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Activity Monitor: Memory Usage Question


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Activity Monitor: Memory Usage Question
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iMac430
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Join Date: Dec 2005
 
2006-01-01, 22:28

I have 512 MB of RAM in my iMac G5 (iSight). When I go to activity monitor and see that I only have 167 MB Free (Green), yes there are 119 MB of RAM that is Inactive (Blue). What exactly is the difference, and why do they have Inactive Memory? I don't want the system to get slow, so I do not use dashboard. Because my Windows machine would get slow with only 100 MB of RAM free (but it was a Pentium 3, 933 MHz anyway).

So, what is the difference between inactive (blue) and free (green) memory, and should I worry about the system getting slow with 1 or 2, (3 tops) Dahsboard widgets out? Thanks.
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faramirtook
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2006-01-01, 22:42

Quote:
Originally Posted by eGuitar430
I have 512 MB of RAM in my iMac G5 (iSight). When I go to activity monitor and see that I only have 167 MB Free (Green), yes there are 119 MB of RAM that is Inactive (Blue). What exactly is the difference, and why do they have Inactive Memory? I don't want the system to get slow, so I do not use dashboard. Because my Windows machine would get slow with only 100 MB of RAM free (but it was a Pentium 3, 933 MHz anyway).

So, what is the difference between inactive (blue) and free (green) memory, and should I worry about the system getting slow with 1 or 2, (3 tops) Dahsboard widgets out? Thanks.

I have ~245MB of inactive and ~8MB of free, most of the time. I think inactive is just that, inactive. Stuff in RAM that isn't used. Inactive memory, I think, is memory that can be used at any time. It's good as free, but it has junk in it.

Could the tech gurus confirm this as well?


I think you'll be fine for Dashboard widgets.
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chucker
 
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2006-01-01, 23:05

Forget about "free" RAM and "inactive" RAM. It's no concept for any average user to worry about. It suffices to say that "free" RAM is, for all intents and purposes, *wasted* RAM. It's RAM that isn't used for anything, when it could in fact be used for something. It's idle.

The real indicator you should be looking for is pageouts. When you see the amount of pageouts increasing quickly (meaning more than just a few hundred within minutes), you don't have sufficient RAM for the things you have been doing.
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iMac430
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2006-01-01, 23:39

I'm just a really RAM-cautions persion coming from a Pentium 3 933 Mhz based WinXP system with 512 MB of RAM, and, only an 8MB video card... things just got slow at 100 or less MB's of free RAM.
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T-Man
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Join Date: Oct 2005
 
2006-01-01, 23:44

Hm, good question as I never got to asking this type of stuff myself.

I have 310MB Inactive; 13 free. 1GB RAM. What is wired? Also, my Page ins/outs reads: 304180/55935. I've a feeling that number isnt exatcly 'good'?
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iMac430
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2006-01-02, 00:09

Oh yeah, I forgot to ask what does "Wired" mean in the Activity Monitor under Memory?
My page in/outs didn't really jump by hundreds either.. so I guess thats a good thing.
I wish I had the 1GB, but I'll have to wait a while before I can get it *sigh*
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T-Man
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2006-01-02, 00:18

512 is pretty good, but I almost always had it full...

BTW, is my Page ins/outs suppose to be a real-time-updating number? Or is it just a reading from when Act. Monitor is launched or something. Or, as it seems to be, does it update every minute?
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ShadowOfGed
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Join Date: Aug 2005
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2006-01-02, 00:21

From the Activity Monitor help:
Quote:
  • Wired memory
Is information can't be cached to disk, so it must stay in RAM. The amount depends on what applications you are using.
  • Active Memory
This information is currently in RAM and actively being used.
  • Inactive Memory
This information is no longer being used and has been cached to disk, but it will remain in RAM until another application needs the space. Leaving this information in RAM is to your advantage if you (or a client of your computer) come back to it later.
  • Free Memory
This memory is not being used and is immediately available.
Does that answer your question? I'd wondered, but never enough to bother looking. Interesting stuff.
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T-Man
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2006-01-02, 00:23

Very much so, thanks.
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Brad
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2006-01-02, 08:34

Quote:
Originally Posted by T-Man
BTW, is my Page ins/outs suppose to be a real-time-updating number? Or is it just a reading from when Act. Monitor is launched or something. Or, as it seems to be, does it update every minute?
FWIW, a simple search of existing threads would have answered these questions.

http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?t=12218

Wired = allocated RAM that is locked and cannot be paged out
Active = allocated RAM that has actively been used in the past n seconds
Inactive = allocated RAM that has actively been used in the past n seconds
Used = Active + Inactive + Wired
Free = total RAM - Used
VM = virtual memory
Pagein/Pageout = the number of VM page accesses the system has called since boot (cumulative)

The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting.
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T-Man
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2006-01-02, 12:22

Of course it would, as usual. (whispers to self.."stupid search"...)
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Crusader
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2006-01-02, 16:13

For pageouts, I see any amount from 1-50 during general use. If I do something with Unison or such I can see it climb to over a thousand really quickly. I know I need some more ram as a result.

"It's a good thing there's no law against a company having a monopoly of good ideas. Otherwise Apple would be in deep yogurt..."
-Apple Press Release
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jcoley2
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2006-01-03, 12:54

I have 47879 pages in and 0 (ZERO) pages out today. Is that possible?????

Perhaps my PowerBook is a blackhole????
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chucker
 
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2006-01-03, 13:04

No, it means you have enough RAM. It's a good thing.
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Enki
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Join Date: Nov 2004
 
2006-01-03, 13:08

Yes, either the pages read in are still in RAM, or you closed the program that was using them and they went back onto the free list. Never had to be paged to the VM backing store, or swap file as some like to call it.
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T-Man
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2006-07-20, 20:23

I have to bring this back up:



The Page Ins/Out should be freaking me out right? Lately I feel I have been pushing my PowerBook... Am I feeling right?


EDIT: 72 processes running. (Considering the tasks I'm doing now, I'd say that's the normal number for me. Good, bad?..)

Last edited by T-Man : 2006-07-20 at 20:34.
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Brad
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2006-07-20, 21:41

Paging is cumulative since boot. So, if it's been a long time since you've rebooted, that kind of number is perfectly fine.
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ShadowOfGed
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2006-07-20, 21:45

Quote:
Originally Posted by T-Man
I have to bring this back up:



The Page Ins/Out should be freaking me out right? Lately I feel I have been pushing my PowerBook... Am I feeling right?

EDIT: 72 processes running. (Considering the tasks I'm doing now, I'd say that's the normal number for me. Good, bad?..)
A couple of questions. First: do you mean 72 processes for your user, or 72 for the entire system?

I just pulled up mine, and in the past 24 hours I've seen ~90,000 pages in/out. So you're number's not out of line. Basically, memory gets paged out when an app asks for memory that isn't free. The OS will then look for memory an app isn't using (see the huge "inactive" slice), and write it to disk. Since it's not actively being used, you won't see much of a performance hit, and your numbers seem to be normal.

If you notice your system is extraordinarily slow and it's constantly reading/writing to disk, and your page in/out count is rising quickly, then you probably do need more memory. However, unless you're seeing this, paging is a normal and healthy behavior.

Apparently I call the cops when I see people litter.
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T-Man
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2006-07-20, 21:58

Thanks for the replies. I happened to reboot late last night, about 11:30 I'd say - it's now 11pm with 162480Ins/114202Outs. The (now) 70 proc.s were for the system it seems; I have 32 under "My Processes." I had forgotten (even though I did just read it) that Page Ins/Outs are cumulitive from boot-up, so maybe my number isn't that high.

I'm confused again (sorry ) but is the VM size showing how much of the HDD is used or ready-to-use for processes? That 8GBs bothers me if so... I just Quit some apps from starting up with computer, so maybe that will help some.
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Brad
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2006-07-20, 22:04

The VM size is not necessarily allocated space on your hard drive.

Also, what are some of the 30+ processes under your user? Are any heavy media apps? If so, that explains why you've been paging so much.

The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting.
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T-Man
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2006-07-20, 22:18

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad
The VM size is not necessarily allocated space on your hard drive.

Also, what are some of the 30+ processes under your user? Are any heavy media apps? If so, that explains why you've been paging so much.
Sometimes it's GarageBand - but I easily see the slowdown then and haven't used it since I've restarted. On a normal day, I'll usually have: Adium and Camino running (each about 500-850MBs and 500MBs respectively [Under the "Virtual Memory" column]). Along with those two - I have Bits On Wheels and MSN Messenger running. (I believe Adium is the problem )



EDIT: My left fan is over 1000RPM and the right one nearing - I usually only get this when ripping a DVD, I believe I need to de-bloat Adium...
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Brad
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2006-07-20, 22:26

A quarter-gig of RAM for a chat client.

Jesus Honkytonk Christ.

Though, well over 100 MB is also being eaten up by all those daemon/helper processes. Such is the cost of having doodads everywhere.

The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting.
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T-Man
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2006-07-20, 22:30

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad
A quarter-gig of RAM for a chat client.

Jesus Honkytonk Christ.

Though, well over 100 MB is also being eaten up by all those daemon/helper processes. Such is the cost of having doodads everywhere.

Yes, yes, I know, I need help there. And I see all those little demons... er, daemons; which looking back at them now, some of them should be gone/not there! Going to do some cleaning, I think... and move some files off what seems to be a dying hard drive. (It keeps whining...)

Thanks for help. Cheers
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Brad
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2006-07-20, 22:36

I'm also surprised that your SystemUIServer memory usage is so high. Mine is only using about 7 MB. Are you using a whole lot of third-party menu extras?

Oh, and:
Quote:
Originally Posted by T-Man
... (each about 500-850MBs and 500MBs respectively [Under the "Virtual Memory" column])...
Keep in mind that virtual memory != real memory. Real memory is what's allocated of your real, physical RAM. Virtual memory is significantly larger than what's allocated of your real, physical RAM. Virtual memory is virtual and shouldn't be used to gauge how much memory is being used or is available.

The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting.
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Windowsrookie
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2006-07-20, 22:43

I have a question, why does Safari use so much freaking ram!? 200mb with one window open!
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T-Man
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2006-07-20, 22:46

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad
I'm also surprised that your SystemUIServer memory usage is so high. Mine is only using about 7 MB. Are you using a whole lot of third-party menu extras?

Oh, and:

Keep in mind that virtual memory != real memory. Real memory is what's allocated of your real, physical RAM.
I have MenuMeters, SMART Reporter, WeatherBug, SlimBatter - and Keychain Icon, Display icon, .Mac Sync icon, Bluetooth, Volume, Wifi, Time, and Accounts (Last 8 not 3rd party.)

Uh, VM = Real Mem. Confused here... Yes, real memory is my physical RAM; VM is what is being used as 'RAM' on HDD, correct?

( System really slowing down now, while I have Finder at work transferring GBs and Adium with its .25GB of RAM - typing is a pain... Will work on machine tonight I think)
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Brad
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2006-07-20, 22:47

!= means NOT EQUAL.

VM, as I said a few posts above, is NOT necessarily mapped out on your hard drive.
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T-Man
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2006-07-20, 22:48

Quote:
Originally Posted by windowsrookie
I have a question, why does Safari use so much freaking ram!? 200mb with one window open!
Camino is using ~300 with 3 tabs open.
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T-Man
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2006-07-20, 22:50

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad
!= means NOT EQUAL.

VM, as I said a few posts above, is NOT necessarily mapped out on your hard drive.
OHH!!! I get you now . But isn't that what ≠ is for? (OPT + =)
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Brad
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2006-07-20, 22:50

Quote:
Originally Posted by T-Man
Camino is using ~300 with 3 tabs open.
Again, no it's not. It's using ~100 MB.

VM is not real, used, allocated memory!
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