Upgraded to Windows 8, insane RAM cache.

dpAlex

New Member
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5
So, I recently upgraded to Windows 8. And I noticed I started having some issues with performance in games (stuttering, etc). My question was, is it normal for Windows to eventually cache all the RAM available? It started out at 1GB, then started creeping up and has never once gone down in size.

gEGlQ.png

Any help would be appreciated, coming from Windows 7 using similar settings, I did not run into this problem.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro N
sounds like you have a memory leak on one the programs running, possibly the game your having issues with.

check with the games site and look for any updates to it as their may be some compatability issues with windows 8.

and do that for all your applications that don't natively support windows 8.
 

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The RAM is cached though, not in use. I was mostly wondering if this is new in Windows 8. Cause I don't remember Windows 7 caching the majority of my RAM.

This happens even though I do not use the program in question. It seems to just happen over time in Windows 8.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro N
To answer one of your questions: No, it is not normal for Win8 to cache all the RAM. I have 12GB installed, with 1GB allocated to the IGP (i3-3225, with no discrete graphics card), and Task Manager shows 10.2GB available, and only 2.5GB cached:

task_manager_memory_use.gif
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built
    CPU
    i3-3225
    Motherboard
    H77M-D3H (micro-ATX)
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    none (Intel HD4000 IGP)
    Sound Card
    mobo integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U2312HM & Samsung 171N
    Screen Resolution
    1080x1920 (portrait) & 1280x1024
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    Intel 520, 120GB SSD
    Kingston SNV425S2 64GB SSD
    WD WD10EARS 1GB HDD
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    Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 460W
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    Silverstone TJ-08E
    Cooling
    Intel stock HSF
    Keyboard
    Logitech K260
    Mouse
    Logitech M210
    Internet Speed
    10Mbps/1Mbps DOCSIS
To answer one of your questions: No, it is not normal for Win8 to cache all the RAM. I have 12GB installed, with 1GB allocated to the IGP (i3-3225, with no discrete graphics card), and Task Manager shows 10.2GB available, and only 2.5GB cached:

View attachment 13263
Does it ever decrease in Cached RAM though, or does it seem to be fixed (i.e. once 2.5GB, it will never hit 2.4GB again).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro N
Hmmm. Not sure long-term, but in short-term, it looks like once it caches, it keeps it in cache. I just opened a bunch of apps, including running a HD video, and the cache crept up to 3.4GB. Closing all those apps, and going into Task Manager and closing all those annoying background processes from Google, Apple, Adobe, etc -- still have 3.4GB cached. Committed is back down to 1.4GB.

Perhaps periodically -- a longer period than this short test I did -- Win8 will release some from the cache? <shrug>
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built
    CPU
    i3-3225
    Motherboard
    H77M-D3H (micro-ATX)
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    none (Intel HD4000 IGP)
    Sound Card
    mobo integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U2312HM & Samsung 171N
    Screen Resolution
    1080x1920 (portrait) & 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Intel 520, 120GB SSD
    Kingston SNV425S2 64GB SSD
    WD WD10EARS 1GB HDD
    PSU
    Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 460W
    Case
    Silverstone TJ-08E
    Cooling
    Intel stock HSF
    Keyboard
    Logitech K260
    Mouse
    Logitech M210
    Internet Speed
    10Mbps/1Mbps DOCSIS
I think the cached ram will keep increasing until you run a program that requires huge RAM. Then Windows should let go of some the cached RAM to make space for the program. If you don't want Windows 8 to cache large amount of RAM, just disable superfetch in the services.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64 with Media Center
    Computer type
    Tablet
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    Core i5 4300U @ 1.9 GHz
    Motherboard
    Surface Pro 3
    Memory
    8092 MB DDR3-L 1.35 V SDRAM @ 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD 4400 @ 200 MHz
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built-in 3:2 display
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 1440
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    256 GB SSD + 128 GB micro SD
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    36 Watt power brick
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    Active
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    On Screen Keyboard
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    Surface pen
    Internet Speed
    300 / 20 TWC
    Browser
    IE 11 Metro, IE 11 Desktop
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
I disabled Superfetch, after 40 minutes of using the computer today, this:
fnhPb.png
I don't know but it doesn't seem like disabling it stopped it from caching tons of RAM for no reason.

edit: It has now reached 9.1GB cached, with superfetch disabled. Never decreased, it doesn't make any sense.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro N

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
tcB8b.png
zavKU.png
Not sure how it's supposed to help. RAM cache is now at 7.8GB, so it is CAPABLE of decreasing.. it just doesn't do it nearly often enough.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro N
Restart then look in your management console at the Administrative Event log. That's where you will see reference if a problem with memory/handle leaks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    lenovo
No,you def have memory leak
I have 32gb and windows 8 uses about 6 gb
Cache
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 pro
    System Manufacturer/Model
    custom
    CPU
    i7-3930
    Motherboard
    asus P9X79 Deluxe
    Memory
    32gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    nvidia gtx670
I'm curious, are you still using the beta versions? I'm using the Retail version, and I don't see "Other" or "DDR3" or what some of the other people have. It just says 16GB.

It also says 7.0GB Cached, and this is pretty normal. Windows will use whatever memory you are not using for cache, and will release memory when need be. However, it will aggressively manage memory in order to give the largest amount of cache available.

This isn't likely to cause stuttering in your game, there are probably other reasons. Are you using the latest driver for your video card?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
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    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
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    Logitech MX
I have 3.5gb cache on my laptop
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win 8.1 64bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer
    CPU
    x9100(@3.6gig)
    Motherboard
    8930g
    Memory
    6gb ddr3
    Graphics Card(s)
    nvidia
    Sound Card
    realtek 5.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    18.2in
    Screen Resolution
    1920 × 1080 full HD
    Hard Drives
    240gig SSD
    500gig HDD
    Internet Speed
    152mb cable
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    defender
It also says 7.0GB Cached, and this is pretty normal. Windows will use whatever memory you are not using for cache, and will release memory when need be. However, it will aggressively manage memory in order to give the largest amount of cache available.

This isn't likely to cause stuttering in your game, there are probably other reasons. Are you using the latest driver for your video card?

I don't think Windows will just cache all the free RAM, my laptop right now is using 1.8 GB cache out of 8 GB RAM after using it for more than 2 hours. I have never seen Windows cache all the free RAM if you have 8 GB or more. I do know that Windows likes to cache all the RAM if you have 4 GB or less. For my laptop, the most I've seen is 3 GB, and that's when I'm playing games or have 20+ tabs in the browser or when I left the laptop idling for 30 minutes
.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64 with Media Center
    Computer type
    Tablet
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    Core i5 4300U @ 1.9 GHz
    Motherboard
    Surface Pro 3
    Memory
    8092 MB DDR3-L 1.35 V SDRAM @ 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD 4400 @ 200 MHz
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Built-in 3:2 display
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    256 GB SSD + 128 GB micro SD
    PSU
    36 Watt power brick
    Cooling
    Active
    Keyboard
    On Screen Keyboard
    Mouse
    Surface pen
    Internet Speed
    300 / 20 TWC
    Browser
    IE 11 Metro, IE 11 Desktop
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4790K @4.5GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Maximus VII Gene
    Memory
    16GB A-DATA DDR3-2400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte GTX 970 Gaming G1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    QNIX QX2710
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 series 250GB
    Toshiba DT01ACA300 3TB (Data)
    Western Digital Caviar Green WD30EZRX-00DC0B0 3TB (Backup)
    PSU
    Silversonte G series 750W
    Case
    Silverstone Sugo SG09
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-U12S
    Keyboard
    Generic
    Mouse
    Logitech G602
    Internet Speed
    200Mbps/200Mbps Fibre
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
ok..what I want to know, is will it eventually let go of the cached ram?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 64 bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Sony US-SVE141290X-LBOM
    CPU
    3rd gen Intel® Core™ i3-3110M processor (2.40GHz)
    Motherboard
    unknown.
    Memory
    6gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel® HD Graphics 4000
    Sound Card
    integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    integrated
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    1x @500gb
    Internet Speed
    fios 15/5

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 4790K @4.5GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Maximus VII Gene
    Memory
    16GB A-DATA DDR3-2400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte GTX 970 Gaming G1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    QNIX QX2710
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 series 250GB
    Toshiba DT01ACA300 3TB (Data)
    Western Digital Caviar Green WD30EZRX-00DC0B0 3TB (Backup)
    PSU
    Silversonte G series 750W
    Case
    Silverstone Sugo SG09
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-U12S
    Keyboard
    Generic
    Mouse
    Logitech G602
    Internet Speed
    200Mbps/200Mbps Fibre
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
A high value for cached memory is completely normal and a good thing. It is not unusual for this to be 50% or more of total memory, particularly on systems with high memory. A portion of this will be on the standby list, the remainder the file cache. The standby list is part of available memory and will be used as necessary. The file cache is not available but will be trimmed back if necessary.

Free memory should be low. The ideal would be zero free memory at all times but we are not there yet. Free memory is consuming power and providing nothing in return. You don't need it, you don't want it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
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