increased memory usage with added memory - why?

[goosefire]

I just built a new computer and started with 8GB of memory. A few weeks down the line I purchased another set of the same memory because it was on such a good deal and had great reviews (newegg). It also was working well for me, so I figured maybe more could be better.

I haven't noticed any decrease/increase in system performance except Alt-Tabbing has recently got slower. Also, Win7 was sitting tight on 1.3gb to 2gb of memory usage prior to the extra 8 (now 16) being added. Even when gaming, it went up to like 3gb. Now that I've added the extra it's going up to 4.5gb or better. Why so? Also, is it possible to speed up my alt-tabbing? It seems to have a good 3-4 second pause in it instead of being immediate like it was.

Computer specs:
Windows 7 HP 64-bit
gSkill 16gb 1866 memory (BIOS shows it at 1866, too)
Intel i5-2500k Sandy Bridge (OC'd 4.6 with factory Overclock presets)
ASRock z68 Extreme4 mobo

 

[cluberti]

Use resmon instead - taskmgr is not a good resource monitor. Open resmon, click on the memory tab, and see if it's simply cache growth. Assuming you have superfetch enabled (and without an SSD in a machine, you should), it is simply allowing the superfetch cache to grow if this is the case (and that's a good thing).

 

[goosefire]

Okay, ya. It has a lot of memory growing in the standby. Shows 11k available, 5k standby, 4k in use. Should I add to virtual memory? It's still standard.

I still dont understand the alt-tabbing. It was zooming on changing windows last night before I went to sleep, now its pausing hard. A restart maybe help?

 

[cluberti]

Can you post a screenshot of the memory usage? Let's make sure it's actually cache...

 

[goosefire]

 

[cluberti]

Yup, that's superfetch cache. I'd reboot, and see what happens from there. If you still have issues with the system freezing up over time, might want to create a new post about it and we'll see what we can do. With 16GB of RAM, though, that probably shouldn't really ever happen under normal usage.

 

[goosefire]

Okay, I'll try that now

 

[cluberti]

OH, and welcome to SF .

 

[goosefire]

It still has a slow alt-tab. The sfc scan showed no problems at all, too. Resmon is only showing a total of 4gb in use, with 12gb free.

Thanks for the warm welcome =)

 

[goosefire]

The slow alt tab, also, is only between going from my game AION to the desktop. But my girlfriend is on her computer, significantly slower and half the memory, and it's instant in the same game. Mine -was- instant, but now it's not..

 

[goosefire]

Okay update! - I just changed to 1920 x 1080 (1080p) native resolution on my desktop and its moving fast again. It's just a slight bit blurry feeling on the monitor..

 

[cluberti]

Good - best to run at native resolution. If it's small, simply increase the size to 125 or 150% in the display panel.

 

[goosefire]

The monitor feels a slight bit fuzzy to my eyes but when I changed to the native resolution 1920 by 1080 it was fast again.