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iStat Pro -- is this stat correct??
- Thread starter NickM
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Yes. You may have opened programs and closed them but they remain in your memory. Also, the OS uses what it can get.
Obviously I'm new to the world of Macs...
So even though programs are closed, the memory is still being used on them?
That seems odd to me.
Yes, but it's given a low priority. If an active program needs more ram, it'll take it off the closed programs. You shouldn't worry about your ram not being free - it just means you're actually using what you've paid for.
I'm not worried about anything.
Being able to see a number that informs me of how much RAM is actually free just sounds like a necessity to me.
Wired memory is what you are actually using: usually for me is about 1.5GB but I have lots of programs opened like safari audium mail ical itunes word utorrent iphoto.
Inactive memory is memory that at some point in time was used but OS X did not clean it just in case you want to use that same program in the future and it will load faster, also if at some point in time you need that memory OS X will instantly clean it up (so its basically free memory sticking around "just in case").
Free memory = system memory - used memory - inactive memory.
But memory is a very fluid thing, and being "in use" is hardly a black and white situation. If you want to know whether you need more RAM or not, than just watch for it being full. Also, the Page in/outs are important, as they demonstrate when programs want Main memory but are instead relegated to using the HD. Some Page in/outs are normal, but there is an excessive amount that I can't put my finger on off the top of my head.
If you are worried about memory usage because you are testing software, than the activity monitor isn't what you want anyway.
Cool... thanks for the informative replies.
I'm basically brand new to Mac computers...just got my first MacBook Pro
and I'm trying to get a feel for how it operates, how it idles, etc.
Another reason I was wondering is because even if I add up all the RAM-related
numbers in iStat Pro, they still don't add up to 4gb.
I'm basically brand new to Mac computers...just got my first MacBook Pro
and I'm trying to get a feel for how it operates, how it idles, etc.
Another reason I was wondering is because even if I add up all the RAM-related
numbers in iStat Pro, they still don't add up to 4gb.
Slightly clever comment, but that's not what I was looking for.
My question has been answered.
Thanks!
Probably just what they are choosing to show you not adding up look at the PhysMem line in the output of top run in a Terminal window it should show all when you add the used and free parts.
Code:
PhysMem: 1722M wired, 1684M active, 4690M inactive, 8101M used, 91M free.