Memory leak with dwm.exe in Core Ultra 7 155H and 125H

[mechanic]

Desktop windows manager (dwm.exe) process is taking memory as high as 600MB for no reason. It hovers mostly at ~370MB with touching peaks of 600MB randomly.

This problem is in both core Ultra 7 155H (Dell XPS 14) and core ultra 125H laptop (Lenovo Ideapad Pro). I tried clean install of latest drivers 32.0.101.6559 (WHQL Certified), Driver version 32.0.101.6458 seems little better but dwe.exe ram usage still hovers around ~350 MB, touching 500 - 600 MB in both laptops.

Issue goes away when using driver version 31.0.101.5522, tested this in both laptops and “desktop windows manager (dwm.exe)” RAM usage stays at usual ~120 – 170 MB. 

But this driver version is quite outdated and doesn't have latest fixes/ improvements. 

I've attached two files from SSU tool, one with issue and one with not.

I've also noticed that when using driver version 31.0.101.5522 Adapter RAM shows 128 MB but when using Latest drivers Adapter RAM is shown 2 GB, is this a bug or desired behavior? An explanation would be great.

Windows 11 Build 26100.2894 | 16 GB RAM | Ultra 7 155H

Windows 11 Build 26100.3194 | 16 GB RAM | Ultra 5 125H

[JedG_Intel]

Hello mechanic,

Thank you for posting on Intel Community Forum.

Please share the information below for me to address this properly.

1. Is this issue present from the start of using the processor?

2. Did you do recent changes with the system?

3. Are you using multiple monitors?

4. Did you use DDU?

You might also find this link helpful: dwm.exe (Desktop Window Manager) Produces a Memory Leak

I look forward to your response.

Best regards,

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[mechanic]

1. No, there's no excessive ram usage of dwe.exe using driver version  31.0.101.5522 driver or older, issue started with 32.0.101.5736 and newer drivers that came after that.
2. None
3. I do sometimes but regardless of using external monitor or not, usage remains same and resolves when using 31.0.101.5522 on both laptops.
4. Yes, I used DDU

[JedG_Intel]

Hello mechanic,

Thank you for providing this information. Could you please attempt to disable the fast startup and let me know if it makes any difference?

Best regards,

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[JedG_Intel]

Hi mechanic,

I'm checking in to see if you were able to try the recommendation I posted? Please let me know of the outcome so we can determine the next best course of action.

Best regards,

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[mechanic]

Both fast startup and hibernation are disabled. I've also tried reinstalling Windows 11 24H2 Pro updated to latest build just in case to check (no drivers other then Intel WHQL driver installed first) and has same issue with dwm.exe, using latest Intel WHQL Drivers.

I'm not using any dock or external monitor.

NOTE: By mistake I've created two posts regarding this issue Possible memory leak with dwm.exe in Core Ultra 7 155H and 125H - Intel Community

[JedG_Intel]

Hi mechanic,

Thank you for providing this information. I appreciate you informing me about the ongoing thread. Upon reviewing it, I see that significant progress has been made and it is currently being investigated by my colleague. To prevent any confusion, I will close this inquiry. Any updates will be communicated through the other thread.

Best regards,

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician