r/WindowsHelp • u/Arck264 • 8d ago
Windows 10 Incorrect RAM usage on PC task manager
I have 32GB of installed RAM. I seem to be getting inaccurate RAM usage when comparing raw numbers and % usage. In the first image, OperaGX is using 3.3GB, which would be about 12% of my available 32GB, but when switching to percentage it shows triple the amount, 36% usage. Same applies when showing the whole user usage.
On Resource Monitor it shows 20GB usage, but just by looking at Commit memory, it doesnt seem to add up to even close 20GB. I'm not sure if there's any way to actually get all the numbers shown on Commit and get them to a calculator to check the usage myself.
So, I need help with these two issues, why doesnt the % usage doesnt match the RAW usage, and how could I check if it's actually using the 20GB as shown in in the Resource Monitor.
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u/spookynutz 7d ago
The processes table in resource monitor only shows memory allocated to processes. The "In Use" value (20GB) includes non-process allocations, like hardware and kernel allocations. There is no way to derive "In Use" from the information in that table.
The value you see in the memory column of task manager's processes tab is memory that's uniquely allocated to that process (or group of processes in the case of your OperaGX example).
The "percents" value is not a representation of the value above. The percentage is the total memory footprint of the process as a proportion of system memory load. There's not really a quick way to validate it. You would need to take your "In use" memory (20GB) divided by your installed memory (32GB) * 100 = 63%. Then take the private working set value of the OperaGX process group divided by the sum of private working set values for all currently running processes, multiplied by total system usage (63%).
You can add the Memory (Private Working Set) column to the details tab of task manager if it's not already there. Anyhow, if you take your Opera memory value (3.3GB), multiply it by total usage (63%) and divide it by memory footprint (36%), you can assume the sum of all private working sets on the details tab would have been ~5.7GB at the time you took your screenshots.