Why is my RAM fluctuating in real time?

[WiseGuy]

While booting, BIOS shows RAM as 16GB....
While in Windows 7 64-bit, it shows 16GB when I right click Computer and click properties.
Now here is where it gets odd.... I pull up OpenHardwareMonitor, Available Memory fluctuates depending on what I am doing. Anywhere between 10.9GB-14.3GB without even doing much. Basic web browsing and such.

This has never happened. I did a recent windows update.... I am wondering if it has something to do with that? I have checked all sticks of RAM one by one. They all do the same thing. I have 4 sticks of 4GB.

My computer is consuming more ram than usual.

So far I have tried updating BIOS, then downgrading.
Checked MSCONFIG under BOOT tab.... nothing helped.
What else can I do? Please help!

Anyone ever heard of this?

My specs are as follows:

Motherboard: GA-78LMT-USB3 ver.6.0
Processor: AMD FX6300 Black Edition -BIOS OC @4.1GHZ no voltage, just multi.
RAM: 4x4GB=16GB 1333mhz -Set to auto in BIOS (Still not sure why, ram is rated at 1600mhz)
VideoCard: GIGABYTE GeForce GT 730 -OC w/O.C. GURU II +133 Core +346 Memory
Powersupply: Corsair 600w

Any other questions?

PLEASE help.... I am trying to determine if I am going to need to replace something because I work from home and this is my machine. Everything else seems to work fine. I get good frame rates while gaming still. I am just trying to understand what is going on and taking preventative action before I go back to work on Monday.

Thank you for your time and I appreciate any and all input.

 

[carnageX]

First of all, I'll ask..is the consumed RAM causing you issues? It may just be SuperFetch caching your commonly used applications in RAM (which is what it's designed to do). For the most part, unused RAM = wasted RAM in all reality.

What Windows updates did you do? If both BIOS and Windows show as 16GB usable, then that's what it should be.

 

[WiseGuy]

First of all, I'll ask..is the consumed RAM causing you issues? It may just be SuperFetch caching your commonly used applications in RAM (which is what it's designed to do). For the most part, unused RAM = wasted RAM in all reality.

What Windows updates did you do? If both BIOS and Windows show as 16GB usable, then that's what it should be.

I had a couple freezes and had to manually reset. I think I need to go into BIOS and manually enter timings and voltage for my RAM to make it stable. Right now it is set to auto, while I have everything else set to a stable clock. I disabled all auto options because it was running hot. I saved myself around 20c at max load by doing so. (gaming and such) I max out at around 40c-50c on air with a overclock of 4.1GHZ. All stock voltages. Just multi.

The Windows Update was a "HotFix" to another issue. I am guessing that it changed something in my registry and it is just consuming more than usual.

I guess I just need to dig deeper and look into my registry and manually configure my RAM voltage and timings.

I don't know where else to go from there. I appreciate the reply.

 

[PP Mguire]

The biggest problem people have is staring at numbers when they don't matter. The only time you should worry about RAM is if it's being maxed out. What people consider basic web browsing can hog over 2GB of RAM without even really trying. So fluctuating like that is perfectly normal. I also wouldn't look at anything else for RAM usage besides task manager as it'll tell you exactly what's taking so much RAM. I only have 3 tabs open and a Youtube video playing and it's taking over 1GB for the Youtube tab by itself.

 

[WiseGuy]

The biggest problem people have is staring at numbers when they don't matter. The only time you should worry about RAM is if it's being maxed out. What people consider basic web browsing can hog over 2GB of RAM without even really trying. So fluctuating like that is perfectly normal. I also wouldn't look at anything else for RAM usage besides task manager as it'll tell you exactly what's taking so much RAM. I only have 3 tabs open and a Youtube video playing and it's taking over 1GB for the Youtube tab by itself.

That is not the point, I know all of that.

The point is that I was wondering why all of a sudden it was fluctuating so abruptly and inconsistent with what I was doing on my computer.

I was simply wondering if this was a hardware issue, meaning something was about to go or?

I have looked into it and it was some things that a recent update did to my registry. Everything is fixed now and my correct RAM timings are all in.

No more crashes. I figured it out.

Thank you for your time ya'll.

 

[PP Mguire]

That is not the point, I know all of that.

The point is that I was wondering why all of a sudden it was fluctuating so abruptly and inconsistent with what I was doing on my computer.

I was simply wondering if this was a hardware issue, meaning something was about to go or?

I have looked into it and it was some things that a recent update did to my registry. Everything is fixed now and my correct RAM timings are all in.

No more crashes. I figured it out.

Thank you for your time ya'll.

It kind of is the point, ultimately why I posted to begin with. Crashing is one thing, but minute fluctuations aren't a problem unless something wrong is actually happening. Crashing, maxed RAM, artifacting, lower than usual performance, high temps, those are problems. If nothing was happening besides a graph fluctuating then it's a non issue. You were wondering because you were looking at a hardware monitor and it seemed odd so you automatically assumed critical hardware problem. From your OP you went through all of that because you thought your computer was having an issue when it wasn't. So my point here is, don't be the victim of ghost problems. Utilize those utilities if you visually identify a problem or start crashing, not otherwise. It's just a piece of advice because I see way too many people creating more problems in their head than their computer actually has.

 

[WiseGuy]

It kind of is the point, ultimately why I posted to begin with. Crashing is one thing, but minute fluctuations aren't a problem unless something wrong is actually happening. Crashing, maxed RAM, artifacting, lower than usual performance, high temps, those are problems. If nothing was happening besides a graph fluctuating then it's a non issue. You were wondering because you were looking at a hardware monitor and it seemed odd so you automatically assumed critical hardware problem. From your OP you went through all of that because you thought your computer was having an issue when it wasn't. So my point here is, don't be the victim of ghost problems. Utilize those utilities if you visually identify a problem or start crashing, not otherwise. It's just a piece of advice because I see way too many people creating more problems in their head than their computer actually has.

I think you need to re-read this whole thread and pay attention. I was crashing and my RAM was abruptly fluctuating out of no where, and I was confused because I didn't change anything besides a Windows Update that just consumed more RAM and had me checking everything when I found my RAM timing was off in my BIOS.

Either way everything is solved now and I appreciate you all for responding to my freak out lol... I apologize, this is my work computer and it cannot be crashing while I am working.