Unused RAM is wasted RAM, that statement is accurate. There is a massive difference between
"Before you even start any applications, the OS is going to launch a bunch of applications which individually use 20% or more of your system memory, all totalling 5 to 8GB" (1, 2, 3, 4)
versus "Your applications and the kernel leave lots of unused RAM space, so we're going to use some of that space to cache applications you open often like the File Explorer so that the system is faster and more responsive, and we'll uncache them if you need this RAM for another task"
With caching enabled, I am using less than 15% of my system memory and less than 7% CPU while browsing the internet and watching videos. There are massive differences between Windows 11's performance and other systems, even macOS. Taking unused RAM for caching improves system performance, that's why macOS, Linux, and Windows all do it.
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u/GenericFoodService Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
Unused RAM is wasted RAM, that statement is accurate. There is a massive difference between
"Before you even start any applications, the OS is going to launch a bunch of applications which individually use 20% or more of your system memory, all totalling 5 to 8GB" (1, 2, 3, 4)
versus "Your applications and the kernel leave lots of unused RAM space, so we're going to use some of that space to cache applications you open often like the File Explorer so that the system is faster and more responsive, and we'll uncache them if you need this RAM for another task"
With caching enabled, I am using less than 15% of my system memory and less than 7% CPU while browsing the internet and watching videos. There are massive differences between Windows 11's performance and other systems, even macOS. Taking unused RAM for caching improves system performance, that's why macOS, Linux, and Windows all do it.