New iMac-running out of memory already??

[immalex]

I have a 2010 model iMac 27 inch, upgraded to Lion. 4Gb Ram.
Please have a look at my activity monitor screen shot. I have only like two applications open, Safari and Mail. But i only have less than 700mb out of 4GB ram?

My computer have been really really slow. Please help .

 

[TMRaven]

Browsers tend to eat up memory after a long time of use. I put 8gb of ram in my iMac and at times the ram still gets eaten up with heavy photo editing and long times spent in Safari. The easiest solution if you don't want to spend the 20 bucks for 8gigs of ram is to just quit safari periodically if you plan on using it for a long time.

 

[Spike88]

Based on provided numbers, your system has enough RAM. Your system is slow because Flash is "chewing up" 49.6% of CPU time. This is very bad. Suggest converting back to SL - until current problems with Lion & Flash are resolved.

.

 

[immalex]

Browsers tend to eat up memory after a long time of use. I put 8gb of ram in my iMac and at times the ram still gets eaten up with heavy photo editing and long times spent in Safari. The easiest solution if you don't want to spend the 20 bucks for 8gigs of ram is to just quit safari periodically if you plan on using it for a long time.

Just ordered 8 GB of ram. The cheapest I found is $40 from neweggs
BTW where can you get it for $20?

 

[iSayuSay]

Just ordered 8 GB of ram. The cheapest I found is $40 from neweggs
BTW where can you get it for $20?

Looking at his signature, I think he meant 8GB total, by adding another 2x2GB sticks to his iMac .. 4GB standard + 4GB DIY installed RAM, so $20 is normal.

12GB total RAM should be a breeze for you. I did it too and I thanked myself. Maybe because 64-bit support in Lion is much more dominant, maybe ..

Because my 64bit Win7 bootcamp eat up around 1.2GB when idle!! It only use 600MB when I use 32bit

 

[AdrianK]

But i only have less than 700mb out of 4GB ram?

Technically; yes, but that's not really how it works. You also have 1GB of inactive RAM which stores data from recently used applications, it can be utilised the second a process needs more ram or a new process is started.

Read this.

As previously stated, the issue is more likely to with Flash consuming 50% of the CPU time. If you haven't already I'd suggest installing the ClickToFlash extension for Safari so you can enable flash as needed, it will also enable HTML5 video on lots of sites (such as YouTube) which require less CPU than the flash equivalents.

 

[immalex]

Thanks all. Using firefox and chrome now ))))) no more safari!!
Can't wait for my 8gb of ram!!

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Thanks all. Using firefox and chrome now ))))) no more safari!!
Can't wait for my 8gb of ram!!

Your problem won't be different with those browsers. The problem is still FLash.

 

[MacHamster68]

flash is dead long live HTML5
there is no need for flashplayer , so uninstall it and your Mac will run more happy

 

[QUADDDCORE]

Try putting some of this in your ram slot:

 

[OptyCT]

Safari uses a lot of memory in Lion because of the back-and-forth page swipe feature (no page reloading). I really like this feature. FWIW, Safari runs great on both my '09 MBP w/ 8GB of RAM and, of course, my '11 iMac w/ 16 GB of RAM (both upgraded to Lion). I think you'll find Safari running much better after you receive your RAM upgrade.