CPU util and memory usage

[JatZilla]

so I put together a new machine last weekend. i'm a multitasker and last night, i was downloading a bunch of torrents, burning a DVD, listening to music and working on some spreadsheets. i noticed that in Task Manager, the CPU utilization would hit 60-70% at times, the memory window didn't have a single bar.

what gives? why's my memory so underutilized? I got 2gb.

TIA

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: JatZilla
so I put together a new machine last weekend. i'm a multitasker and last night, i was downloading a bunch of torrents, burning a DVD, listening to music and working on some spreadsheets. i noticed that in Task Manager, the CPU utilization would hit 60-70% at times, the memory window didn't have a single bar.

what gives? why's my memory so underutilized? I got 2gb.

TIA

Because none of: 'downloading a bunch of torrents (legal ones, I would hope), burning a DVD, listening to music, and working on some spreadsheets' are terribly memory-intensive operations.

Look at your commit charge numbers on the Performance tab; that's how much memory your applications and OS have allocated at any given time.

 

[Bobthelost]

If the programs you're using don't need much RAM then they won't use it. Think of it as a petrol tank for your car, if you've got enough for the journey planned (task) then having a tank that's twice as large won't improve performance much. However if the tank is too small for the journey then you've got to stop to fill up along the way, which is a pain in the neck and slows you down.

 

[furballi]

DVD encoding will normally pull about 50 to 60% CPU load on a modern system (A64 +3000). Burning DVD should only impose about 10% load, depending on software. Sounds normal to me.

 

[JatZilla]

so then....i shouldn't have bought 2gb ram. 1gb would have been more than sufficient. no? I'm not a gamer. what can i possibly run that will require more than 1gb of memory?

 

[JatZilla]

bump

 

[Bobthelost]

Really heavy photoshop'll do it. Proffesional audio type applications or CAD may well do it, that sort of thing.

 

[Maximilian]

I hope your machine was a dual core of some sort

Programs i know of that are capable of using more than 1 gig of ram:

Battlefield 2 - apparently it can on really high settings
Adobe photoshop
Windows vista - doubt its true but i did read it onetime
Future applications

 

[JatZilla]

lol ok thanks.......this is what happens when clueless people like myself try to put together a pc....order too much of something, less of something else.