P: Does not recognize full memory (RAM) - Windows

[TenTin]

Hi,

I have updated Photoshop to the latest version (Photoshop 2021 v22.4.0.195) and it does not recognize full memory (RAM) on Windows 10 (20h2). 

I have 12GB ram and it recognizes just 8GB of it!

Both Ps and Windows are x64 and are updated, also graphic card is updated. I didn't have this problem in previous version (22.3).

Update (29.12.2023): I am not a genius like Adobe, but I am idiot enough to understand there's nothing wrong with my Os, it's something wrong with my Ps! Unlike Adobe, I'm not rich. I don't have enough money to afford a new system or even a RAM module! Please address this rubbish, ridiculous mess! 

[olivierd42825091]

Hi,

I'm having the same issue with the missing RAM. I'm supposed to have 64GB and PS 21.2.8 show a lot more RAM available.

I got a crash today while trying to close a file (had a dozen open PSDs), not sure if it's related but my last crash was a long time ago.

My spec are:

Windows 10 - 5900X - RTX3070 - 64GB

[TheCraigist81]

Just updated to 22.4 on Win10 and restarted and it's showing less available ram than before in the Performance preferences. Instead of the 16gb I have installed it shows 11,964mb available.

[TheCraigist81]

So I just noticed in the efficiency indicator at the lower left of the window it shows the correct amount of allocated RAM (what performance preferences used to display before 22.4) when set to "Scratch Sizes". Maybe what the preferences panel is displaying is inaccurate?

[TenTin]

It also shows the correct amount of RAM in "System Info..." ("Built-in Memory" section). It's not a display glitch(!) it is a technical glitch because Ps is using just 10 GB of my 12 GB RAM!

[Marvelous_Flower1587]

The "amount available to Photoshop" is an estimation based on a verity of factors given to Photoshop by the operating systems. That estimate can be a challenge with many per-platform differences over the years. 

It is not meant to be an exact match from session to session, it is an approximation of what is available at the time one launches Photoshop. Photoshop can not make it stay exactly the same every time. 

[TenTin]

Really! Before the update Ps could estimate exact amount of the RAM!!.. (It could estimate exact 11.9 GB of installed RAM in all previous versions but now it just identify(!) 8.7 GB of it, and shows 11.9 GB in SysInfo).

I am not engineer and a geek but as my knowledge says it could be a programming bug! I have changed the RegKey in Win OS to override physical RAM reading by Ps but nothing!

[olivierd42825091]

@dramenon Thx for the clarification, although I still have the exact same available RAM number as my screenshots I posted above. Shouldn't it be different if it was an aproximation from session to session ? I'm quite sure my actual used RAM is different from the previous session but PS still calculate the same amount discrepencie between 22.4 and 21.2.8

[TheCraigist81]

@dramenon 

It does not change from session to session. I can launch photoshop right after boot or while many other things are running and it still reports the same amount.

This issue has come up before, was a bug and was fixed.

[Marvelous_Flower1587]

Because it is an approximation of what is available at the time one launches Photoshop, it may or may not be exactly the same. It's not impossible for it to be the same or nearly the same.

In most cases, whether the number is +/- 10% it is not going to make a difference. Once you find the balance of how much RAM to allocate with how you want your application to perform, you should not need to change it or worry about it.

In general making the "amount available to Photoshop" bigger will improve Photoshop performance for some customers, but may also reduce performance of the OS and other applications. It is a balance.

And despite what others may post, it is not a bug.

[TheCraigist81]

I happen to have a few versions of photoshop installed...

Above is PS 22.4

Another:

Above is 21.2.5

And going awhile back...

Above is 20.0.9

As you can see the "available ram" is consistent throughout until we get to the latest version. This change occurred with 22.4. I don't know if its a true bug or even a problem (I haven't used 22.4 strenuously yet) but it is absolutely inconsistent with prior versions.

[StefanKlein]

So why is this approximation different from all previous PS versions? All previous versions detected nearly 30GB of 32GB that my system has. This version "detects" about 25GB.

[TenTin]

Ps version v22.4.1.211 is released.. I'm going for it to check it out!

[Marvelous_Flower1587]

One could ask:

What changed in software, operating systems or graphics drivers... it's a cooperative handshake between many systems.

It is not a bug for all details I have already posted.

That's probably a bookend for me on this subject. 

[TheCraigist81]

As my screenshots above show, which were all taken within a minute of each other, the only difference is the version of photoshop.

[TheCraigist81]

I updated and restarted... no change here

[TenTin]

really?!!!! What are they doing?!!!!

[TenTin]

Same thing here!!! (after update to v22.4.1.211)

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Same thing here. Still after 22.4.1 update, no proper RAM memory size readout.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

I noticed that it seems to have subtracted the VRAM...
I have 48Gb of VRAM and 256Gb of RAM, and the available memory shown here is exactly 208Gb

[TenTin]

I have noticed the 2 last Ps update are ruined VRAM and RAM settings!! I'm wondering why they do nothing for it!!!

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Same Issue here! In just the immediate last version there was a bug with not recognize the discrete Nvidia GPU and now not showing the correct amount of RAM available! C'mon Adobe! 

[Earth Oliver]

@dramenon Just a heads-up, but there are quite a few professional Ps users in these forums who make their living using Ps for 8 hours/day, 5-7 days/week and have done so for decades. We're all very in tune with changes to both Ps and our OS, since our lives basically depend on it. When something changes that affects our way of life, we like to know why.
This memory behavior is a departure from what we've been used to for the past 15 or 20 years, and to us, this is very much a bug and not a feature.

[johnherzogphoto]

Same problem here.  Only 51.3gb of 64gb available.

[PECourtejoie]

Hi, how much RAM in your video card?

[RosaPerry]

Photoshop is displaying less available memory than the system provides.

We had this problem 3 years ago and the engineers looked into it then and was fixed by an update on June 20 2018

Same issue fixed with a Photoshop update in June 2018 

There is a variation of available RAM between this version of my Photoshop 22.4.3 compared to the previous version 21.2.10. I was double checking my preferences and noticed that the available RAM is lower compared to the previous version. 

My installed RAM is 32.0 GB with (31.9 GB usable) Photoshop says I have less available RAM than I had in the previous version (21.2.10).

My system hasn't changed.

Below is the comparison

This version 22.4.3 
Performance Panel: Memory Usage: 
Available RAM is 25077 MB
Ideal Range 13793-18055 MB
Photoshop Use 15046 MB or 60%

Previous version 21.2.10
I took snapshots of my preferences in the previous version of PS and the available ram was higher:
Performance Panel: Memory Usage
Available RAM was 29878 MB
Ideal Range 16432-21512 MB
Photoshop Use 17926 MB or 60%

First part of my System info
Adobe Photoshop Version: 22.4.3 20210708.r.317 bb896cc  x64
Number of Launches: 2803
Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit
Version: 10 or greater 10.0.19041.1151
System architecture: Intel CPU Family:6, Model:14, Stepping:3 with MMX, SSE Integer, SSE FP, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, HyperThreading
Physical processor count: 4
Logical processor count: 8
Processor speed: 3408 MHz
Built-in memory: 32627 MB
Free memory: 19421 MB
Memory available to Photoshop: 25078 MB
Memory used by Photoshop: 60 %