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[Micro102]

Any idea on why a game would only use 1 GB of memory before crashing when there are 3 GB of memory left?

I have a dual core.

[Shadowlord]

Without knowing what the crashes are, no.

Edit: Well, if it was trying to put more stuff into swap space, and ran out of swap space, that might do it. But windows would probably complain?

Edit #2: Do you have a Windows Memory Diagnostic in Administrative Tools? If you don't want to mess with memtest, you could use that if you have it. (I do, but I don't know whether it might be a new thing with windows 8.)

I have 4 GB of RAM and haven't ever had CKII run out of memory.

[Tellemurius]

Micro, run a memtest

[Micro102]

No memory faults detected. 

Do you think bleeping computers would be a decent place to go for this?

[Micro102]

Bumping for desperation. If this doesn't continue, going to bleepingcomputer.

[Shades]

Generally I find if I'm having problems with games on windows it is because my antivirus is getting too touchy. Certain games I have to turn it off or I get performance issues and sometimes crashes, the more memory a game uses the more likely this is to happen.

Also might be worth checking you haven't disabled swap space accidentally (although I can't remember where this is on the current windows incarnations)

[10ebbor10]

What sort of error do you get?
Or is it just a black screen back to desktop thingy. Because maybe this isn't related to getting 1 Gb of ram, but is it another cause and is the Ram thing just a coincidence. I know overheating causes unexplained crashes, for example.

[Carrion]

Overheating would mean a complete system shutdown.

If you're really desperate, I'd recommend backing everything up and re-installing the operating system.  Obviously it's not ideal, but if you're having the same issues after, it's likely a hardware issue.  I would venture to say that it's a software issue but that's only based on what I've read.

Definitely make sure all of your drivers are updated before taking the next step.  Do what Tellemurius suggested and uninstall then reinstall Direct X and your graphics drivers.

[Muz]

Generally speaking, any given program will have memory leaks.  Bigger leaks means it slows down more the longer you use it.  Smaller leaks mean it'll run for longer before you notice it slowing down.  Closing and restarting the program is the only real way to deal with leaks, unless you want to crack open the source code and fix the bugs.

This is a regular part of gaming, particularly older games it seems.  Restarting every hour or so won't hurt.

Any well designed program shouldn't have memory leaks. And the operating system should clean up after them once they exit.

When I start up the game, it used to use ~250000 KB, now it uses ~400000, and after loading the save, uses an extra 500000+

It's kinda supposed to do that. They'd go after empty memory if possible. Though normally the OS would clean up after itself so it doesn't have to shove out old memory. Or maybe not. Again, hard to tell.

It might be that you actually have too much memory, and it's crashing 32 bit stuff.

[Micro102]

The games just freeze. In Tropico 4 I have reached the point where placing one building crashes the game. Crusader kings 2 delays until crash got shorter and shorter.

The game seems to be using massive amounts of memory to save things. I can only imagine how much memory I would need to finish a game. 5GB?

[Shadowlord]

This is a stupid question, but you have tried restarting your computer, right?

[Tellemurius]

The games just freeze. In Tropico 4 I have reached the point where placing one building crashes the game. Crusader kings 2 delays until crash got shorter and shorter.

The game seems to be using massive amounts of memory to save things. I can only imagine how much memory I would need to finish a game. 5GB?

Reinstall the games and install all updates you can for Windows, Windows isn't much of a problem because a memory leak from there would be from the system components not the software processes themselves.

[Micro102]

This is a stupid question, but you have tried restarting your computer, right?

Yes, in fact the crashes were so bad that sometimes I was forced to restart and retry multiple times. I was fully updated at the time.

It is not a heating problem, I have already thought that might be it, but it wasn't.

[Itnetlolor]

If you need to free up some resources, Vista Services Optimizer is always a good program to use. Works with both Vista and 7 just fine, and the Gaming Mode shuts off unneeded processes and such to maximize your playability. It's actually quite nice for those more intense games. Good for that little extra boost to performance you need.

[Micro102]

Well given the rate that these games consume memory I am going to need a lot more. I'm hoping I just need more RAM, and the extra GBs of space I THINK I have are actually being taken up by something.