CPU Causing A Memory Leak?

[Epsile]

I haven't been able to find anything anywhere about this particular issue, so I figured I'd bring it up with you guys since there's a plethora of knowledge here.

 

Specs:

MoBo: GIGABYTE AB350 GAMING-3

Problem Processor: Ryzen 5 2600

Current Processor: Ryzen 5 5600X

RAM: Vengance LPX 2933MHz @ 32GB with XMP @ 3200MHz

GPU: Radeon RX 580

Drives: 2TB Seagate & 500GB WD Black NVMe M.2

Power Supply: RM750x

 

Here's the basis of the problem: There's a memory leak that I've dealt with for the better part of a few months, and only recently have I gone to a last-resort ditch to replace the processor in order to alleviate the problem.

I could not find where the memory leak was anywhere.

When I check task manager, I'll notice that the memory stat says it's at like, 85% or more, but when I check the Users tab, it only says I'm using around 2GB at that particular time. 

 

Here's the troubleshooting I did:

 - Closed out all applications for a few days at a time and let computer sit idle (only resulted in same issue happening)

 - Uninstalled potential applications which take up large sums of ram (saw no difference)

 - Ran Memory Diagnostics twice to see where problem could be (ram was completely fine according to results)

 - Checked System Resource Manager whilst memory was up around 70-80% (found no outlying programs)

 - Ran stress tests on both RAM and CPU to see where problem starts (results were inconclusive)

 

As you can see with the specs list, I did end up just buying a new CPU to see if that would fix it. I did also want to upgrade to a newer generation of Ryzen anyways, so I figured why not kill two birds with one stone?

 

Anyways, I'm curious as to if I may have missed a troubleshooting step or maybe it could have been something else? So far it's been smooth sailing for the past day or so, with no abnormal amounts or spikes of RAM usage.

[Levent]

Its interesting that you came up with CPU somehow leaking memory instead of windows being a piece of shit.

[Likwid]

2 minutes ago, Levent said:

Its interesting that you came up with CPU somehow leaking memory instead of windows being a piece of shit.

When you want an upgrade but have to justify it

The problem he describes is that windows is already trying to reduce memory usage, im moments like that task managers show low ram usage for programms but total is at 98%, but OP should see massive lag when that happens, windows becomes unusable for that time.

TLDR: Programm memory leak.

[Epsile]

1 hour ago, Levent said:

Its interesting that you came up with CPU somehow leaking memory instead of windows being a piece of shit.

Oh yeah, I honestly don't know how I didn't consider that to be the issue. 

What specifically would that be? 

 

EDIT: I do use Windows 10 as well, I refuse to upgrade to 11 for the obvious reasons. 

[Epsile]

1 hour ago, Likwid said:

When you want an upgrade but have to justify it

The problem he describes is that windows is already trying to reduce memory usage, im moments like that task managers show low ram usage for programms but total is at 98%, but OP should see massive lag when that happens, windows becomes unusable for that time.

TLDR: Programm memory leak.

Yeah, lol, figured I'd upgrade anyways so it's a pretty good excuse! 

 

I do experience that brief moment of massive lag when I go to different tabs in task manager and Chrome, and it's so jarring when it happens. Not fun.

[Eigenvektor]

1 hour ago, Epsile said:

There's a memory leak that I've dealt with for the better part of a few months, and only recently have I gone to a last-resort ditch to replace the processor in order to alleviate the problem.

I memory leak is not a hardware error. Replacing hardware cannot fix it. It's a software bug that needs to be addressed by the developer of the offending application.

 

A memory leak happens when a program reserves memory then "forgets" it has done so. This is referred to as a memory leak, because you now have memory that is reserved (i.e. marked as used), but effectively has no owner.

 

The means memory will not be freed until the process is terminated. Worse still, since the process did not keep track of the memory it reserved, it will typically reserve more memory any time it needs some, rather than (re-)using the memory it already reserved. This ultimately leads to the OS running out of available memory.

 

To identify which program is causing the issue, have a look at task manager. If a program's memory usage keeps going up and up, then it's likely the culprit. Note that a program's memory usage will typically vary over time. But if you repeat an action (say click a button) and memory goes up the second, third, fourth, … time as well, it could indicate a memory leak.

 

I know that e.g. the news feed of Windows had (or has?) an issue like this. You can solve it by disabling it.

[Epsile]

11 hours ago, Eigenvektor said:

I memory leak is not a hardware error. Replacing hardware cannot fix it. It's a software bug that needs to be addressed by the developer of the offending application.

 

A memory leak happens when a program reserves memory then "forgets" it has done so. This is referred to as a memory leak, because you now have memory that is reserved (i.e. marked as used), but effectively has no owner.

 

The means memory will not be freed until the process is terminated. Worse still, since the process did not keep track of the memory it reserved, it will typically reserve more memory any time it needs some, rather than (re-)using the memory it already reserved. This ultimately leads to the OS running out of available memory.

 

To identify which program is causing the issue, have a look at task manager. If a program's memory usage keeps going up and up, then it's likely the culprit. Note that a program's memory usage will typically vary over time. But if you repeat an action (say click a button) and memory goes up the second, third, fourth, … time as well, it could indicate a memory leak.

 

I know that e.g. the news feed of Windows had (or has?) an issue like this. You can solve it by disabling it.

The thing is that I will seemingly do nothing except for my normal daily routine, and my memory will just steadily increase in usage over a period of a few days. I've disabled the Windows News Feed, so I'll see if anything changes.

 

I realize how much hatred there is for the Windows OS, and I feel like switching to Linux might end up being the play at this point. 

[Eigenvektor]

24 minutes ago, Epsile said:

The thing is that I will seemingly do nothing except for my normal daily routine, and my memory will just steadily increase in usage over a period of a few days. I've disabled the Windows News Feed, so I'll see if anything changes.

If there's nothing suspicious in task manager, it could also be a driver that's at fault. You could try resource monitor, maybe that will give better results. Just wanted to point out that you won't fix it by replacing hardware, you need to find the software that's at fault. Of course, if it is driver related, replacing hardware could incidentally fix it.

 

26 minutes ago, Epsile said:

I realize how much hatred there is for the Windows OS, and I feel like switching to Linux might end up being the play at this point.

Not sure how you got that from my response Memory leaks can exist in any OS or software. I know that News Feed had a memory leak, but that doesn't mean it's at fault here. Could also be something else.

[Epsile]

4 hours ago, Eigenvektor said:

If there's nothing suspicious in task manager, it could also be a driver that's at fault. You could try resource monitor, maybe that will give better results. Just wanted to point out that you won't fix it by replacing hardware, you need to find the software that's at fault. Of course, if it is driver related, replacing hardware could incidentally fix it.

 

Not sure how you got that from my response Memory leaks can exist in any OS or software. I know that News Feed had a memory leak, but that doesn't mean it's at fault here. Could also be something else.

It's been hell trying to search for what could be the problem. News Feed wasn't the issue, and I thought Microsoft's Security could have been the issue, but that wasn't the case either. I could try to update my GPU drivers and see if those are the issue, even though I can't see why they would be. Do you have any recommendations for software that tells you what drivers need to be updated, or is that not a thing?

 

Also, I didn't mean to make it seem like I interpreted your message as "Windows bad", that was my bad. I was mostly just looking for more validation to switch to Linux anyways. 

[NekoBubbles]

Most memory leaks are a failure to code for the program to ditch cached mem. Its one of the main complaints about the Win 10 platform that many complain about  if you are insistent to use win 10 would say if you have the money then get more ram when you order PC/laptop. As a former software functional QA I've seen this happen with software development where we'd have potato PC's full on flatline cause someone forgot to remember to add the library for discharging memory. And a third of the QA testers would be ordered sit on your hands while your PC tries to reboot from its BSOD

[Epsile]

1 hour ago, NekoBubbles said:

Most memory leaks are a failure to code for the program to ditch cached mem. Its one of the main complaints about the Win 10 platform that many complain about  if you are insistent to use win 10 would say if you have the money then get more ram when you order PC/laptop. As a former software functional QA I've seen this happen with software development where we'd have potato PC's full on flatline cause someone forgot to remember to add the library for discharging memory. And a third of the QA testers would be ordered sit on your hands while your PC tries to reboot from its BSOD

Here's a question: Does Win. 11 fix these issues? 

My main issue with the memory leak is just the inability to find where it's coming from. I've checked services, processes, resource monitor, everywhere, and I cannot find a single thing that's causing it. Are there just hidden processes that could be hoarding cached memory? 

[Kilrah]

If it doesn't show up in task manager it's most likely a driver, so check for any updates there.

[Mark Kaine]

nope, that's not a thing,  if you have a memory leak its software,  either application or windows...

 

try ISLC to fix it. 

[Mark Kaine]

8 hours ago, NekoBubbles said:

Most memory leaks are a failure to code for the program to ditch cached mem. Its one of the main complaints about the Win 10 platform that many complain about  if you are insistent to use win 10 would say if you have the money then get more ram when you order PC/laptop. As a former software functional QA I've seen this happen with software development where we'd have potato PC's full on flatline cause someone forgot to remember to add the library for discharging memory. And a third of the QA testers would be ordered sit on your hands while your PC tries to reboot from its BSOD

what is funny... i had this issue for a long time, fixed with ISLC, but then at some point a BIOS update fixed it so i don't have to use ISLC anymore (that's besides i have a different mobo now and the issue doesn't occur here either)

 

tldr, its software,  and its fixable in most cases.

[Epsile]

9 hours ago, Kilrah said:

If it doesn't show up in task manager it's most likely a driver, so check for any updates there.

All drivers are fully updated, including BIOS. No changes to leak.

 

5 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

nope, that's not a thing,  if you have a memory leak its software,  either application or windows...

 

try ISLC to fix it. 

I'll try it out and see what it can do. 

 

5 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

what is funny... i had this issue for a long time, fixed with ISLC, but then at some point a BIOS update fixed it so i don't have to use ISLC anymore (that's besides i have a different mobo now and the issue doesn't occur here either)

 

tldr, its software,  and its fixable in most cases.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who's had this issue!! I was honestly going bonkers at the amount of information I couldn't find. It was like trying to find a solution to a really really specific problem that only I was having. Hopefully ISLC works for me.

[NekoBubbles]

13 hours ago, Epsile said:

Here's a question: Does Win. 11 fix these issues? 

My main issue with the memory leak is just the inability to find where it's coming from. I've checked services, processes, resource monitor, everywhere, and I cannot find a single thing that's causing it. Are there just hidden processes that could be hoarding cached memory? 

Windows 11 is a can of worms in all honesty. It fixes the mainstream issues that Win 10 has but its OS is built to be essentially a clone of the Google chromebooks OS. Which is great if you use a chromebook as a daily on the go laptop driver. But if you don't win 11 can be very non ergonomic OS. Its like comparing a banana to a dragon fruit level of difference. Windows 11 can be great but it often takes a month to get acclimated. 

I'm not gonna be a Win 10 lover and say Win 11 is a disaster like some but its a big leap and I'd consider it more like the option before you declare this a fubar issue. A ram upgrade on your PC would be my preferred suggested move. 

[Epsile]

21 minutes ago, NekoBubbles said:

Windows 11 is a can of worms in all honesty. It fixes the mainstream issues that Win 10 has but its OS is built to be essentially a clone of the Google chromebooks OS. Which is great if you use a chromebook as a daily on the go laptop driver. But if you don't win 11 can be very non ergonomic OS. Its like comparing a banana to a dragon fruit level of difference. Windows 11 can be great but it often takes a month to get acclimated. 

I'm not gonna be a Win 10 lover and say Win 11 is a disaster like some but its a big leap and I'd consider it more like the option before you declare this a fubar issue. A ram upgrade on your PC would be my preferred suggested move. 

I've already got 32 GB of ram, and I don't exactly have the funds to upgrade to more of it. The processor was my biggest indulgence of this year, unfortunately

[Epsile]

Okay, I've found something new:
Apparently my HDD has been constantly running at 100% for some reason. Could that be related to my memory leak?

 

EDIT: This might be a really important detail: Something I've noticed is that even if my memory usage is increasing, there are no outlying programs. My memory just says it's going up, and up, and up, even though none of the apps that I'm using at the time are going up in memory usage. It's like an invisible memory leak or something.

Has this happened to anyone, and is there a solution?