I'm experiencing an issue with my computer where Windows 11 is showing a total of 16GB of RAM usage that doesn't seem to match what Task Manager is reporting. I have a setup with two 16GB DDR5 sticks on an AMD GPU and CPU with an ASUS Prime motherboard. Initially, I noticed around 4GB being unaccounted for in both Windows 10 and 11, but this number recently grew to 16GB over time while the system is running. I've tried troubleshooting by removing RAM sticks, but even with just one stick, the usage shows 8GB. I'm hoping to figure out what's causing this memory usage. Any insights would be greatly appreciated!
2 Answers
What do you mean by 'not accounted for'? How did you come to that conclusion? Using tools such as RAMMap can really help clarify how memory is being utilized on your system. It provides an analysis of categorized memory including cached memory that might shed light on why your RAM usage is so high.
This can be pretty normal behavior. Windows does tend to cache frequently used applications in memory to speed things up, which might explain why you're seeing more RAM being used over time. It’s essentially optimizing performance by preloading. If you want to dig deeper, tools like Sysinternals Process Explorer or RAMMap can give you a detailed look at what's actually using that memory. They can show you what processes are consuming resources and how Windows is categorizing your RAM usage. Just remember, unused RAM is essentially wasted RAM; Windows will use it as needed!
I tried using RAMMap and learned a lot about the memory allocation. Thanks for the tip!