Activity Monitor - System Memory?

[iMas70]

I'm still leaving Mac desktops and was viewing the Activity Monitor/System memory a little while ago. i7 has the stock 4GB. The monitor shows -

Free - 362 MB
Wired - 1.09 GB
Active 1.49 GB
Inactive 1.03 GB
Used 3.62 GB

I'm thinking that this shows that I'm currently using most of the ram available but could be wrong.

So what does this mean?

Thanks!

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by iMas70

I
I'm thinking that this shows that I'm currently using most of the ram available but could be wrong.

So what does this mean?

That's the purpose of having RAM: for your system to use it. You don't have to worry about anything related to memory unless you're getting page outs under your normal workload.

To determine if you can benefit from more RAM, launch Activity Monitor and click the System Memory tab at the bottom to check your page outs. Page outs are cumulative since your last restart, so the best way to check is to restart your computer and track page outs under your normal workload (the apps, browser pages and documents you normally would have open). If your page outs are significant (say 1GB or more) under normal use, you may benefit from more RAM. If your page outs are zero or very low during normal use, you probably won't see any performance improvement from adding RAM.

Using Activity Monitor to read System Memory and determine how much RAM is being used

[iMas70]

I'm thinking a RAM upgrade should be in my future -

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by iMas70

I'm thinking a RAM upgrade should be in my future -

Image

When is the last time you restarted your Mac?

[iMas70]

I think it was the middle of the week. Maybe Wednesday?

Right now I have about 15 windows open in Safari, have done some photo editing, e-mail and iMessage.

[GGJstudios]

Originally Posted by iMas70

I think it was the middle of the week. Maybe Wednesday?

Right now I have about 15 windows open in Safari, have done some photo editing, e-mail and iMessage.

Since your page outs are cumulative since your last restart, and you have less than 1GB in page outs over several days, it's likely you won't see much or any benefit from adding RAM. Of course, if you want to and can afford it, it wouldn't be a complete waste.

[iMas70]

Originally Posted by iMas70

I'm thinking a RAM upgrade should be in my future -

Image

After installing 16 MB of RAM and running it for a few days since my last restart, VM size shows 292.45 GB and Page ins 501.1 MB, Page Outs and Swap Used are both at 0. So it made a noticeable difference in the numbers. I went about a week then restarted the machine after installing the RAM. The numbers were pretty close with those two at 0 then also.