RAM over 2Gb Idle?

[Nathan_28]

Hi, I have a 4590k and 8Gb DDR3 RAM, the RAM is over 2Gb idle and the CPU is spiking, any help?

 

[Spectre694]

That doesn't really sound unusual.
What do you mean by spiking though? Multi second 100% CPU spikes or just a few ups and downs?

 

[Rabmac]

Do ctrl + alt + del, goto performance tab and open performance monitor. In performance monitor check what is causing the high CPU usage and let us know.

 

[USAFRet]

Just because you're idle does not mean the OS is idle.

 

[Nathan_28]

Im not exactly hardware fluent, so if I add a screenshot, would that be sufficient?

 

[Nathan_28]

https://imageshack.us/my/images

 

[Nathan_28]

Do ctrl + alt + del, goto performance tab and open performance monitor. In performance monitor check what is causing the high CPU usage and let us know.

https://imageshack.us/my/images

 

[Nathan_28]

That doesn't really sound unusual.
What do you mean by spiking though? Multi second 100% CPU spikes or just a few ups and downs?

Do ctrl + alt + del, goto performance tab and open performance monitor. In performance monitor check what is causing the high CPU usage and let us know.

I think the spiking was due to the fact that on my fresh install of windows that I have just done, the system was only utilizing 1 Core, it has now been changed, single cores still spike, but general load % seem okay.

It was just gradual up and down movements.

https://imageshack.us/my/images

If you have a look on that link, the task manager is available to look at.

 

[Rabmac]

I know of an issue with Windows updates that maxes out a single core CPU (the process is svchost) but you should not be seeing this with a 4590k.

 

[Nathan_28]

I know of an issue with Windows updates that maxes out a single core CPU (the process is svchost) but you should not be seeing this with a 4590k.

A few of the Svhost processes are running, do you have any recommendations?
I have recently done a fresh install of windows if that is any consolation?

 

[USAFRet]

I know of an issue with Windows updates that maxes out a single core CPU (the process is svchost) but you should not be seeing this with a 4590k.

A few of the Svhost processes are running, do you have any recommendations?
I have recently done a fresh install of windows if that is any consolation?

A fresh install may be doing all sorts of things behind the scenes.
Indexing, updates, etc, etc.

Plus, Windows is pretty good about letting your applications have the RAM they need, and releasing that from its own maintenance function.

Secondly, define 'idle'. What applications do you have open?

 

[Nathan_28]

I know of an issue with Windows updates that maxes out a single core CPU (the process is svchost) but you should not be seeing this with a 4590k.

A few of the Svhost processes are running, do you have any recommendations?
I have recently done a fresh install of windows if that is any consolation?

A fresh install may be doing all sorts of things behind the scenes.
Indexing, updates, etc, etc.

Plus, Windows is pretty good about letting your applications have the RAM they need, and releasing that from its own maintenance function.

Secondly, define 'idle'. What applications do you have open?

Literally nothing apart from whatever Windows is doing, do you recommend anything that may be of any help?

 

[USAFRet]

Literally nothing apart from whatever Windows is doing, do you recommend anything that may be of any help?

Nothing? Browser, AV, Task Manager?

1. Look at what processes are running in Task Manager.
2. Don't stress until you actually see running out of RAM.

 

[Nathan_28]

Literally nothing apart from whatever Windows is doing, do you recommend anything that may be of any help?

Nothing? Browser, AV, Task Manager?

1. Look at what processes are running in Task Manager.
2. Don't stress until you actually see running out of RAM.

I am just concerned about gaming, I have yet to put AV on my system as I am concerned about higher usage, would windows gradually install its index/updates and return to normal usage? Like I have attempted to update windows but it just continually loads.

 

[USAFRet]

Literally nothing apart from whatever Windows is doing, do you recommend anything that may be of any help?

Nothing? Browser, AV, Task Manager?

1. Look at what processes are running in Task Manager.
2. Don't stress until you actually see running out of RAM.

I am just concerned about gaming, I have yet to put AV on my system as I am concerned about higher usage, would windows gradually install its index/updates and return to normal usage? Like I have attempted to update windows but it just continually loads.

I have a 16GB RAM i5-3570k Win 10 Pro system
At "idle", with a single browser (FireFox) instance with 8 tabs open, and Task Manager...(the definition of 'idle')......it currently shows 4.0GB "in use".

My little Asus Transformer, 2GB RAM, Win 10 Home, with a similar 'idle' software use, currently shows 1.4GB "in use".

When needed, Windows gives up RAM that it may be using, for stuff that you want to use.

Don't stress until you see an actual problem.

 

[Nathan_28]

Literally nothing apart from whatever Windows is doing, do you recommend anything that may be of any help?

Nothing? Browser, AV, Task Manager?

1. Look at what processes are running in Task Manager.
2. Don't stress until you actually see running out of RAM.

I am just concerned about gaming, I have yet to put AV on my system as I am concerned about higher usage, would windows gradually install its index/updates and return to normal usage? Like I have attempted to update windows but it just continually loads.

I have a 16GB RAM i5-3570k Win 10 Pro system
At "idle", with a single browser (FireFox) instance with 8 tabs open, and Task Manager...(the definition of 'idle')......it currently shows 4.0GB "in use".

When needed, Windows gives up RAM that it may be using, for stuff that you want to use.
Don't stress.

Do you use this system for gaming by any chance? I am just concerned that the high idle RAM usage will affect performance

 

[USAFRet]

Do you use this system for gaming by any chance? I am just concerned that the high idle RAM usage will affect performance

Yes, but probably not as intense as you might.
RAM usage at idle means little. Windows gives it up as needed.

Especially for a brand new install. There is all sorts of other things going on that you do not see.

 

[Nathan_28]

Do you use this system for gaming by any chance? I am just concerned that the high idle RAM usage will affect performance

Yes, but probably not as intense as you might.
RAM usage at idle means little. Windows gives it up as needed.

Especially for a brand new install. There is all sorts of other things going on that you do not see.

So say I boot up Fallout 4 on Ultra settings, Windows will distribute a sufficient amount of RAM for the game?
So booted games will get RAM priority, I am sorry to keep you busy, but I was wondering if the "idle" RAM will gradually decrease as Windows adjusts and optimizes?

Once again, many thanks.

 

[Spectre694]

Do you use this system for gaming by any chance? I am just concerned that the high idle RAM usage will affect performance

Yes, but probably not as intense as you might.
RAM usage at idle means little. Windows gives it up as needed.

Especially for a brand new install. There is all sorts of other things going on that you do not see.

So say I boot up Fallout 4 on Ultra settings, Windows will distribute a sufficient amount of RAM for the game?
So booted games will get RAM priority, I am sorry to keep you busy, but I was wondering if the "idle" RAM will gradually decrease as Windows adjusts and optimizes?

Once again, many thanks.

Yes that is what everyone keeps saying. The OS is smarter than you at managing RAM. Unless it has run into an issue where it cannot free RAM (usually due to a bug or too many programs running and it swaps) then there is no problem.

Unused RAM is wasted RAM. The more stuff in RAM the faster your PC can work. So Windows tries to keep as much of the important stuff as it can in it. When it runs out of space (RAM) then it will remove less important/older things to make room for the newer/more important stuff

 

[Rabmac]

It is normal for svchost to be running constantly after a fresh install of Windows as it has a large number of updates to do. That being said your CPU should not be at 100% with the CPU you have.

First of all I suggest making sure all your drivers are upto date, especially your motherboard and chipset drivers. Next I would make sure all the CPU cores are unpacked (read this: http://www.coderbag.com/programming-c/disable-cpu-core-parking-utility).

If that does not fix the high CPU usage then you likely have 1 of these 2 issues.

1. Your PC is infected with malware and the malware is disguised as the svchost process
2. You are suffering from the known issue where windows update uses large percentage of the CPU.

If it is one then you need to scan for and remove any hardware. If it is 2 then you could try installing MIcrosoft fix from here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3050265 (goto method 2 and download correct fix for your OS [i have assumed you are running windows 7]).

P.S. I don't think you have an issue with RAM, it sounds to me like the issue is with your CPU and you will probably find that your RAM and CPU usage go down once you have full updated Windows. To confirm goto resource monitor (i put instructions in an earlier post), goto CPU tab and look for services, click on CPU column and it will organise services by how much of the CPU you are using. If the service using a large amount of the CPU is wuaserv, then this is the known issue I was talking about concerning Windows Update. Right Click it and select stop service. Now before you goto bed open power options in control panel and set your PC to never goto sleep. Now start windows update when and leave it running over night so it does not matter that your PC is slow. Hopefully in the morning it will have done a large chunk of the updates.

 

[Nathan_28]

It is normal for svchost to be running constantly after a fresh install of Windows as it has a large number of updates to do. That being said your CPU should not be at 100% with the CPU you have.

First of all I suggest making sure all your drivers are upto date, especially your motherboard and chipset drivers. Next I would make sure all the CPU cores are unpacked (read this: http://www.coderbag.com/programming-c/disable-cpu-core-parking-utility).

If that does not fix the high CPU usage then you likely have 1 of these 2 issues.

1. Your PC is infected with malware and the malware is disguised as the svchost process
2. You are suffering from the known issue where windows update uses large percentage of the CPU.

If it is one then you need to scan for and remove any hardware. If it is 2 then you could try installing MIcrosoft fix from here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3050265 (goto method 2 and download correct fix for your OS [i have assumed you are running windows 7]).

P.S. I don't think you have an issue with RAM, it sounds to me like the issue is with your CPU and you will probably find that your RAM and CPU usage go down once you have full updated Windows. To confirm goto resource monitor (i put instructions in an earlier post), goto CPU tab and look for services, click on CPU column and it will organise services by how much of the CPU you are using. If the service using a large amount of the CPU is wuaserv, then this is the known issue I was talking about concerning Windows Update. Right Click it and select stop service. Now before you goto bed open power options in control panel and set your PC to never goto sleep. Now start windows update when and leave it running over night so it does not matter that your PC is slow. Hopefully in the morning it will have done a large chunk of the updates.

Sounds like a plan, the witcher 3 was spiking greatly today, if its any consolation, I will attach as screenshot below.

http://imgur.com/NAanJBZ

 

[Rabmac]

Those pics don't indicate a problem as far as I can tell and I would not be concerned with that.

 

[Nathan_28]

Those pics don't indicate a problem as far as I can tell and I would not be concerned with that.

2hour windows update fixed it

 

[Rabmac]

Yeah those Windows updates can be a major pain on a fresh Windows install, I think most of us don't realise just how long they can take and the impact it has on performance.