Discussion: How Linux and Windows 11 handle RAM limits on default settings
Posted by DesperateLevel494@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 27 comments
Hey guys! I wanted to bring up a technical discussion about something I have noticed in practice. Recently I decided to install Linux on my girlfriend laptop (a Ryzen 5 4600H with 8 GB of RAM and 250 GB of storage).
Her workflow is a real stress test for that amount of memory. She basically likes to play The Sims 4 while simultaneously running Chrome with a bunch of open tabs playing music.
Before getting into the results, I want to provide some context about the goal of this test to avoid some common misconceptions:
- Out of the Box experience focus: I did not do any advanced manual configuration or custom partitioning. I used the default installer option to "Erase disk and install OS" on both Zorin OS and CachyOS. The idea was to see how the system behaves out of the box for an average user who is just migrating from Windows and wants a plug and play experience.
- The OS role in RAM management: The discussion here is not about which system uses less RAM on boot, but rather how the kernel and the operating system manage the crisis when physical RAM inevitably runs out.
- OOM Killer: I have seen a lot of people recommending disabling the OOM Killer in other threads, but I kept the default configuration on purpose. Disabling the OOM Killer on an 8 GB machine under stress would cause the entire system to freeze completely, requiring a hard reset. For a regular user, an app crashing is bad, but the whole PC freezing is much worse.
- Overhead: I am fully aware that running Windows games on Linux via Proton or Wine naturally consumes a bit more memory.
The issue is that the default Linux memory management was ruthless in this scenario. The swap automatically configured by the installers could not handle it. On Zorin, the system just could not keep up and triggered the OOM Killer, suddenly closing the game or Chrome. CachyOS handled the resources a bit better, but it still eventually killed applications when the memory maxed out.
In the end, she decided to go back to Windows 11 for convenience. What surprised me was seeing how the default Windows optimization managed to hold this workflow together without closing anything. Windows, by default, uses an extremely aggressive pagefile strategy on the disk, which prevents processes from closing even when the 8 GB limit is breached. It might stutter a bit, but it does not crash the game in your face.
Since my personal rig has 64 GB of RAM (I run NixOS), I rarely hit bottlenecks to see default settings fail like this. I found it shocking to see the out of the box approach from Windows performing so much better and being more user friendly in this specific stress scenario on modest hardware.
This leads me to a final provocation: how can the Linux community present itself as the ideal solution for those looking to escape Windows if, on the default installations of distros focused on beginners, we cannot handle a regular user workflow? Should the user be forced to change their habits to adapt to the system, or should the system come prepared out of the box to adapt to the end user reality?
SergiusTheBest@reddit
This is a question for distro mainteners. It up to them how they tune the system. On Ubuntu (not the latest one) I experience the opposite: instead of killing a browser tab the OS swaps heavily making the systen unresponsive.
Zwap or zram greatly help low RAM systems. They yield much better results than Windows or macOS. I used them on 4GB system and it worked like a magic.
proton_badger@reddit
"Much better" is not quite right, it depends a lot. MacOS is arguable more advanced. Linux creates a compressed device in memory and can swap page from there out to disk. macOS use transparent in-RAM compression of cold pages with some heuristics and swapping to disk as needed. It's quite advanced because it's also used on very low memory phones. Linux only wins in very specialized use cases where it has been tuned for purpose.
Above I was ignoring that ofcourse zram and zswap do have some clear differences in how they work but the future direction being planned for them takes them towards a unified swap idea more like what macOS has.
SergiusTheBest@reddit
In Linux they are tunable while on macOS they're not. It creates a leverage. Isn't compressing cold pages and swapping them to disk later exactly what zwap does?
proton_badger@reddit
That’s exactly what I meant; if you know your use case well you can configure Linux to a greater degree. macOS is really good but less flexible.
As for swapping cold pages out of course they both do, but they handle things differently. Here is a blurb about ongoing work to modernize Linux swap system. At the end of this article are some details as well, both giving an idea of how much complexity there is to “just swapping” stuff.
MrMikeJJ@reddit
Personally I prefer stuff to close when the system runs out of memory, compared to the alternative, destroying ssd and nvme drives during normal operation.
As for my setup, 32gb of ram. 0 page drive / swap partition. Hell, I have so much free ram on Linux, I have a bunch of directories (including /tmp set to use tmpfs).
proton_badger@reddit
It depends, contemporary SSDs are more hardy, although swap thrashing can be worst case kinda wear they'll last many years and if it takes a 8GB system from unusable to usable and reduces lifetime to 5-6 years in an extreme case, that may be ok.
If you swap 100 GB/day, every day all year, on a 300TBW driver you get 8 years. Then it depends on what else the machine does, in this case not much it sounds like.
Acceptable-Scheme884@reddit
Well, I know I'm stating the obvious here, but that's your tradeoff.
If memory serves (no pun intended), Windows dynamically allocates more space to the pagefile as and when, with minimal input from the user. In one sense that's more user-friendly, in one sense it's less user friendly. The OS is making decisions for you that are, to a beginner, quite opaque, and they will potentially have an actual impact. Someone with a smaller drive might find that they don't have enough space to install things or store files and not understand why. Linux approaches things from the point of view that if the user set, say, a 2GB swap, then that's as much as they want the system to use.
The thing with these decisions is that deciding to make a decision for one group of users almost always necessitates making an opposing decision for another group of users. In my opinion, just letting the user decide how big they want the swap to be and sticking to that makes more sense. If you're in one group or the other, you can make the appropriate decision. Yes, it does put higher requirements on technical knowledge on the user, but this also means that (hopefully) a user understands the decision they've made rather than letting the OS make it for them and potentially being confused about why something isn't working the way they expect it to.
hex0xX@reddit
OK, I want to revert wht I said earlier please. What you said makes so much more sense! Thanks!
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kasigiomi1600@reddit
The workflow you describe is a bit optimistic for 8gb of RAM. I say this for Windows, MacOS, and for Linux. Most Linux distros have less overhead than the Windows or MacOS equivalents. This is why Linux is often ideal for systems that are RAM limited.
In the scenario described, most of the work is being done by the applications. The Sims adds another layer of complexity as it is a native Windows application. Windows graphics drivers for games are still superior (Linux is getting pretty good).
You ask the question "Should the user be forced to change their habits to adapt to the system". The answer is: Users should choose the system based on their habits combined with what they can afford and need.
The system you choose and the software you choose is a consumer choice. Shop based on the combination of desired habits, outcomes, and what you are able/want to spend.
Linux is a fantastic operating system and has a lot of good points. I will be a bit of a heretic here and say: Windows has advantages too. I literally have the triumvirate at my desk of a Windows, Linux, and MacOS system.
hex0xX@reddit
Well, I am sorry, but your GFs workflow is not that of a regular user.
Like I mean who plays a game on 8G with multiple tabs open on chrome (who used chrome anyway?)
I think most people would have maximum 1 or 2 tabs open, if not none to make them game run smoothly.
But you are right in some way. I somehow agree with you.
HaroldsCrown08@reddit
Out of context, what search engine do you use if not Chrome?😅
hex0xX@reddit
Chrome is a browser, not a search engine. But I use Zen. It is a Firefox Form, woth somewhat better privacy and overall very nice features.
As a search engine I mainly use duckduckgo, as well as Startpage.
HaroldsCrown08@reddit
Oh right. Thanks! I really appreciate the recommendation
DesperateLevel494@reddit (OP)
I agree, maybe calling her workflow that of a 'regular user' is a bit of a stretch! 😅
But if Windows can somehow handle it out of the box, I think we should be able to handle it too
AnsibleAnswers@reddit
Your girlfriend’s setup is dumb and Windows is dumb for letting her ruin her hardware.
hex0xX@reddit
I somewjat agree, I mean, to become a OS for the regular non-tech person, it is true, we have to be measured by the big ones, which are, unfortunately, Windows and MacOS
dethb0y@reddit
it's funny that probably 90% of "complaints" about linux are either:
Some extremly goofy "workflow" that no sane human would do but that they insist is TOTALLY justified for Reasons
Craptop users who are like "guys my goofball hardware that existed for exactly 1 iteration in 2014 does NOT work FLAWLESSLY linux is JUNK!!!"
Internal-Cellist-920@reddit
i mean, if your use case is so nonstandard that heavy swap is necessary, then you can't just stick with the standard configuration and call it an honest assessment of the OS. It's expected that if you're a Linux user and you're swapping during regular use you know what you're doing well enough to configure the swap for this, which is not what it is configured for (and not what anyone wants it to be configured for) by default. Windows assumes you're unwilling or unable to make these decisions so it makes them for you, in a slow and clunky way but workable.
Mostly swap is meant for hibernation, definitely NOT gaming. Forget swap partition, just make a swapfile, you can change the size trivially, very easy and more comparable to Windows.
It also matters a lot what drive you're using when it comes to swap. Did you wipe windows to install linux?
I've also heard that Chrome performs much better than Firefox on Windows, but on Linux the situation is reversed. Usually Firefox will do its own memory management well in advance of the OOM killer, dunno if Chrome keeps up.
Synthetic451@reddit
Do CachyOS or Zorin setup a swap partition or swapfile for you? If not, that might be your problem.
Nowadays, I just use a swapfile and systemd automatically handles getting it ready for hibernation, etc. Make sure you have zswap enabled by checking the output of
cat /sys/module/zswap/parameters/enabled. It's enabled by default on Arch if you have a swap partition, but not sure how the distros you're using have it setup.Cruach@reddit
For 8gb RAM I gave myself an 8gb swap partition. You should be using either a swap partition or swap file imo.
Ok-Winner-6589@reddit
Windows users a swap file by default. Linux distros usually rely on optional swap disks. Also distros like CachyOS (even if the whole point is performance) is only focused on getting the best performance on new hardware. Thats probably why they don't use Swap files by default. Because you are supposed to be using a higher amount of RAM, like at least 16 which is the standar, maybe even a bit higher for a standars gaming user
Using a swap means storing data on the disk, which is slower and reduces your SSD Life span
With 8GB is recommended at least 8GB of swap partition
Latlanc@reddit
Try again but with zswap.
mbelfalas@reddit
https://chrisdown.name/2026/03/24/zswap-vs-zram-when-to-use-what.html
Nice article about that
eric_glb@reddit
And maybe a larger swap on the disk
dasmau89@reddit
When I used to run into the oom killer 10+ years ago on an underpowered machine I adapted my workflow instead. But I agree that the default behavior is not great and basically I couldn't find a nice setting for the oom killer to behave nicely.
So I would say - don't waste precious RAM just to listen to music when there are much better options around
LubieMaleDziewczynki@reddit
Sims 4 is old but with dlc's it's a pretty heavy game, even my somewhat higher-mid pc is sweating sometimes, especially when I'm just building and listening to some video in the background. I have 32GB ram and 34GB of swap partition, so memory management is not a problem in my case. Check in game settings if "laptop mode" is turned on. It gave me big difference in performance.