Memory issue

[sadas21]

Hi, could someone clarify what the problem is if possible.

I have windows 7 ultimate, when i check my memory in task manager, under the performance tab i see total, cached, available and free. Here's the problem, when opening applications, like games, the memory under 'free' starts to rapidly deplete from 7gb eventually down to zero, even when the applications are closed and stays around 0-100mb despite me having at least 6gb of available ram cached.

Is this an error with my cpu/ram/hdd? perhaps a driver issue with windows 7? or is this normal for this to happen?

 

[cbrunnem]

seems fine to me if the computer isnt studdering and freezing

 

[inzone]

I'm not sure about what your exact situation is and what memory does but it does seem to me that the purpose of ram is to hold data for the cpu to use and when you open an application I would expect data to then flow into the ram to be ready for use and the more ram you have the more the cpu can load into it for quick access. If you then close the application the data will remain untill you open another and then it will load that data. If you were getting error messages saying out of memory then I would be concerned about what is going on but if not then it could be just the normal operation of how ram is used. Hope that all makes sense to you.

 

[sadas21]

I'm not sure about what your exact situation is and what memory does but it does seem to me that the purpose of ram is to hold data for the cpu to use and when you open an application I would expect data to then flow into the ram to be ready for use and the more ram you have the more the cpu can load into it for quick access. If you then close the application the data will remain untill you open another and then it will load that data. If you were getting error messages saying out of memory then I would be concerned about what is going on but if not then it could be just the normal operation of how ram is used. Hope that all makes sense to you.

Yes it just seems strange that it takes all the available memory from 'free' when using an application then doesn't release it back into free, could anyone confirm is this happens with them just by checking their task manager after opening an application, thanks.

 

[gamerk316]

Heres the issue I see: When an applications main thread dies, its address space goes away, and thus any allocated RAM should be marked as free.

Its also VERY unlikely that a single 32-bit application is hogging all ~7GB RAM, because they are physically limited to just 4GB [Assuming large address aware].

Then again, as someone who understands how things work under the hood, I know Task Manager isn't the most reliable piece of reporting software ever created...

BTW:

Free RAM = Not being used at all, and has never been used by any application.
Avaliable RAM = Capable of being used as determined by OS [paging, etc].

Unless you are running without a pagefile, Avaliable RAM is the only one that matters.

http://brandonlive.com/2010/02/21/measuring-memory-usage-in-windows-7/

 

[cbrunnem]

Its also VERY unlikely that a single 32-bit application is hogging all ~7GB RAM, because they are physically limited to just 4GB [Assuming large address aware].

3.5gb not 4gb

 

[sadas21]

Heres the issue I see: When an applications main thread dies, its address space goes away, and thus any allocated RAM should be marked as free.

Its also VERY unlikely that a single 32-bit application is hogging all ~7GB RAM, because they are physically limited to just 4GB [Assuming large address aware].

Then again, as someone who understands how things work under the hood, I know Task Manager isn't the most reliable piece of reporting software ever created...

BTW:

Free RAM = Not being used at all, and has never been used by any application.
Avaliable RAM = Capable of being used as determined by OS [paging, etc].

Unless you are running without a pagefile, Avaliable RAM is the only one that matters.

http://brandonlive.com/2010/02/21/measuring-memory-usage-in-windows-7/

I'm using 64 bit windows 7, so i get all 8gb of ram usage, but thanks for clearing up that free memory isn't important, i was a little worried why it wasn't being released back into free memory after an application was used.

BTW the link you provided was very helpful, appreciated.

 

[sadas21]

Best answer selected by sadas21.

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr.