MSI GT73VR very high ram usage for no reason on Windows 10

I'm experiencing something very unusual with my MSI GT73VR with 16GB or RAM: the ram usage automatically increases as minutes or hours pass by for no reason. I've noticed that sometimes the RAM usage is already high just after powering on the computer and other times is low and increases the same way.

Windows 10 is updated to version 1790, and shows the following warning:


Memory is high (90%).
The defrag tool has been activated. If the memory is still high it's recomended you close some applications.
MemInfo.

If I keep pushing, it gets up to 99% and the computer starts to slow down a lot and is almost unusable, and the SSD activity is the highest probably because of disk caching or memory swapping.

I use Process Explorer to view the processes running, on both tabs "Private Bytes" and "Working Set", and the values don't add up.
Task manager > Performance > Memory shows the high used ram, but when adding up all the memory used by all the processes, it merely counts 4 or 5 GB.
If I close all software the ram decreases slightly but it's still very high. I'm rebooting the computer each several minutes or few hours to get a fresh performance.

On another computer where I have Windows 10, the issue doesn't happen even with lower ram.
I've tried Linux on the MSI and the ram usage is perfect, 3 or 4 GB with light use, so I think the problem is with Windows 10 itself or some driver that is leaking in the MSI specifically.

Anybody had this experience before?

 

Long time ago, memory leak on some driver. Killer software is one possibility - check and update if it is an old one. A driver only install without Killer Network Manager might be worth trying.
Also this was in Windows 8.1 - don't know if it's happening in Windows 10:
"I notice you have a Killer network Manager in your list. There have been problems with the Windows Network Data Usage Monitoring Driver service which in combination with a Killer network driver starts to fill up the Non-Paged Pool memory. This was in W8.1 and the suggested fix is altering the registry key value of the “Start” entry to 4 in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Ndu\ to disable the Windows Network Data Usage Monitor Driver from starting."

 

@zipperi you hit the nail in the head. The drivers that were leaking were those signed by Microsoft, for the Killer network card.
I've installed the following suite which includes software plus drivers:

Killer Control Center 64-bit
Updated on 20 November 2017
Comments: Includes Killer Control Center software and drivers for Wireless-N, Killer Wireless-AC 1525/1535/1435, Killer E2200, Killer E2400, and Killer E2500.
Version: 1.5.1618
Operating Systems: Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 64-bit
Download link: https://www.killernetworking.com/driver-downloads
File downloaded: KillerPerformanceSuite_1.5.1618_Win7_Win81_Win10_x64.exe

Old drivers with memory leakage (installed automatically by Windows 10):

• Killer E2400 Gigabit Ethernet Controller
  • Driver Provider: Microsoft
  • Driver Date: 14/09/2016
  • Driver Version: 9.0.0.42
    
  • Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows
• Killer Wireless-n/a/ac 1535 Wireless Network Adapter
  • Driver Provider: Microsoft
  • Driver Date: 27/10/2016
  • Driver Version: 4.0.2.262
  • Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows

New drivers (Killer performance suite):

• Killer E2400 Gigabit Ethernet Controller
  • Driver Provider: Rivet Networks
  • Driver Date: 31/08/2017
  • Driver Version: 9.0.0.46
  • Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher
• Killer Wireless-n/a/ac 1535 Wireless Network Adapter
  • Driver Provider: Qualcomm Atheros Communications Inc.
  • Driver Date: 01/11/2017
  • Driver Version: 12.0.0.448
  • Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

The reason why I did not see the memory of the driver is because the used memory was in a non-paged area, so it doesn't apper on regular software. Additional software like poolmon.exe is the way to detect it.

External sources and links:

1. Memory Leak Please Help
2. Finding a Memory Leak
   
3. How to use Memory Pool Monitor (Poolmon.exe) to troubleshoot kernel mode memory leaks
4. Killer Network Suite gave me a major memory leak
5. Discovering memory leaks in the nonpaged pool with poolmon.exe
6. Troubleshooting Pool Leaks Part 1 – Perfmon
7. Troubleshooting Pool Leaks Part 2 – Poolmon

 

Don't use the Killer suite

Uninstall it and reboot

then manually install these drivers from device manager, Bluetooth is ok to install from the EXE installer:

LAN Killer E2500 Driver v9.0.0.46

Killer WLAN Driver v12.0.0.448/BT v10.0.0.448

 

Ok but what is the problem with the Killer Suite? For now it's working perfectly.

 

Good I could help! It's not the first time Killer causes problems...

 

From the past days, it was always buggy, used to cause BSODs and the whole concept is dump in my opinion. Here's why:

What it promises to do is, throttle bandwidth from other programs so that the programs which need it more like games or VOIP applications can have more allocated bandwidth. Maybe that was a worthwhile feature in the past but nowadays most people have very fast connections that it doesn't even matter. Heck, when I am running any app that's using the internet, I want it to use my full bandwidth so I can make use of what I paid my internet provider. I want 0 throttling of bandwidth in ANY app. I can be downloading a large 4GB ISO at max speed and still use Skype VOIP with no problems. Windows isn't that dump, it has a built in QoS service anyway.

You're complaining about your high RAM usage and I suggested what's best. If you think it's causing you no issues, then by all means, use it, I'd never install it on my system even if you paid me.

 

Ok sorry didn't know it could cause network slowdowns to third party software. What I use to limit bandwith is the software NetLimiter 4 Pro which is outstanding. If I se any throttling I will surely uninstall it.

 

I ran into the same problems as you, but I was getting GSOD's until I uninstalled the Killer Suite and just loaded the drivers. Haven't had a problem since.

 

Hello all,

Just wanted to clarify that what the Killer Control Center does is make sure the latency-sensitive applications that you are running, be they games, videos, or just browsing, take priority over other network traffic, such as bulk downloads like Windows Updates, or cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. It uses almost no resources to do its job, and we are constantly tweaking it, and setting default priorities so that the most important traffic gets routed ahead of less important traffic, without you having to do a thing other than having the software installed. Of course, you can customize things, tool, to make things even more efficient. Since the software is in direct communication with the chip, it can do this very quickly, on a packet by packet basis, much more effectively than other software. The point is not so much to manage bulk downloads, but to get lower latency where you need it without slowing anything down at all.

If you were seeing memory leaks from our software, you were likely using a version of our software that was broken by later feature updates to Windows. Recent versions of the Killer Control Center have not had this problem.

I would suggest at least testing with the Killer Control Center installed. If you notice that you are having issues with the latest version installed, please reach out to us at http://killernetworking.com/about/contact so that we can determine the problem, help you resolve it, or get to work resolving it on our end.

-- Anthony with Killer Networking

 

Thank you Mr. Anthony. I will give it a try soon as the last time I used it was 3 years ago. I appreciate how you keep an eye on Killer products on the forums. Very good service.

 

Killer Networking is definitely more aggressive in terms of customer service than Intel as they are the only networking product company with presence here on NBR and that's awesome.

 

Thank you much for the kind words, guys!

-- Anthony with Killer Networking

 

I will try giving it another go as well.

Just wanted to post this here in case anyone still runs into any problems and just needs to run driver(s) only.

1. Go here:

http://killernetworking.com/driver-downloads/kb/faq/10-installing-drivers-without-killer-feature-set

It explains how to install the drivers through the device manager.

2. Click on the link in Instruction (1) on the above page. It will carry you to Killer's "Other Downloads" page.

3. Download the Killer INF Package which is a zip file.

4. Continue to follow instructions on the webpage above in (1) in order to install drivers only through the Windows Device Manager.

 

The current version of the Killer Control Center should use very little memory. If you find that it is using more than around 200 MB at most, please let us know. If you do see that it is using a lot of memory, first try updating to the latest version of the suite, found here - http://killernetworking.com/driver-downloads/item/killer-control-center-x64. If you are seeing memory leaks, then you are l likely running a very old version of the suite, so it would be a good idea to completely uninstall the any "Killer Suite" or "Killer Drivers" that you find in your Apps and Features menu first, restart, then install the latest suite. There is typically no reason to get rid of the Killer Control Center and, if you do, you're missing out on the faster Internet experience that your Killer adapter can give you. If you have any issues or questions with the current suite, please reach out to us directly at http://killernetworking.com/about/contact.

-- Anthony with Killer Networking

 

so what happens if I have the Killer LAN E25oo but I change my wireless card to this new Intel 9260? the Killer control center won't function properly then right and I'm best off not installing it and just install the INF Driver for the Killer LAN E2500?

 

The Killer Control Center will continue working normally for the E2500. The Doubleshot Pro option will vanish, as will the Wi-Fi analyzer.

-- Anthony with Killer Networking