Surely on many occasions you have noticed that your device is running slower than usual and you do not know what the reason may be. Don’t despair, The majority of the time the problem is that your RAM is touching the limit . The solution? Know how much RAM your computer uses and act accordingly.
You don’t have to have any broken components; your team is simply telling you that the space dedicated to support the data required by each program at all times, is running out and you need to close the one that is consuming more memory.
This may sound like Chinese, but before you get nervous and consider the option of going to a technician. In this post we are going to show you how you can check the level of RAM your computer is consuming , in order to know which program is slowing down your system.
Index:
What is RAM and what does our computer use it for?
The RAM of a computer is that volatile memory that a computer uses to store some of the program and data information during the period of time it is running. Its acronym responds to “Random Access Memory” or Random Access Memory in our language. It is the one that is used while the equipment is on and is responsible for preserving all the data of the softwares that are changing during the execution of the same.
At the time the device is turned off, the RAM stops working and the data that you want to keep must have been saved to the hard disk or storage memory (which can be internal or external). It’s a volatile memory.
This improves the speed of response of the programs since when one of them is executed, the most relevant data, the ones necessary to operate at the moment, are loaded, and the instructions are exchanged with the processor more important. Thanks to its effectiveness, users can save time in the execution of the programs.
For this reason, it is very important to make the decision very well when choosing the amount of volatile memory that our equipment should have. On desktops it could be extended by modules attached to the motherboard.
A laptop is not so simple and choose the right amount (in addition to a graphics card that complements the use of graphic data) will mean the difference between having a large paperweight, a racing car with which to run everything, or something in between , of course.
How to know what applications are using my RAM and how much do they consume?
The easiest way to monitor resources of this type on your computer is to use the “Task Manager”, since in addition to being a native Windows tool, the data you can get is more than enough to the purpose at hand , which is nothing more than to see which applications you have running and which are making greater use of the Random Access Memory .
Although, you can also use a bit more sophisticated programs that can perform a more interesting analysis to know the status of the RAM of our equipment at any time.
Steps to know how much RAM your Windows computer is using in real time
Let’s see, with the two main methods that Windows offers us, how to analyze the consumption of volatile memory on the computer:
From the Task Manager
As we have advanced, the first tool that we are going to comment on is the one that Windows includes in its operating system for this management, the “Task Manager”:
- This can be opened from the Start menu itself or by pressing “ctrl” + “shift” + “escape” or “ctrl” + “alt” + “supr”.
- If you have never visited this menu on your computer, it might open in a smaller size . If so, you can expand it by clicking on the “ More details ” button, which is located in the lower left corner.
- Next, searches among the tabs for the one that is call “Performance.”
- There you will be within the performance control zone of your team . You can see the evolution of the use of the CPU, RAM, hard drives, graphics cards and other installed connections. In this case, you should click on “ Memory ”.
It has very interesting graphics. In addition, it shows you a section where you can review in real time what consumes you each execution of a certain program on your computer.
We will see a section where it shows us the programs that are running and the RAM memory assigned to each one of them . Even if we see some exorbitant figure, or some task that we think should not be running, we can also eliminate it from this area. We just have to right click on the task and select the delete option .
As you can see, this very simple application is very interesting. A compact display can be activated by double clicking on the column on the left, the one on which you can see a summary of the data related to PC performance . You can even compact the graphic of the element you are interested in reviewing.
With RAMMap
RAMMap is a free tool that Windows makes available to its users so they can know how RAM is managed, how Windows physically allocates that memory and how much they use the drivers and the kernel itself.
This program is designed so that a user with any level of technical knowledge in computer science can use it without problem. Its interface is very similar to the “Task Manager” of Windows, but offers a greater amount of information.
It consists of two tabs:
- In the first one you can see a summary of the memory usage based on different types: the memory that is actively used and the one that the system has in Standby (the latter is which some programs reserve for operations at the time that software is opened and does not have to be used at that time).
- In the following tab you can free memory by clicking on the option “ Empty ” of the application that interests us. Next, click on “ Empty Stand By List ”.
We recommend the use of memory emptying of this program, especially in the case of the use of video games or video editing programs; since both can get to reserve even 1 GB of the total volatile memory without ever using it.
List of the best programs and tools to know the RAM consumption of your computer
Within the PC world, each user looks for the best way to maintain good performance for their equipment, always considering uses and budget. Strengthening and knowing how to choose a good RAM is key if we want to avoid the annoying delays and be able to run the programs that interest us the most in our computer.
As each one has a particular interest, it will not be as appropriate as a gaming device may need than one designed to perform office automation tasks or another to work editing and designing in 3D. Having made this decision, the best thing we can do is keep informed about how we are consuming the RAM , so that, if needed, we can remedy it.
Next, we recommend the following programs:
Novabench
Novabench is a very specific program that is not lost in complicated graphics or data. It simply shows you all the information that it considers interesting in terms of the performance of your computer and gives you a score so you can compare yourself with similar devices.
The section that may interest us most is where it tells you at what speed (MB / S) your RAM is working. By clicking on “Compare these results online” we can make a comparison between your results and those of teams from all over the world . Is this last point useful?
Not too much, unless you are very curious, because, as we have already indicated, what matters is the performance in relation to the use we need to give our machine.
Download Novabench Windows
Download Novabench MacOS
CPU-Z
This program is very complete and, without a doubt, will get you out of doubt about everything related to the performance of your equipment. Everything you need to know about RAM , which is what interests us, you can check it in the “Memory” tab.
This application can also be downloaded on Android phones to know the data of the device, something that we love since mobile phones, over time, begin to work worse and we never know how to know the motive.
Download CPU-Z Windows
PCMark 8
This is the best known program in the world to analyze the performance of a team . It consists of several internal programs that analyze different sections focused, as we say, on performance in all its facets.
In this case, it works by performing a test, after which it gives the team a score that compares with other computers in the whole world.
Download PCMark 8 Windows
Prime95
This is a very interesting program that is responsible for loading the PC’s memory core in full capacity . What it does is stress the memory over a period of 12 to 24 hours to see how it reacts.
Download Prime95 Windows
OCCT
Las siglas de este programa corresponden a OverClock Checking Tool. Se trata de un completo software que se puede descargar de internet y que sirve para comprobar la estabilidad del sistema. Para ello, se puede elegir entre las opciones “Sólo CPU”, “Sólo RAM” o “CPU + RAM”, de manera que los datos de tu interés quedan medidos y registrados. Además, nos ofrece la opción de poder mostrar los resultados en una interesante gráfica.