High Memory Usage

[Jordy]

Recently I've been pretty much struggling to carry out any tasks on my computer cause of what I believe is high memory usage, it's always in the 60-80% region without fail. All software frequently stops responding or freezes. I maintain my computer really well, I don't really have much in the way of start-up programs or nonsense installed. I've pretty much always got Chrome, WLM, NOD32, iTunes and Tweetdeck open, each of which use up quite a bit of memory especially Chrome (My love for it is fading fast).

I'm also running three monitors off a 320MB 8800 GTS graphics card and some internal Intel graphics chip. I've 2GB RAM and cannot upgrade this any further, using Windows 7 Pro if that helps.

I'm really stumped on what to do, it seems as all software is getting more memory intensive so my only option is to buy a new desktop but that's out the question atm :/

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Firehorse]

Close iTunes to begin with (kill the process). iTunes is very greedy for RAM. Also look through the processes list and kill anything you don't need open like software updaters that are always running which you don't need.

[Recursion]

How much ram do you have and on what OS? I think your problem is elsewhere... Not sure where though. Just my opinion.

[Chippiewill]

I'm also running three monitors off a 320MB 8800 GTS graphics card and some internal Intel graphics chip.

That could sound like a probable cause, Windows 7 might be greedy on graphics (Not entirely sure) due to aero glass, try switching to the classic theme to see if it fixes it.

it's always in the 60-80% region without fail.

Both Windows Vista and 7 use up more RAM than they need so it can be used for something in the background when nothing else needs it, might be that, it'd be very noticeable on just 2GB. Also I'm assuming it's a laptop due to the 2GB limit, is it running hot at all?

it seems as all software is getting more memory intensive

Sadly 4GB of RAM is standard nowadays.

Also when was the last time that you reinstalled windows? It could just be that it's slowing down and clogging up over time.

A screen-shot of your processes list might be crucial in identifying any problems.

[Recursion]

Aero should be fine on three monitors on an 8800GTS and Windows 7/Vista doesn't use more ram than they need, they allocate it to recently closed and most used applications so if you load one of them up it starts quicker, if it needs the RAM it'll free it up, deffo not noticeable on 2GB IMO... Or hasn't been for me on my laptop anyway.

Also sorry for my stupid post above ^^^ really should read more carefully... LOL.

That could sound like a probable cause, Windows 7 might be greedy on graphics (Not entirely sure) due to aero glass, try switching to the classic theme to see if it fixes it.


Both Windows Vista and 7 use up more RAM than they need so it can be used for something in the background when nothing else needs it, might be that, it'd be very noticeable on just 2GB.


Sadly 4GB of RAM is standard nowadays.

Also when was the last time that you reinstalled windows? It could just be that it's slowing down and clogging up over time.

A screen-shot of your processes list might be crucial in identifying any problems.

[matt$]

I've got 1gb ram on one of my older computers and it can run itunes and other programs like spotify etc simultaneously, im no expert but maybe its a virus of some sort slowing you down?

[Chippiewill]

Aero should be fine on three monitors on an 8800GTS

The 8800 series is getting on a bit, wouldn't be surprised if it has started to struggle.

Windows 7/Vista doesn't use more ram than they need, they allocate it to recently closed and most used applications so if you load one of them up it starts quicker, if it needs the RAM it'll free it up, deffo not noticeable on 2GB IMO.

More than it needs to function, I was identifying it as a red herring for the abnormal RAM usage.

[Recursion]

Just because it uses more than it needs to function doesn't mean its doing it inefficiently.

Aero would work fine on 3 monitors on an Intel based solution, let alone an 8 series nvidia card.

[Chippiewill]

Aero would work fine on 3 monitors on an Intel based solution, let alone an 8 series nvidia card.

Not if you're running all the Aero features and applications to boot, it has to render every open window for Aero glass.

Just because it uses more than it needs to function doesn't mean its doing it inefficiently.

I never said that, I said it may be the reason why the RAM usage looked higher than it should.

[Jordy]

I've got 1gb ram on one of my older computers and it can run itunes and other programs like spotify etc simultaneously, im no expert but maybe its a virus of some sort slowing you down?

A virus would seem a good reason but I haven't really downloaded much recently and nothing has shown up in scans.

That could sound like a probable cause, Windows 7 might be greedy on graphics (Not entirely sure) due to aero glass, try switching to the classic theme to see if it fixes it.


Both Windows Vista and 7 use up more RAM than they need so it can be used for something in the background when nothing else needs it, might be that, it'd be very noticeable on just 2GB. Also I'm assuming it's a laptop due to the 2GB limit, is it running hot at all?


Sadly 4GB of RAM is standard nowadays.

Also when was the last time that you reinstalled windows? It could just be that it's slowing down and clogging up over time.

A screen-shot of your processes list might be crucial in identifying any problems.

There's usually Tweetdeck too with another 60k, and with anymore such as Media Center or Player it's just a nightmare. It's a desktop, it just had a fairly simply motherboard to begin with. Installed Windows 7 about 9 months ago and I've installed very little, I doubt it's clogged up.

Cheers for the replies so far anyway, I'm beginning to think Chrome is the main culprit.