Ram usage is oddly high

[crapoo16]

*I wasn't sure what category to put this in.
I recently built my computer, nothing really wrong with it. Kingston HyperX 2x4GB DDR3-1333 Ram. I'm thinking about picking 2 more sticks of 4GB because of this slight memory problem I'm having.

Some other specs:
i5-2500k
Zotac GTX 460 2GB DDR5
Coolermaster 500W PSU
Windows 7 Professional

Basically, right now I'm idling at 2.39GB usage. That's with basically my theme toned down and everything. My theme is no longer a slideshow of beautiful pictures and such, and there's hardly anything special about it. I closed ALL of my apps, the only things I have running right now is this window of chrome, and Avast.

Normally I'll have - Daemon Tools, Skype, AIM, Steam, PS3 Media Server (well I usually off when I don't need it, it takes 700mb). I feel like I usually have more but I forgot.. anyways, I just turned all of those on (minus PS3 Media Server), and now I'm at 2.9gb usage.

Then say I play a game on Steam, usually Dota2, that goes up to about 800mb I believe, and I just re opened Skype and AIM, those can get up to 150mb after a lot of usage. Then when I'm playing my game, I get up to around 6GB usage.

This just sounds all very ABNORMAL to me, because just before I built this computer, I used to live off of 4gb DDR2 ram, and I only got as far as 3GB usage, ever. It's maybe like a memory leak from Steam or something I have no clue, you guys are the experts here .

Sorry if the message is a bit incoherent, first post, sick and confused and would love a solution, and also in a rush to get to class.

Oh an also, in the task manager:
8109 total
3079 cached
5194 available
2264 free

I also tried adding up all the processes in my task manager, including processes of all users, and it only adds up to around 1.4gb. I'm sure there's a lot of hidden stuff, but I don't know that much about ram 😛.

I was reading a thread earlier, something about super cache? Basically is it like the 3gb of ram is on ready to perform an action it is used to, or something like that? I am not sure what cached means, or what to gather from that data. If someone can put me at ease letting me know why my memory usage is so high, then I can refrain from buying 8gb more of ram .

Thank you.

 

[house70]

Is this a 64 bit OS? If so, it loves RAM, but also it can use all of it. The more the merrier.
I usually do not consider less than 6-8 GB of RAM for a 64 bit OS. Unless you notice a decrease in performance/stuttering when running programs, I would not get worried about it.

 

[crapoo16]

Yes 64bit, so getting 8 more would just mean it uses more ram? It was just weird how my old Q6600 Quad Core with 4gb of DDR2 would only get around 3gb usage with the same programs on video game running, while this is like nearly double.

It just makes me anxious when I constantly see 40% usage ram on the LCD of my Logitech G15 😛.

I don't notice any performance issues, it just doens't feel that much greater compared to my old computer, but in the gaming department it is definitely noticed (my videocard was experience bottlenecking on my old processor)

 

[emesis]

Win7 caches stuff in memory.

Imaging you frequently run iTunes or whatever. Instead of wasting time loading it from the disk each and every time you need it, Win7 just caches this frequently used stuff in memory and waits for you to run it.

If more memory is needed for other stuff, no big deal. If it's just a program waiting to run it can be overwritten to make space for stuf that's actually running.

 

[crapoo16]

So it's basically trying to speed up the retrieval process by putting it on the side saying, I use this a lot, make it on the ready, but if something else needs it, it can forget that.

 

[house70]

So it's basically trying to speed up the retrieval process by putting it on the side saying, I use this a lot, make it on the ready, but if something else needs it, it can forget that.

Exactly. Do not worry about it, enjoy your system. I have 12 GB of RAM on mine and I don't even care how much of it is "taken" at a given time. The positive is, I can cache the whole game I'm playing, so unless I do a savegame, it doesn't need to access the HDD.

 

[HostileDonut]

If you have moved from a 32-bit OS, you will see this. 64-bit OSes will chew up RAM. No problems, and 4gb should be just fine. Mine does the same thing. There more RAM you have, the more the OS will use for itself, so if you have 4gb, it may take 1.5gb RAM, 8gb may be 2.5gb, and 12gb may be even higher. You are good. My system is currently using 2gb of RAM and isn't really do much.

 

[crapoo16]

I see then, I guess I was getting paranoid over nothing. As above mentioned, the more the merrier. And I always had 64bit, I just popped my old hard drive into my new computer 😛. So I guess I don't need to upgrade then. Thanks for all the replies! I guess this case is solved.

 

[crapoo16]

Best answer selected by crapoo16.

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr