Newbie Question - RAM deficiency or FSB bottleneck?

[jman995x]

Quick question...

I just got a new iMac (3.4GHz processor) with 16GB of RAM.
I noticed recently that when moving large amounts of files (ie: 20,000 or so) that I sometimes get the spinning beach ball. When I click on a different Finder window to do something there while the files are transferring the Finder window I just clicked on doesn't become active for about 5-10 seconds (all the while the beach ball is spinning).

So, here's my question...is this lag a function of not enough RAM, or a function of an FSB bottleneck?

Thanks,

J.

 

[The-Pro]

I'd say thats due to the hard drive not being quick enough. Since its busy transferring files as fast as it can it takes longer for it to pause the copying to do what you wanted. The beachball is definitely due to the hard drive being so busy.

To check if you are running out of RAM, open activity monitor, select the system memory tab and you will see how much RAM you have free etc. Select all processes at the top right to see exactly what processes are using the RAM

 

[PajamaPants]

I agree with him. Maybe Try some monitoring app like iStat. It puts the memory, CPU and GPU usage, disk activity and sensors(like temperatures and fans) in the status bar. Then try to replicate the process and see which one is maxed out.

Good Luck!

 

[Gav2k]

As above its your hdd