RAM problem

[Migelo]

I have Mushkin XP2-8500 1066Mhz 2x2 GB RAM on my EVGA 780i FTW. When I instal something big, like The Chronicles of Riddick Assault on Dark Athena, Fallout 3 and other games, or I copy something bigger that 3-4 GB, my 4GB of RAM fills up and I can't do anything. What can I do? I have Windows Vista Ultimate x64 and I set my Page file to 10 GB

 

[GhislainG]

Copying files definitely shouldn't take much memory, even if the files are very large. Did you install a virtual hard disk application that uses as much memory as it can?

 

[starams5]

I doubt this is a solution to your problem but if you have another partition and you want to optimize your paging, try this. Set up a paging file on both partitions (system managed). Windows will use the paging file with less traffic.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314482

 

[jedimasterben]

I doubt this is a solution to your problem but if you have another partition and you want to optimize your paging, try this. Set up a paging file on both partitions (system managed). Windows will use the paging file with less traffic.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314482

Separate partitions on the same hard drive would defeat the purpose. The needle head would have to travel far back and forth between the data it is writing and the paging file, and would slow things down. One page file, if necessary at all (other than around 200MB for the system dumps and such) should be placed on a hard drive other than the system drive.

Migelo, how do you know that all of your RAM is being used?

 

[starams5]

You're right, I'm running a RAID0 configuration so that does not apply to me. He should take what you said into consideration.

 

[Migelo]

Oh, I didn't know that I should tell you that I have my 2x750 GB Samsung SpinPoint F1 in RAID0.

Because I was so modest with my computer's description in the begining let me describe it now. Here we go:


Operating System: Windows Vista™ Ultimate (6.0, Build 6002) Service Pack 2

Motherboard: EVGA 780i FTW
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9450 @ 2.66GHz (4 CPUs),
Memory: Mushkin XP2-8500 1066Mhz 2x2 GB
Page File: 3048MB used, 5333MB available
Hard Drive: 2x750 GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 in RAID0
GPU: GTX260 from BFG

 

[starams5]

Cool, see my first post.

 

[Migelo]

It says that I need to enable paging on another physical drive. I have my two drives in RAID0 so that is imposible.

 

[starams5]

In a RAID0 configuration Windows only see one hard drive in so many words.

 

[starams5]

RAID 0 drive, the data is broken into fragments. The number of fragments is dictated by the number of disks in the array. The fragments are written to their respective disks simultaneously on the same sector. This allows smaller sections of the entire chunk of data to be read off the drive in parallel, increasing bandwidth. RAID 0 drive, the data is broken into fragments. The number of fragments is dictated by the number of disks in the array. The fragments are written to their respective disks simultaneously on the same sector. This allows smaller sections of the entire chunk of data to be read off the drive in parallel, increasing bandwidth. RAID 0 does not implement error checking so any error is unrecoverable. More disks in the array means higher bandwidth, but greater risk of data loss. More disks in the array means higher bandwidth.

 

[starams5]

Sorry about the duplication and for some reason I have not been able to edit my messages lately.

 

[Migelo]

RAID 0 drive, the data is broken into fragments. The number of fragments is dictated by the number of disks in the array. The fragments are written to their respective disks simultaneously on the same sector. This allows smaller sections of the entire chunk of data to be read off the drive in parallel, increasing bandwidth. RAID 0 drive, the data is broken into fragments. The number of fragments is dictated by the number of disks in the array. The fragments are written to their respective disks simultaneously on the same sector. This allows smaller sections of the entire chunk of data to be read off the drive in parallel, increasing bandwidth. RAID 0 does not implement error checking so any error is unrecoverable. More disks in the array means higher bandwidth, but greater risk of data loss. More disks in the array means higher bandwidth.

Yes I know that, so it is impossible for me to set up a Pagefile on another physical drive.

 

[starams5]

We'll use two HDD's in RAID0 as an example with 2 paging files. Page file on "C" 2.70Gb, page file on "D" the same for a total of 5.40Gb paging. The RAID controller will slice the 5.40Gb in half and put 2.70Gb on one HDD and 2.70Gb on the second HDD in the array. What I'm trying to say is, you are using two physical HDD's, think this through for a minute.

 

[GhislainG]

The problem isn't with your pagefile. Copying a large file barely uses any memory. I just copied a 6 GB file and memory utilization on the system went from 6.42 GB to 6.66 GB. Swapping increased from 4667 MB to 4696 MB. CPU utilization (Q6600) increased by up to 25% when copying the file from a server and 1-2% when copying the file locally. Results are similar on my Windows XP system and an E8400 CPU (memory utilization increased from 816 MB to 829 MB). The systems obviously are not as responsive because the hard disk is very busy. It's most obvious if I try to delete another large file or load an application.

 

[xaira]

install xp and port dx 10 to it not that i hav a problem with vista but its not 4 novices

 

[Migelo]

OK. I'll create paging file on my second partition to, and inform you how it went.

 

[Migelo]

Nothing, I still get my RAM filled up.
See this picture: http://www.shrani.si/f/3e/qu/2ZastJPM/ram-problem.jpg

after a couple of minutes installing Mass Effect it got filled completely.

 

[GhislainG]

Moving the pagefile doesn't resolve that type of issue. You need to figure out what's using the memory, e.g., did you install DVD software that can cache a complete DVD (or some driver that has similar capabilities to speed up some tasks)? You definitely installed a piece of software that eventually takes up all memory.

 

[Migelo]

Look at this picture again. http://www.shrani.si/f/3e/qu/2ZastJPM/ram-problem.jpg

 

[Migelo]

This post is explaining my previous one:

At the down side of the picture there is a Vista gadget called Top Processes. It shows the amount of RAM used by 15 processes starting with the most "hungry" from the top.

 

[GhislainG]

A driver that runs closer to the kernel will not show up in that list. Your list shows executables only. If you boot in safe mode, you should be able to copy a large file without running out of memory.

You should know what's installed on that system and what services are running. If the problem doesn't occur in safe mode, then stop services that you don't need as it might help you determine which one is causing the issue. If that doesn't help, then you'll have to verify if any of the software that you installed can use memory as a cache and remove it.

 

[starams5]

I kind of figure the page file thing wouldn't cure it as I stated in my first post. Curious, is your anti-virus picking up anything? I seen your pic, I had a similar problem a few months back. A worm infected every exe on my computer, I thought my AV was corrupt because of so many hits.

 

[Migelo]

I kind of figure the page file thing wouldn't cure it as I stated in my first post. Curious, is your anti-virus picking up anything? I seen your pic, I had a similar problem a few months back. A worm infected every exe on my computer, I thought my AV was corrupt because of so many hits.

I'm 100% sure that it is not a virus/worm or other nasty little thing, because this has be happening to me since September and I formated my computer let's say 8 times and I always had this problem.

@ GhislainG: I'll run in Safe mode and try to install a game and report back.

 

[GhislainG]

You have the problem right after installing the OS and nothing else? You copy a multi GB file and all memory is used?

 

[Migelo]

Yes. Althought copying files uses all of RAM just now and then. When OS instalation was fresh (less than an hour) I copied 120 GB from my exterior HDD via eSATA and it went ok. Coping from exterior HDD was not and isn't a problem.
The problem with coping is not so major, the thing I forgot to mention is that when I order Kaspersky Anti-Virus to check my computer for viruses and it comes to Memory scan...VOILA the RAM is full in no time. Full system scan is set to 02:15 am and in the morning (7:30 am) when I wake up, the only thing I can do is to restart my computer. I checked last completed scan and it said that the last was interupted by restart.