I've got a gaming laptop that's just about a year old, and lately, I've noticed it's constantly using over 60% of its memory right after booting up, and it jumps to over 80% with just a browser and three simple tabs open. It never used to slow down like this, and it's become a struggle to play games like Stellaris, even on the lowest settings. I used to multitask with a bunch of tabs and YouTube without any issues. I also switched from DuckDuckGo to Edge because the former was really lagging. I'm starting to think this is not normal for a gaming laptop. Anyone have insights on this?
4 Answers
Let Windows handle the memory management unless you notice rogue applications that are a problem at startup. It’s generally best to let the system optimize itself. If you've been observing high memory usage with little activity, it might be worth checking into. But if the laptop has been performing poorly—like it did with DuckDuckGo—you might need to dig deeper.
Check your Task Manager to see what's using up all that memory. It could be a program that automatically starts with your laptop. Also, if your laptop has integrated graphics, make sure the memory allocated to it isn't too high. Sometimes these settings change, and that can eat up your RAM. Have you done any BIOS updates recently? That could also impact performance.
Try using MSI Afterburner while gaming to monitor your resource usage and see if temps are getting too high, causing throttling. Also, make sure you're plugged in while gaming, since battery mode can restrict performance. One other tip: Clean out the vents to improve airflow. What are your laptop specs?
For the record, overheating could be an issue too, but if it’s just a bit warm, it might not be the main culprit. Here are the specs I have:
Processor: 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz
Installed RAM: 8GB (7.75GB usable)
System type: 64-bit OS, x64-based processor
Got it new around a year ago, but I've mainly used it for basic tasks and gaming like Stellaris and Civ.
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