How to run games more smoothly by clearing the memory standby list on Windows 10
Games need RAM to run. Some games need a littler RAM, others need a lot. When you play games on Windows 10, your RAM isn’t wholly dedicated to the game. Other processes, and maybe even some apps, continue to use it when they need to. Windows 10 has a game mode which, in theory, is supposed to free up as many system resources as it can for a game however, most people find it makes little to no difference with some exceptions. One way to run games more smoothly is by clearing the memory standby list.
If you’re playing a game, and it starts stuttering after a while, clearing the memory standby list is a good idea but if you don’t keep it clean, the stuttering will return. Intelligent standby list cleaner is a free app that keeps the standby memory list under 1024MB i.e., 1GB.
Clearing memory standby list
Download and run Intelligent standby list. You will need admin rights to run it. The app will give you the current system memory i.e., amount of RAM installed on your system and how much of it is currently free. It also tells you how many items are currently in the memory standby list.
By default, the app will purge the list when it’s over 1GB however, you can change it to whatever threshold suits your system. The app has two thresholds for clearing the memory standby list; when it exceeds a certain size i.e., 1GB or when there is only a certain amount of memory left which, by default, is set to 1024MB.
Both these values can be customized so change them to what works for your system and your games. Once you’ve configured the app to manage your memory standby list, click the Start button and it will keep the list tidy. You can minimize it to the system tray and game in peace.
While this app is built to help games run smoothly, you can use it for other memory intensive apps that slow down when you use them. You can also try and use it to manage your system’s memory if you have an old system that’s low on resources. It may help your system run a bit better but you should manage your expectations with it. It isn’t going to magically increase the RAM on your system and if you have very little RAM to begin with, it might not make any difference at all.
