Windows reporting of RAM allocation vs. use

Silent Node · March 25, 2022

Asking for a friend...

No, this time I really am. Just had a friend ask me if I think he should add more RAM to his system because DDR4 has become fairly inexpensive. He's got a 2x16 kit right now, and the short answer is that "no, he's not going to utilize more than that with what he does" (gaming, with a few Chrome tabs and Discord open).

What he did do was include a screen snip of Task Manager showing the memory allocation of various things in the background. One thing I wanted to point out was that there is a difference between Windows reporting of allocation, and actual RAM usage, but I honestly couldn't remember the details of this. Anyone have a great TL;DR related to this, or a video (I haven't found one)?

mariushm · March 25, 2022

RAM is supposed to be used. If applications don't use it, Windows will use the free memory it to cache files and various things to improve your "experience" but as soon as an application requires RAM, it releases that memory and gives it to the application demanding it.

I have a game running and Firefox with lots of tabs and as you can see below, still have 4.0 GB of cached stuff and 3.8 GB of free space available if applications need it.

With the swap file available should it be needed, the total amount of "memory" available to applications is nearly 37 GB

Silent Node · March 25, 2022

Just to make sure I explain it to him properly, I did the same with my own PC (fired up a game in addition to my normal ongoing pile of Chrome tabs and whatnot)...

The number he is probably concerned about is the "Committed", but that's not what actually "In Use"? The difference between those two numbers then represents Windows "optimising" experiences?

In the processes tab sorted by memory use, are those values "actually in use" ones? For example is Private Internet Access actually using that 102.8 MB right now, or is that just be set aside for it if it needs it? (I'm not concerned about that specific thing or amount, just looking for an example that I though might not really be doing anything right now since my VPN is not currently active.

Part of his concern was over things like ICUE and Razer and all that, and that he keeps a tab of his Nest cameras open... I don't think it's noticeably impacting his system, and I think your explanation of the memory numbers should set aside any remaining concerns about RAM.

TL;DR ...mariushm, I think you've already answered my question, and I'm just typing outloud. Thanks!