pc not using all ram? (64 bit win 8.1)

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Daniel Harvey

Daniel Harvey

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Apr 14, 2014
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hi,
I believe that my pc is not using all the available ram. there is 8gb installed (2, 4gb sticks), windows sees this amount, so does the bios.
however, i have been noticing that whilst playing games that (in msi afterburner) "RAM usage, MB" is not getting higher than 3500MB. what is even more strange is that "Pagefile usage, MB" is 4000MB during games.
surly this cannot be good for performance, loading times?
or is this completely normal?

important specs

CPU: Intel Core i5 4670
Operating System: windows 8.1 64 bit
Motherboard: Gigabyte H87M-HD3
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1660mhz (2x4GB)

thanks in advance
 
Solution
Eximo
Since you don't mention what it is you are running, hard to say. Your system will use the memory it requires, no more. The recommendation for having 8GB in a gaming machine is a bit overkill, but having only 4GB can sometimes not be enough.

A lot of DX9 games are limited to 2GB, unless you modify the registry to allow for 3GB. DX10 and DX11 games can use more memory, but since most games are built around allowing the lowest common denominator to work, they don't use that much memory.

You will see this trend change a little since the consoles now have 8GB of ram (Though they don't use all of it either)
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Eximo

Eximo

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Since you don't mention what it is you are running, hard to say. Your system will use the memory it requires, no more. The recommendation for having 8GB in a gaming machine is a bit overkill, but having only 4GB can sometimes not be enough.

A lot of DX9 games are limited to 2GB, unless you modify the registry to allow for 3GB. DX10 and DX11 games can use more memory, but since most games are built around allowing the lowest common denominator to work, they don't use that much memory.

You will see this trend change a little since the consoles now have 8GB of ram (Though they don't use all of it either)
 
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Solution
Daniel Harvey

Daniel Harvey

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sorry, knew i was missing something, the games were all dx11 - f1 2014, fm15, civ 5 (in dx11 mode) etc.

I was more concerned about how high the page file was, compared to the ram? im probably wrong but isnt the page file used when the ram is filled/nearly full? as ram must be faster than a HDD?
 
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Eximo

Eximo

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Rule of thumb is the page file should be double the size of the system memory, when using a spinning disk. If you have an SSD, page files should be disabled to increase the drives endurance. Though the way I look at it is that by the time the drive is worn out, there will be something better to upgrade to anyway. Already have M.2 and SATA Express coming soon.

As long as your system is performing the way you think it should, don't worry about it.
 
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Daniel Harvey

Daniel Harvey

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Apr 14, 2014
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thanks for your help,
 
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