/(et or 1e-20)
diff --git a/tinygrad/renderer/__init__.py b/tinygrad/renderer/__init__.py
index 3a8234b75e..e6daee76ac 100644
--- a/tinygrad/renderer/__init__.py
+++ b/tinygrad/renderer/__init__.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ from typing import Callable, cast
 import functools
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from tinygrad.helpers import to_function_name, dedup, prod, DEBUG
-from tinygrad.uop.ops import Ops, UOp, sym_infer, sint, Variable, ssimplify, GroupOp, PatternMatcher, print_uops, KernelInfo
+from tinygrad.uop.ops import Ops, UOp, sym_infer, sint, Variable, ssimplify, smin, GroupOp, PatternMatcher, print_uops, KernelInfo
 from tinygrad.dtype import AddrSpace, PtrDType
 from tinygrad.codegen.opt.tc import TensorCore
 from tinygrad.codegen.opt import Opt
@@ -42,8 +42,10 @@ class Estimates:
       if u.op in {Ops.LOAD, Ops.STORE}:
         buf = u
         while len(buf.src): buf = buf.src[0]
-        if buf.op is Ops.PARAM: # assume all DEFINE_GLOBAL memory is accessed
-          mem[(buf, u.op)] = buf.ptrdtype.size * buf.dtype.itemsize
+        if buf.op is Ops.PARAM:
+          # u.src[0] is INDEX, cap at buffer size for re-reads (e.g. matmul)
+          accessed = mem.get((buf, u.op), 0) + u.src[0].dtype.base.itemsize * mults
+          mem[(buf, u.op)] = smin(accessed, buf.ptrdtype.nbytes()) if buf.ptrdtype.size != -1 else accessed
       if u.op is Ops.RANGE:
         mult_stack.append(mults)
         mults *= cast(sint, u.src[0].ssimplify())