Memory usage increased after RAM upgrade

[BorealMind]

Hi, i recently upgraded my laptop's RAM (i3 4030u on Windows 8.1) from 4GB to 8GB not that much because i needed additional memory but in order to enable the dual-channel. Now i see that my RAM usage hovers around 55% = more than 100% of previous usage, while when i was on 4GB. Back then it would rarely go above 60% RAM usage except in games. How to explain that, is it a good sign for the system that additional ressources have been allocated? Thank you.

 

[ktolo]

Totally normal. Windows always tries to reserve around 50% of available ram. No time to write a full explaination.. cos it just turned 5 o clock an di need to leave work!

 

[geofelt]

Windows will keep code in ram in anticipation of potential reuse.
Your experience seems normal.
Over time, if you do not boot, the amount cached should increase.
The place to see usage is in the resource monitor.
Look for the working set numbers.
If you have any ram shortage, it will show up as hard fault page rate.
<1 per second should be fine.

And... if you have not yet done so, change out your hard drive for a ssd, the performance improvement is great.

 

[BorealMind]

Windows will keep code in ram in anticipation of potential reuse.
Your experience seems normal.
Over time, if you do not boot, the amount cached should increase.
The place to see usage is in the resource monitor.
Look for the working set numbers.
If you have any ram shortage, it will show up as hard fault page rate.
<1 per second should be fine.

And... if you have not yet done so, change out your hard drive for a ssd, the performance improvement is great.

Thank you, so far i do not feel the HDD slowing me down, i take great care of it with defragmenting etc.

 

[mjslakeridge]

I agree with you BorealMind. I don't have SSD's in any of my 3 pc's, and the time it takes to boot up is not an issue for me. On my main everyday computer, I rarely turn it completely off, I just put it into sleep mode, so the next morning when I wake it up it is ready to go in less than 5 seconds. On my music production computer, I turn it on, and by the time I power up my audio interface, mixer, amplifier, headphone amplifier, etc., it is ready to go.

That being said, on my next build (whenever that is) I will go with a SSD for the OS drive.

 

[BorealMind]

My whole computer takes less than a minute to boot with a normal hard-drive, i never measured it yet but it's insignificant. Enough time to put yourself a tea or coffee 😉