Limit RAM Cache?

Eblim said:

This is with 1 tab open in Google Chrome, and iTunes with a song playing.

Look at mine (attached). I have 16GB RAM, yet our percentages are virtually the same in all four categories under "Physical Memory".

I do notice that you have twice as many processes running with only two programs open. When I snapped mine just now I had Firefox, Thunderbird, Sunbird and Q-Dir (an Explorer-type program) open. Are you sure your sluggishness isn't due to too much background stuff running?

So when you run your game you ALT+TAB out and check your cache and it's still around 4000 and something?

Here is a something you could try, more out of interest than help.

Fresh boot the PC, let it idle for 10mins before checking and recording the cache.
Next open msconfig.exe click on the Services tab, check Hide all MS services and then click Disable All.
Next click on the Startup tab and click Disable All.
Now close msconfig and restart. Let the PC idle for 10mins again before checking the cache.

Mine before using msconfig is 1375mb and after it's 1128mb. Now you can see there's not much difference, so taking a guess my extra services and startup processes only add 247mb to my cache. I wonder what yours add?

If it's still around 4000 after disabling the services and startup processes how well does your game run?

I found this program RAMMap.
I ran it, clicked Empty on the menu bar then clicked Empty Standby List and my cache dropped to 150mb-350mb depending on how much I clicked it and closed/reopened it, clicked it again.

The only thing here is the cache would rebuild instantly close to what it was.

Go go msconfig and check Start Up and see what is starting up when booted. While your in msconfig go to Services. Check Hide all Microsof Services and see what is checked. You could have many things running in the background. Let us know what you find. I recommend not messing with Microsoft Services. I know this has been requested before but I don't see a answer.

logicearth said:

Do this. Open Resource Monitor by typing it into the start menu search. Go to the Memory tab, make sure Physical Memory is open. Then run your game for a few minutes, return to Resource Monitor while the game is active. Take a screen shot and show us.

Eblim said:

I unchecked many start-up items in msconfig. My cache has cut in half! 2GB more to work with, thank you. Any other ideas to knock off another GB?

I want to see for myself if the cache is causing you problems first. Otherwise, just be chasing phantom geese with bad advice.

Eblim said:

...As far as the game goes, it's been better for whatever reason, without lag. I find that it requires more RAM the longer I play the game...

That may be just a case of less-than-stellar programming by the game designers. You can tweak Windows all day long, but if the game ends up being a black hole for RAM there is little you can do about it.

Having said that, starting with more free RAM to begin with by having non-essential stuff not loading at boot will postpone the day of reckoning which comes when the game finally maxes things out.

What is the game? If it's big budget you shouldn't actually need to reduce the size of the cache before playing. You might also find a patch that may fix this issue.

As for dropping down any more my only guess would be too lose more startup and background processes. This may not be what you want though. If your game is running better I wouldn't worry about it.

If you want some of those startup processes back you can add all of them again and start disabling them 2-3 at a time, you might find a single process is using a large chunk of the cache, although I'd say unlikely.

logicearth may provide some better options if you preform his steps and follow his advice.

logicearth said:

Do this. Open Resource Monitor by typing it into the start menu search. Go to the Memory tab, make sure Physical Memory is open. Then run your game for a few minutes, return to Resource Monitor while the game is active. Take a screen shot and show us.