Hi!
I have ArchLinux with Qt 5.4, KDE Framework 5.7.0 and KDE Plasma 5.2.0 installed on laptop.
During launch plasmashell uses almost twice more, than in KDE 4.14. During use plasmashell utilize over 600MB - that is more than as for KDE.
Install was made by different way:
- by deleting KDE 4.14 and then installing Plasma 5 with KDE Framework from official repository ArchLinux
- by installing clear ArchLinux and after that installing Plasma 5 with KDE Framework
- by installing clear ArchLinux and after that compiling Plasma 5 with KDE Framework from git sources

No one of this methods does not improve situation with using RAM on Plasma 5. In this form it is not suitable for use, even with 5.2.1 version released. In 4.14 plasma uses ~60mb ram on cold start, and not more than 80mb during use whole day. At case of 5.2.1 - 600mb by half day. This is more than all system and browser.
Hope, that this very big issue will be fixed with nearest releases.

Thanks in advance!

How did you measure RAM usage? There are several ways to do so, and some are more prone to false positives than others. How much RAM do you have on your system?

Since he's calling a single number: the wrong way

@metsys
The relevant info about mem usage is the output of "cat /proc/meminfo"
While a high number in whatever indicator you use, does of course not mean that there's no problem, it actually doesn't mean the opposite either - or anything
These things are fancy stuff to make your desktop look techy and you like a pro, but their real value is limited - esp. w/o an exact knowledge of how that number is calculated.

So the first step is to get an oversight on memory allocation

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cat /proc/meminfo

If there's actually "overload", it's time to track the user (there could easily be a leak in a single process allocating all the memory)
"top" sorting by memory is a usable first & rough indicator in that regard. Press Shift+M to sort by memory and watch the RES column for consumers.

It seemed pretty clear to me the OP was referring to the memory used by the process named plasmashell. First comparing to how much this process took in KDE 4, though the process is called plasma-desktop in KDE 4.

In Slackware current, I see the same thing, though I'm on Plasma version 5.2.1,

The process plasma-desktop in KDE 4.14.3 uses 103m in resident memory in top

The process plasmashell in Plasma 5.2.1 uses 198m in resident memory in top

these are both default setups, with no changes

If I remove the plasma panel and just have a desktop bereft of all panels and plasmoids

The process plasma-desktop in KDE 4.14.3 uses 48m in resident memory in top

The process plasmashell in Plasma 5.2.1 uses 86m in resident memory in top


Pretty much all the other standard kde processes like kwin, kded, etc take similar or less memory in KDE 5 than KDE 4, plasmashell seems to be the exception, which takes almost double the memory from KDE 4.

I'm frankly not sure what he meant - also because all that plasma, plasma next, plasma-desktop, plasmashell, KDE, KF5, ... stuff can easily get one dizzy
(And 600MB is pretty much and would be clearly a leak for a single process)

In case it's the plasmashell process, the relevant data is /proc/`pidof plasmashell`/smaps

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cat /proc/`pidof plasmashell`/smaps > /tmp/plasmashell.smaps

Please file a bug against plasmashell and attach that file (do not copy, but cat it - I'm not sure whether that works in all cases)

Sorry for delay.
Here is my explanation screenshots:
1 , 2 , 3 , 4
and plasmashell.smaps

So, if some one have suggestions to make more proper explanation - welcome please.
But I still think that is 5.x release issue.

That's a leak on the heap in plasmashell.
=> report a http://bugs.kde.org against the "plasmashell" product.

Thanks, I create issue https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=344879

How long bug fix take time ?
How often developers usually take a look in their bug tracker?
Or it is normal that no responce from them?

kubuntu 16.04 lts latest only official updates
plasma-desktop 4:5.5.5-0ubuntu1

in themes: air, breeze and oxygen.

16gb RAM in 13 days to all time swapping..

from day to day

13062 root 20 0 9532432 366500 85568 S 1,3 1,0 0:07.79 plasmashell

i killall plasmashell - re-run:

top
13062 root 20 0 3532432 166500 85568 S 1,3 1,0 0:07.79 plasmashell

ati radeon
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Caicos [Radeon HD 6450/7450/8450 / R5 230 OEM]

if i replace videocard to nvidia - too
if i install proprientary nvidia driver - then no memory leak.

Please inform about process correct this bug.

--
If you can - then tell me about what can i too do to correct this problem? forum, bug, or?