Windows 11 vs Linux: Web browsing and gaming RAM usage reveals a notable gap

A Notebookcheck benchmark compares RAM consumption between Windows 11 and Linux in two everyday use cases: web browsing and gaming. The results reveal significant differences—and raise questions about the memory efficiency of the operating systems.

The Concrete Case

Linus Tech Tips published a direct comparison - relayed by Notebookcheck - on RAM consumption between Windows 11 vs Linux in two representative scenarios: web browsing and gaming. As expected according to LTT, Windows 11 consumes significantly more RAM than Linux for the same tasks—but neither system ever maxed out its available memory during the tests.

This type of benchmark is useful because it directly impacts machines with 8 or 16 GB of RAM—still the most common configuration on the market.

What We Measure (and Why It's Complicated)

RAM consumption by an OS is more nuanced than a raw number:

• Windows uses aggressive prefetching and Superfetch (MemoryCompression)—the "used" RAM isn't necessarily "wasted" RAM.
• Linux manages disk cache via the page cache (freely reclaimable)—the "RAM used" in Linux often includes cache that frees up on demand.
• A "fair" comparison requires measuring RAM actually consumed by processes vs RAM used for caching.

What This Means for Developers or Gamers

On a machine with 8 GB of RAM, the OS's behavior difference can shift performance from "laggy" to "smooth" depending on the context:

• Heavy web browsing (40+ Chromium tabs): Linux tends to manage cache differently, sometimes to its advantage on RAM-constrained machines.
• Gaming via Linux compatibility layers (Proton/Wine) vs native Windows: the overhead exists but has decreased significantly in recent years.

Key Takeaway: The RAM gap between Windows and Linux isn't simply "Linux is lighter"—it's a difference in memory management philosophy. LTT's results should be read with this nuance in mind.