excessive page outs?

[Sapphire08]

Can anyone advise me please?

I've noticed my iMac seems to be a little slower than it used to be and the dreaded beach ball keeps showing it's ugly head sometimes intermitantly and fairly frequently with firefox.

I've done the disk utilty verify disk and repair permisions.

I've maxed out my ram at 4GB and not sure what else to try.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Sort the processes via the REAL MEM column and see, what takes up so much RAM. Also know, that many open applications lead to more RAM usage.
Other than that, there is not much we can say to you, as there is not much information you have given us, though Lion is a memory hog.

Btw, you can upgrade that iMac to 6GB RAM.

 

[jvpython]

Make sure you upgrade to the latest version of Safari if that is your main browser as v5.1 had a massive memory leak bug and used over 1GB Ram with a few tabs open. The bug is fixed in v5.1.2

 

[Sapphire08]

Thanks for your reply,

After restarting firefox the thing taking up the most Real Mem is
kernal_task @ 451.7MB - whats that please??
firefox @ 249.9MB
itunes @ 187.MB
mail @ 123.MB
mds @ 118.1MB - whats this?
WinsowServer @ 67.4 - whats this?
then finder etc

According to apple here http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1423#2 - my 20" early 2008 can only go to 4GB - Where did you get 6GB from please?

 

[Sapphire08]

Make sure you upgrade to the latest version of Safari if that is your main browser as v5.1 had a massive memory leak bug and used over 1GB Ram with a few tabs open. The bug is fixed in v5.1.2

Thanks I don't use safari all the time, I prefer Firefox, but I have used it the last few days (multitasking) so have just updated it - thank you


After restarting from the update - my Free memory is now 2.58GB - will try to keep an eye and see what uses it up - but if anyone has any pointers in the mean time - they would be highly appreciated.

I used to replace top end windows machines about every 12 months or so as they slowed to snails pace and my low end first ever iMac is still going pretty great after nearly 3 years and I don't really want to replace it if I don't have to - I'd just like a little more umph.
Our Mackbook pro seems to do everything so much faster, my iMac just feels a little sluggish by comparison.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

kernal_task @ 451.7MB - whats that please??

It is the kernel for Mac OS X, every OS has one and is the bridge between software and hardware.
For finding out more information: http://www.thegeekpub.com/260/what-is-kernel_task-why-is-it-running/ found via using "mac os x kernel task" as search terms.

mds @ 118.1MB - whats this?

That is the Spotlight service, like the "kernel_task" it is a system process.
For more information: http://osxdaily.com/2010/08/05/mds-mac/ found via using "mac os x mds" as search terms.

WinsowServer @ 67.4 - whats this?

This is the process drawing all the fancy graphics for you to see, otherwise it would all be just plain white text on a black screen.

According to apple here http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1423#2 - my 20" early 2008 can only go to 4GB - Where did you get 6GB from please?

http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...20-inch-aluminum-early-2008-penryn-specs.html

If you are handy, you could also breathe new live into your iMac via an SSD, the replacing the HDD with an SSD process takes about an hour and is quite easy. I have done it twice to my 2007 20" Alu iMac, once replacing the 250 GB HDD with a 500 GB HDD, and this week I put the Vertex 2 60 GB SSD from my MBP into the iMac. Now it feels just as snappy as the MBP with regular tasks, though I now have to use an external Firewire 800 HDD for storing the data on it, but that is an okay price for the speed increase.

 

[philipma1957]

Thanks for your reply,

After restarting firefox the thing taking up the most Real Mem is
kernal_task @ 451.7MB - whats that please??
firefox @ 249.9MB
itunes @ 187.MB
mail @ 123.MB
mds @ 118.1MB - whats this?
WinsowServer @ 67.4 - whats this?
then finder etc

According to apple here http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1423#2 - my 20" early 2008 can only go to 4GB - Where did you get 6GB from please?

this company is very good for letting you know how much ram you can use.



http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/Intel_Core_2_Duo_PC2-6400


If they say 6gb ram the chances are more then 95 percent that they are correct


this is the page for mac mini's

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/mac-mini/

.. I have upgrade mac mini's for 5 years and I know for a fact that the ram is correct in every case.. the 2011 mac mini uses 16gb ram not 8gb as apple says. I have built 5 or more with 16gb ram/


I suggest going to 6gb ram if you are in the uk it is low cost. here is an install video

http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/imac_mid_2007/