just curious...ram question on g4 powerbook

[azngamer808]

this is more of a how does it work question than a looking for advice question.
so after discovering how easy it was to install ram on my macbook pro (thank you macrumors forum), i thought why not do the same for my powerbook g4. i just finished upgrading it from 512mb to 2gb. according to the activity monitor (which i only just learned about), with only safari, itunes, and iphoto launched, it says that i'm using about 612mb of ram. what i want to know is how was my computer functioning on only 512mb of ram prior to my ram upgrade (since 612mb>512mb)? i'm just curious cus while i always thought my laptop could run faster, i never thought of it as being slow. thanks for everyone's input!

 

[NIPRING]

Try running a few benchmarks with and without the extra ram. Then you can compare the speed numbers.

 

[PowerBookRelic]

I would say, although you probably don't need all 2GB, because I am assuming you do the real grunt work on your MBP, more than 512 is essential. I have 512 on mine, and when I have adium, safari, and iTunes open (with a song playing) I am at:
81 Wired
271 active
128 inactive
35 free

That is a baseline for me. Once I start doing anything else, it zapps up my free and begins paging . Also, the more RAM you have installed, OS X will 'evolve' and use more wired RAM because it knows it is there, thus speeding up the overall operation.