Do I need more RAM?

[cambookpro]

Hi,

I've been monitoring my Activity Monitor over the past month or so, and even with many restarts, I'm finding I have a high number of page outs.

I've attached a screenshot below, bearing in mind that the uptime as of this post is only 6 days.

I'm assuming this isn't 'normal'? (11.6GB of page outs, very roughly 20% vs page ins)

iTunes seems to be using a lot of memory, it varies from 2-4GB. Memory leak problem?

The thing is, the computer never seems very slow even with a very small amount of free RAM, and although I do get a few beachballs, it doesn't feel like the amount AM is reporting if that makes sense

So basically the question I'm asking is should I upgrade to 16GB RAM? Or do you think maybe quitting iTunes more often etc would suffice? It's an early 2011 MBP.

Many thanks in advance

 

[duervo]

No, you don't need more RAM. It's not normal for iTunes to be using that much RAM.

Make sure you've installed the latest software updates for your system.

 

[Orlandoech]

You dont need more RAM, but it's cheap so getting more wont hurt anything but your wallet.

 

[cambookpro]

No, you don't need more RAM. It's not normal for iTunes to be using that much RAM.

Make sure you've installed the latest software updates for your system.

I'm very aware of all the updates and usually install them as soon as there out, so I don't think it can be that.

I've tried restarting multiple times etc but after a day of use iTunes seems intent in using ~3GBs of RAM. Not sure what to do.

----------

You dont need more RAM, but it's cheap so getting more wont hurt anything but your wallet.

If I don't need it, there's no point in it surely?!

 

[B...]

Since, you are not experiencing slowdowns, I wouldn't worry too much. The RAM you were using when you took that picture was Wired + Active = around 4-5 GB. You are fine in that regard.

 

[stchman]

Right now DDR3 RAM(I assume the 2011 MBP uses DDR#) is pretty cheap. Why not upgrade to 16GB? It certainly won't hurt performance.

 

[B...]

Right now DDR3 RAM(I assume the 2011 MBP uses DDR#) is pretty cheap. Why not upgrade to 16GB? It certainly won't hurt performance.

It costs around $100. Why pay that if you don't need the extra 8 GB? That money can be put to better use if you don't require 16 GB of RAM.

 

[cambookpro]

Since, you are not experiencing slowdowns, I wouldn't worry too much. The RAM you were using when you took that picture was Wired + Active = around 4-5 GB. You are fine in that regard.

I do experience some but not as many as that many page outs seem to suggest if that makes sense!

When using Motion, PS etc I close everything and it seems fine, but as soon as I use it for the stereotypical 'light' usage (iTunes, Safari etc), it all seems to slow down.

iTunes seems to be the culprit but have no idea how to stop it.

 

[AppleMacFinder]

If you are going to run a virtual machine, it would eat half of your RAM.
I upgraded from 8 GB to 16 GB only because of my hungry virtual machine.

Also, you could need 16 GB of RAM if you are doing heavy computer graphics / video professional editing.
For example, latest Autodesk products already require at least 8 GB RAM, and 16 GB for maximum performance

 

[johnnnw]

I do experience some but not as many as that many page outs seem to suggest if that makes sense!

When using Motion, PS etc I close everything and it seems fine, but as soon as I use it for the stereotypical 'light' usage (iTunes, Safari etc), it all seems to slow down.

iTunes seems to be the culprit but have no idea how to stop it.

Figured I would report the same issue. iTunes has been bringing my 2012 Macbook to a crawl lately. For a while it will just make everything deathly slow and the CPU will start going crazy. Same with the RAM usage. Not sure what's causing this incompatibility.

 

[cambookpro]

Figured I would report the same issue. iTunes has been bringing my 2012 Macbook to a crawl lately. For a while it will just make everything deathly slow and the CPU will start going crazy. Same with the RAM usage. Not sure what's causing this incompatibility.

Not just me then!
Maybe it's just an annoying bug...