6 how to limit ram usage for an application/game

September 17, 2024 Miguel Salas

Limiting the RAM usage of an application or game can help ensure that your system runs smoothly, especially if you’re dealing with limited memory. Here are six ways to limit or manage RAM usage for a specific application or game:

1. Set Priority in Task Manager (Windows)

You can adjust the priority of a specific application through Task Manager to limit how much of the system’s resources, including RAM, are allocated to it.

Steps:

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
Go to the Details tab.
Right-click the application or game process.
Select Set priority and choose a lower priority like “Below normal” or “Low.”

This reduces the application’s resource allocation, including RAM, allowing other programs to use more.

2. Use In-Game or Application Settings

Most modern games and heavy applications come with internal settings to reduce memory usage.

Lower Graphics Settings: Reducing the texture quality, shadows, or draw distance can significantly lower RAM usage in games.
Close Unnecessary Add-ons or Mods: For mod-heavy games like Skyrim or Fallout, reducing the number of mods or add-ons running can free up RAM.
Memory-Heavy Features: In apps like video editing software, reducing the preview quality or limiting cache size can reduce RAM usage.

3. Disable Background Processes and Services

Stopping unnecessary background processes and services can free up RAM for more important applications like games.

Steps (Windows):

Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc).
Go to the Processes tab.
Identify and right-click non-essential background processes (e.g., file syncing services like Dropbox or cloud backups).
Select End Task to free up RAM.

On Mac, use Activity Monitor to kill background processes.

4. Use Virtual Memory (Page File)

If your system doesn’t have enough RAM, you can allocate more virtual memory through the page file on your hard drive. This won’t limit RAM usage directly, but it can supplement RAM with hard drive space, which can help prevent system crashes due to memory limits.

Steps (Windows):

Go to Control Panel > System and Security > System.
Click Advanced system settings.
Under Performance, click Settings, then navigate to the Advanced tab.
Under Virtual Memory, click Change and adjust the page file size.

Increasing the page file will allow your system to handle more memory load, although it’s slower than actual RAM.

5. Limit Maximum Memory Usage via Command Line

For more advanced control, you can limit how much memory a particular application or game uses by launching it with specific command-line arguments (if the application supports it).

For some games or applications, you can use a flag like -memlimit to set a memory usage limit. For example, running the game with -memlimit=2048 would restrict it to 2 GB of RAM.
Check the specific application or game’s documentation to see if it supports memory limitation commands.

6. Use Third-Party RAM Management Software

Several third-party applications can manage and optimize your system’s RAM usage by automatically clearing unused RAM, closing non-essential services, or limiting the memory usage of specific apps.

Popular Tools:

RAMMap (Windows): Shows detailed memory usage and can help identify memory hogs.
Process Lasso: Allows fine control over RAM and CPU usage for specific applications.
CleanMyMac (Mac): Provides memory management tools that clear RAM and optimize system performance.

Conclusion

Limiting RAM usage for an application or game can improve overall performance, especially on laptops with limited memory. By adjusting settings in Task Manager, optimizing in-game options, or using third-party tools, you can manage memory usage efficiently. For more persistent memory issues, consider increasing virtual memory or upgrading your laptop’s RAM.

Author Profile

Miguel Salas

I am physicist and electrical engineer. My knowledge in computer software and hardware stems for my years spent doing research in optics and photonics devices and running simulations through various programming languages. My goal was to work for the quantum computing research team at IBM but Im now working with Astrophysical Simulations through Python. Most of the science related posts are written by me, the rest have different authors but I edited the final versions to fit the site's format.