W8.1 Memory problems (leak?)

Xie

New Member
Messages
11
Hello, here to report another problem i am having with my PC.

It started after i reinstalled Windows 8.1, i have 6GB DDR3 memory in my system.

When i initialy start my PC the memory usage is somewhat low at 20% or so, yet it increases quite fast for no apparent reason. It is now running at 70% with only Firefox open:

Memory.png

The memory usage doesn't add up with the currently running processes, it doesn't matter if i shut everything down from there it will still be at around 70% of usage.

When i start a game up it's running at around 97%.

I am a frequent KSP player and my game is heavly modded and when i start that game up i usualy get around 80% of memory usage, now i dont think i can even start the game.

Any ideas?

Please take a look at the image attached above perhaps there is something that's obvious there, i can't find it atleast.

Thanks.

Edit: The memory keeps rising non stop it seems, while i wrote this post it hit 93% of usage.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 - 64-Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 980X
    Motherboard
    Asus Rampage II
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    6GB DDR3 Crossfire - 3 Sticks
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    Thomson tg799vn, Logitech Z-5500 Speakers
You have to look in Processes, to see what is going on. Performance is not going to tell you what is going on as for a possible memory leak. A memory Leak, is when a process will continue to use up available RAM, without releasing it back to the OS, to place into reserve.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
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    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite C850D-st3nx1
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    A/V UPS - Tripp-Lite Smart 1500LCD 1500 Va/900 W.
You have to look in Processes, to see what is going on. Performance is not going to tell you what is going on as for a possible memory leak. A memory Leak, is when a process will continue to use up available RAM, without releasing it back to the OS, to place into reserve.

I did look in the Processes tab:
"The memory usage doesn't add up with the currently running processes, it doesn't matter if i shut everything down from there it will still be at around 70% of usage."

I counted everything there and it was about 1GB of memory use out of 6GB total, when it was running at 97%. It doesnt add up, makes no sense to me.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 - 64-Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 980X
    Motherboard
    Asus Rampage II
    Memory
    6GB DDR3 Crossfire - 3 Sticks
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 7970 Ghz Edition 3GB
    Sound Card
    Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 Monitors
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 and 2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2x2TB 1x500GB Hard Drives and 1x160GB SSD
    PSU
    750W CORSAIR
    Case
    Antec Twelve Hundred
    Cooling
    6x 120mm, 1x 200mm
    Keyboard
    Razer Deathstalker
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    Razer Mamba
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
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    Mozilla Firefox
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    Thomson tg799vn, Logitech Z-5500 Speakers
Your hardware reserved is 3GB, I would start looking there.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
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    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
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    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
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    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.
This is normal for any modern OS. They will automatically grab as much RAM as they can for caching purposes. Rather than just have the RAM sitting there doing nothing, the OS uses predictive loading (superfetch) to try and anticipate what you're going to do and load it into memory before you actually do it. This creates an overall more responsive system. This memory will automatically be freed up by the OS if it's needed by some active program, such as a game. You WANT high RAM use, as long as most of it is for caching purposes. This isn't like the Win9x days where you had to worry about "system resources" which referred to a holdover from the DOS legacy. Windows XP and all later versions are based off the NT branch of Windows which never had that particular limitation.

Though I will say popeye made an excellent observation about the usually high 3GB of system reserved memory. So half your RAM is being held back for some unknown purpose.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
My hardware reserve:

Capture2.JPG
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Generic PnP Display on Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
    ADATA SSD SP900 128GB
    PSU
    90 watt brick
    Mouse
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    Antivirus
    Comodo
    Other Info
    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.
This is normal for any modern OS. They will automatically grab as much RAM as they can for caching purposes. Rather than just have the RAM sitting there doing nothing, the OS uses predictive loading (superfetch) to try and anticipate what you're going to do and load it into memory before you actually do it. This creates an overall more responsive system. This memory will automatically be freed up by the OS if it's needed by some active program, such as a game. You WANT high RAM use, as long as most of it is for caching purposes. This isn't like the Win9x days where you had to worry about "system resources" which referred to a holdover from the DOS legacy. Windows XP and all later versions are based off the NT branch of Windows which never had that particular limitation.

Though I will say popeye made an excellent observation about the usually high 3GB of system reserved memory. So half your RAM is being held back for some unknown purpose.

Very informative, and interesting. I understand what you are saying about the caching, but it has never been so high before, must have to do with the "system reserved memory" as you all say.

It is a very fresh install of Windows 8.1, and i did a "Windows Defender Offline" scan so there should be no viruses etc.

I don't really know where to begin looking? Any recommendations?

I was thinking of running the "Windows Memory Diagnostic" tool, but this doesn't seem like that kind of a problem?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 - 64-Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 980X
    Motherboard
    Asus Rampage II
    Memory
    6GB DDR3 Crossfire - 3 Sticks
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 7970 Ghz Edition 3GB
    Sound Card
    Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 Monitors
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 and 2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2x2TB 1x500GB Hard Drives and 1x160GB SSD
    PSU
    750W CORSAIR
    Case
    Antec Twelve Hundred
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    6x 120mm, 1x 200mm
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    Razer Deathstalker
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    Razer Mamba
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    50 Mbps
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    Thomson tg799vn, Logitech Z-5500 Speakers
I have been googling your issue and seen one suggestion a few time ,assuming you have 2 sticks of ram ,try running the computer with just one stick of ram[then remove it and test the other one ] and see what it list for reserved for hardware, it just may be a faulty stick of ram
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    win8.1.1 enterprise
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    PC/Desktop
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    Hinze57
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    AMD FX 6100 6core 3.30gHz
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    gigibyte ga-78lmy-s2p
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    1680x1050
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    128gig ssd Kingston
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    micro
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    microsoft curve 200
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    Logitech wireless M215
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    high speed 20
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    ie 11
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    windows defender
    Other Info
    updated enterprise apr 2/14
Are you using your graphics card OR are you using onboard graphics?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), Linux Mint 18.3 MATE (64 bit)
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    System Manufacturer/Model
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    CPU
    AMD Phenom II x6 1055T, 2.8 GHz
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    ASRock 880GMH-LE/USB3
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    8GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill Ares F3-1333C9D-8GAO (4GB x 2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD6450
    Sound Card
    Realtek?
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    Samsung S23B350
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    1920x1080
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    Western Digital 1.5 TB (SATA), Western Digital 2 TB (SATA), Western Digital 3 TB (SATA)
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    Linux Mint 16 MATE (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 17 MATE (64 bit) - 2014-05-17
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    Ubuntu 10.04 (64 bit) replaced with Linux Mint 14 MATE (64 bit) - 2013-01-14
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    Monitor Upgraded - 2012-04-20
    System Upgraded - 2011-05-21, 2010-07-14
    HDD Upgraded - 2010-08-11, 2011-08-24,
What version of Win 8 are you using ? 32 bit or 64 bit ?
If you're on the 32 bit one, all memory past 4 GB will be put in harware reserved, as is your case.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 (x64)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
I have been googling your issue and seen one suggestion a few time ,assuming you have 2 sticks of ram ,try running the computer with just one stick of ram[then remove it and test the other one ] and see what it list for reserved for hardware, it just may be a faulty stick of ram

I am using 3 sticks of RAM, 2GB each. But that shouldn't change anything i assume? I could still test the sticks one at a time.

Are you using your graphics card OR are you using onboard graphics?

I am using my graphics card: AMD Radeon HD 7970.

What version of Win 8 are you using ? 32 bit or 64 bit ?
If you're on the 32 bit one, all memory past 4 GB will be put in harware reserved, as is your case.

I am using 64 bit OS with a x64-based processor, so that should not be the issue.

Edit: I would also like to ask if i should have more RAM for my computer if you were to compare to the other specs? To make sure there is no bottleneck or such?
Or atleast it could help with the previously mentioned "caching" making things run even smoother?
I have always felt like i had very little RAM.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 - 64-Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 980X
    Motherboard
    Asus Rampage II
    Memory
    6GB DDR3 Crossfire - 3 Sticks
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 7970 Ghz Edition 3GB
    Sound Card
    Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 Monitors
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 and 2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2x2TB 1x500GB Hard Drives and 1x160GB SSD
    PSU
    750W CORSAIR
    Case
    Antec Twelve Hundred
    Cooling
    6x 120mm, 1x 200mm
    Keyboard
    Razer Deathstalker
    Mouse
    Razer Mamba
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Mozilla Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Thomson tg799vn, Logitech Z-5500 Speakers
Are you actually having a problem Or are you just concerned about the high memory percent being used.

If the latter you are fretting for no good reason. Unused memory is wasted memory. The system should release memory as needed for other tasks. What good does it do t have 8 GB of memory if it isn't used?

If you are having a specific problem maybe you should state that exactly and what it is.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Are you actually having a problem Or are you just concerned about the high memory percent being used.

If the latter you are fretting for no good reason. Unused memory is wasted memory. The system should release memory as needed for other tasks. What good does it do t have 8 GB of memory if it isn't used?

If you are having a specific problem maybe you should state that exactly and what it is.

I apologize i forgot to add the reason itself that brought me here, while i was playing Alien: Isolation i had task manager open on the other screen as i was watching the memory usage, i noticed everything began to slow down more and more as the memory usage got higher and higher (up in the 97/100%), and eventualy it just froze, i couldn't do anything.
Perhaps the memory usage is unrelated to the freeze, it hasn't froze since then and i've played it a lot more.

But it still concerns about that 3GB hardware reserved memory, can it be used at all by my system?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 - 64-Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 980X
    Motherboard
    Asus Rampage II
    Memory
    6GB DDR3 Crossfire - 3 Sticks
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 7970 Ghz Edition 3GB
    Sound Card
    Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 Monitors
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 and 2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2x2TB 1x500GB Hard Drives and 1x160GB SSD
    PSU
    750W CORSAIR
    Case
    Antec Twelve Hundred
    Cooling
    6x 120mm, 1x 200mm
    Keyboard
    Razer Deathstalker
    Mouse
    Razer Mamba
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Mozilla Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Thomson tg799vn, Logitech Z-5500 Speakers
Check this: run [FONT=Segoe UI, Lucida Grande, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]msconfig.exe, select boot tab, select advanced options, uncheck the maximum memory if it is limited. Reboot.[/FONT]
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer V3 771G-6443
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer VA70_HC (U3E1)
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 (800 MHz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD4000 + GeForce GT 730M
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17" Generic PnP Display on Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB
    ADATA SSD SP900 128GB
    PSU
    90 watt brick
    Mouse
    Bluetooth
    Antivirus
    Comodo
    Other Info
    Asus RT-AC56R dual-band WRT router (Merlin firmware). Intel 7260.HMWWB.R dual-band ac wireless adapter.
Check this: run msconfig.exe, select boot tab, select advanced options, uncheck the maximum memory if it is limited. Reboot.

I forgot to mention that i already checked that before, i did disable it, and it is disabled now, but it seems to have made no difference, i just now got a pop-up from the taskbar saying "Disable apps to improve performance" perhaps it is related to the memory "problem"?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 - 64-Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 980X
    Motherboard
    Asus Rampage II
    Memory
    6GB DDR3 Crossfire - 3 Sticks
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 7970 Ghz Edition 3GB
    Sound Card
    Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 Monitors
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 and 2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2x2TB 1x500GB Hard Drives and 1x160GB SSD
    PSU
    750W CORSAIR
    Case
    Antec Twelve Hundred
    Cooling
    6x 120mm, 1x 200mm
    Keyboard
    Razer Deathstalker
    Mouse
    Razer Mamba
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Mozilla Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Thomson tg799vn, Logitech Z-5500 Speakers
The "Disable apps to improve performance", you can ignore. Has nothing to do with the memory issue that you still have not used the proper info to show us what the Process tab shows.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Mint 17.2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite C850D-st3nx1
    CPU
    AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon (tm) HD Graphics 1.40 GHZ
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon™ HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366 x 768
    Hard Drives
    Crucial M500 240GB SSD
    Mouse
    Logitech M525
    Internet Speed
    45/6 - ATT U-Verse
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    None needed. It is Linux.
    Other Info
    Arris NVG589 Gateway; Router - Cisco RV320; Switch - Netgear GS108 8-Port Switch & Trendnet TEG-S50g 5-Port Switch; Access Points - Engenius ECB350, Trendnet TEW-638APB; NAS - Lenovo ix2-4; Printer - Brother HL-2280DW; Air Print Server - Lantronix XPrintServer

    A/V UPS - Tripp-Lite Smart 1500LCD 1500 Va/900 W.
Adding up the items in the memory usage column in Task Manager will never equal total memory usage. Modern operating systems are far too complex for anything as simple as that. For a start the "Memory (Private Working Set)" column shown by default does not include all process memory usage which is often substantially higher. There are also major users of memory that are not processes. This includes the file cache, non-paged pool, and the resident portion of the paged pool, most of which Task Manager will tell you nothing about.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Does it only do this when playing this game or all the time. It is possible that the game is a memory hog and not returning memory to the system properly ( memory leak ).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Hi,
I can just confirm what you said.
I have been playing Alien Isolation and the memory went to 99%. I also have windows 8.1. This has happened to me many times already. I think this is a problem of the game, although it is strange that we have the same windows version.
Anyway, i think it is a memory leak as pcgeek11 already said. I am playing with 4GB and normally that last to play some hours. I guess they should release a patch or we should buy more memory :).
Kind regards
joniale
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Hi
I have had this problem while using Windows Media Player. The stuff below may help you.

I have found a workaround on a per-session basis. Task Manager et al do NOT show which process is using all this disappearing memory.
The workaround is one of the programs in the sysinternals package called RAMMap. While using Process Explorer (another sysinternals program) I can observe the total memory consumption and reduction thereto after using RAMMap.
So, fire up Process Explorer and then fire up RAMMap. From the RAMMap menu, select Empty and then Empty Standby List. In my experience this, for whatever reason, makes Windows Media Player behave at least for the current session.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Toshiba Satellite
    CPU
    Core i7 2670QM
    Memory
    6 gb
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900
    Hard Drives
    Kingston SSD Now 256 gb
    Mouse
    Logitech 325
    Internet Speed
    20 down 5 up
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    none
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