New System Runs Too High?

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MastoidMan

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Jul 28, 2013
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Hi All, first timer here, although I've landed here often in the past few weeks.

I had a build done for me that was pretty hefty power in efforts for using music creation software. The software I use is still 32-bit, but I hope to use the 64-bit version soon as plug-ins become available in the new format. The reason I bring this up is because I need every last drop of RAM that I can can my hands on that's below the 4GB level. My 32GB of RAM is largly wasted until September or so.

My problem is that I believe my CPU and Memory as reported in Task Manager is too high. It was at 2.20-2.25GB right after start up and then over 2.55GB after a few minutes. Plus the system sounded like it was working too hard for sitting still at idle.

Thanks to many hours of research and use of the Sys Internal Tools and some Windows Kit tools, I'm actually better than where I started. I am now around 1.95 at start up and 2.25 after a while of sitting still.

I have an ASUS Sabertooth X79 MoBo, I7-3930K CPU, 32 GB Crucial 1600 RAM, a NVidia GT-620 Graphics card and am running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit SP1 with all of the latest updates. I have gone through and checked many of the drivers and did change my graphics card driver to it's latest version.

The temps are all within specs, even after hours of sitting still or hours of good use.

The system sounds like it's working it's butt off. This is a concern to me as I want it resting calmly as it can while not under a load. My theory being that the calmer it is, the longer it lasts. We'll see.

If I disabled network access, killed Windows Updater, Defender, firewall, Themes and quite a few other items, I could knock about another 20GB from that total. My old machine with aged technology was doing better than that, WITH all that running.

I looked at SysInternals ProcExp and found nothing that looked out of the ordinary. Interupts almost nothing. ("<.01" to ".04%") Nothing else in procExp looks like it should not be there. I've traced all my scvhosts back to legitimate services. I've gone through Task manager looking for clues. I've even looked at the BIOS, but am afraid to say I don't really know what I'm looking at.

So, does anyone have any suggestions what to look for now? I've sort of hit a brick wall with this. Even an order of what to look at would be nice. I feel my efforts have lack organization.
 
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onichikun

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Nov 13, 2009
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Sounds like you are a bit too obsessed with minimizing resource utilization in a pretty powerful system. You aren't running an embedded platform, so don't worry about it.

I expect what you are seeing in Window's 7 taking advantage of all that memory. Windows 7 uses superfetch to preload applications into memory to speedup usage, but it also will increase your memory footprint even when idle. Don't worry about using a lot of memory reducing your system lifetime. The very act of having your computer powered on is doing that.

Now, FLASH drives are a bit different since it has a fairly limited # of write/read cycles, which is why its better to use SSDs for long-term storage of things like games (or in your case maybe music files/sound clips), rather than swap space or temporary file space.

My advice: don't worry about idle usage. If you are, just put your computer to sleep/off when idle. Start worrying if your performance isn't up to your expectations.
 
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MastoidMan

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Jul 28, 2013
3
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10,510


Thanks for your fast response. I am certainly tempted to do as you say, and I do have a few things left in the basket to turn off in a pinch to by myself another .2GB - .3Gbof RAM. It's difficult to qualify a performance increase with numbers, but a medium sized project that was spitting and sputtering at 75% CPU usage with RAM pegged is now running at 42% and Ram at 3.21GB. In short, room to grow. Especially with I get to go into 64-bit mode.

Still though, I want to make sure my machine is running optimally for both performance and longevity. I'd take any nudge in those directions you've got to offer.

Perhaps there are some tool generated reports that you'd like to see? Certain settings in BIOS you'd like to see? Anything, just ask for it. I may not know how to do it now, but google is a click away. LOL
 
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MastoidMan

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Jul 28, 2013
3
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10,510
Perhaps a better way to describe why I need that particular bit of Memory. The software I use only allows me up to the system's first 4GB of memory. That first 4GB is shared with the OS, of course. I'm running .35 - .45GB higher than I and others think I should be and am on any other machine. That does not seem like much, but it is. After the software loads, I'm left normally with about 1.6GB of memory. That Memory is all's I get to add audio tracks and audio plug-ins. If I go from 1.6 to 1.2, I lose 25% of my capacity.

Now, this machine is scalding fast an can handle much more, and really gives me much better performance before I get to that ceiling, but I do get to that ceiling. I have to do my emergency measures to buy room, but I don't think I should have to for a lot longer than I do.

In a few months it might become a mute issue. I hope it's that quick. There is an application update that should be solid by then and allow me to use all the tools I have purchased over the past couple of years. Until then, I'm stuck and restricted. Much better shape than I was, but am still restricted. In the mean-time, I've spent over $2,500 on a machine build that is giving me 25% less head-room than I thought I was getting....and should be getting.
 
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