4 GB of RAM not enough...

[spaceballl]

It's frustrating that going with 8 gigs of memory is so price prohibitive right now. And it won't work in my 15" MBP. I get the pic below just when I have my default apps open that I need for work. As soon as I open a lot of tabs in Safari, or when I'm doing something else, forget about it - this thing is dog slow. Frustrating! Oh well... here's to looking forward to the next MacBook Pro update...

 

[lars666]

I may be wrong, but isn't it wrong to interpret the memory the way you seem to do? As far as I know, "free memory" can and even should be low, more important is the "inactive memory" which basically also is free memory which will be released again as soon as you need it. That would mean that you have enough memory in the backhand. But again, I could be wrong so let's wait what others say ...

 

[r.j.s]

That's how RAM works ...

Inactive is not being used and can be freed or reallocated at any time.

Unless you have a lot of Page Outs, you have plenty of RAM.

Although it seems like you have done some thrashing ... how long has your computer been on for?

 

[spaceballl]

I may be wrong, but isn't it wrong to interpret the memory the way you seem to do? As far as I know, "free memory" can and even should be low, more important is the "inactive memory" which basically also is free memory which will be released again as soon as you need it. That would mean that you have enough memory in the backhand. But again, I could be wrong so let's wait what others say ...

Yeah I think you're correct. Although keep in mind this is before the apps really start doing their work. This is just when open in their default state.

Unless you have a lot of Page Outs, you have plenty of RAM.
Although it seems like you have done some thrashing ... how long has your computer been on for?

There seems to be a lot of paging out. Opening like 5 tabs in safari seems to really get the disk activity going.

Although it seems like you have done some thrashing ... how long has your computer been on for?

It has been on for about 36 hours without a restart. I'll give it a restart now and hopefully that will help.

 

[jav6454]

Inactive part of the RAM accumulates after around a week or so. If you are a heavy user, (myself included) I have found rebooting your Mac every week and half clears things out.

Casual and every-day users can reboot their Macs every month and be fine.


I discovered this after using Fusion. Every time Fusion was quitted (after shutdown of XP), the Inactive RAM would increase by a small percent. It was until the 4th time of using Fusion and quitting it that inactive RAM took over my whole RAM and had page ins and memory swap. Same deal with other applications, but to a lower extent as Fusion (as Fusion hogs memory for its own and the guest OS).

And yes, I have found myself running out of space with 4GB RAM.

 

[LinMac]

I've found that Leopard Cache Cleaner has a tidy solution to this problem. The "Optimize Ram" function isn't a perfect solution, but it does the job for me on a Mac Mini I use for certain heavier than it was designed for tasks.

 

[Consultant]

Which MBP? Some recent 15" takes 6gb of ram.

The only option without upgrading MBP to 17" or upgrading the RAM is to get a high speed SSD drive, that's probably more pricy than upgrading the RAM.

 

[spaceballl]

Which MBP? Some recent 15" takes 6gb of ram.

The only option without upgrading MBP to 17" or upgrading the RAM is to get a high speed SSD drive, that's probably more pricy than upgrading the RAM.

Yeah I don't have the most recent unibody MBP. I have the previous one, but it still has the same CPU (I have the Penryn 2.4ghz, 4GB RAM, 200GB 7200rpm).

Actually, I will be getting an SSD for this machine. I'm going to get this one. Right now it's like $800+. As soon as that price comes down to the $500 level, I'm pulling the trigger .

 

[spaceballl]

Actually, I will be getting an SSD for this machine. I'm going to get this one. Right now it's like $800+. As soon as that price comes down to the $500 level, I'm pulling the trigger .

Hmm actually I see that the G.Skill model is identical for only $500... maybe i'll buy that right now...

 

[alphaod]

I need more RAM as well:

 

[drconehead2000]

Hmm actually I see that the G.Skill model is identical for only $500... maybe i'll buy that right now...

Wait and get the OCZ vertex....its going to have an onboard cache that should make it worth while. Also, the Gksill Titan SSDs use an older controller that still seems to have issues with stuttering (or so I have read)

 

[JForestZ34]

Inactive part of the RAM accumulates after around a week or so. If you are a heavy user, (myself included) I have found rebooting your Mac every week and half clears things out.

Casual and every-day users can reboot their Macs every month and be fine.


I discovered this after using Fusion. Every time Fusion was quitted (after shutdown of XP), the Inactive RAM would increase by a small percent. It was until the 4th time of using Fusion and quitting it that inactive RAM took over my whole RAM and had page ins and memory swap. Same deal with other applications, but to a lower extent as Fusion (as Fusion hogs memory for its own and the guest OS).

And yes, I have found myself running out of space with 4GB RAM.

This might be a stupid question, why does everybody wait so long to reboot there macs. Whenever I'm finished with mine I just turn it off.. No big deal..


James

 

[hacksaw-C87]

When you say reboot you mean restart your Mac right? Not re-install or setup OSX or anything? (I'm not trying to be difficult, just wondered if you were calling it something else). Can't you just turn it off when you're done? Won't that help you with you RAM problem?

 

[bartelby]

Inactive part of the RAM accumulates after around a week or so. If you are a heavy user, (myself included) I have found rebooting your Mac every week and half clears things out.

Have you tried this:

ifreemem

 

[desantii]

Previous gen (SR) MBPs work fine with 6gb, I have one!

 

[GGJstudios]

Mac OS X: Reading system memory usage in Activity Monitor

 

[alphaod]

Previous gen (SR) MBPs work fine with 6gb, I have one!

Yeah so does the new one, but 4GB sticks are pricey.

I still have my 4GB stick around doing nothing.

 

[desantii]

DDR2 4gb are $150, DDR3 4GB are much more expensive

 

[okrelayer]

This seems like a good place to ask. I'm looking to upgrade my unibody mbp to 4gb ddr3. Where is the best place to buy? I read some 3rdparty ram does not work.Thanks!

 

[desantii]

newegg.com is the best

 

[Niiro13]

So far the two pictures posted show that they have a lot of RAM that applications can use.

Free RAM is RAM that has no application's "signature", if you will, on it.

Inactive RAM is RAM that has an application's "signature" on it, but it's not being used due to the application being closed. The "signature" stays in case you want to open the application again. This is where you get your "warm start" and "cold start"

Active is the one being used...if that hits like 3.5+GB then you know that 4GB isn't enough. This can actually be used by other programs too, though. It just slows the application that they're taking it from.

Wired is the RAM given to the OS which cannot be freed by other applications.

Therefore, you two have 1+ GB of usable RAM, which is still good.

 

[Thiol]

Yeah I don't have the most recent unibody MBP. I have the previous one, but it still has the same CPU (I have the Penryn 2.4ghz, 4GB RAM, 200GB 7200rpm).

Actually, I will be getting an SSD for this machine. I'm going to get this one. Right now it's like $800+. As soon as that price comes down to the $500 level, I'm pulling the trigger .

The Penryn MBPs can take 6 GB RAM...

 

[Cave Man]

I like that 6 gb for Photoshop. Cheap enough for the SR MacBook Pros.

 

[m85476585]

DDR2 4gb are $150, DDR3 4GB are much more expensive

Where can you find it for $150?

 

[desantii]

I bought mine at newegg for $159 (4gb DDR2)