RAM usage question....

[adammusic]

Recently installed 4gb ram into my macbook. I downloaded Memory Clean to free ram after using alot of applications. But while im idling & nothing is open, im still using about 1 gig a ram & have about 2.6 gig of ram free. I just had a couple applications opened and mail and itunes & i almost maxed out my ram. Should that be happening? How much ram should I be using when nothing is opened? 4 gig of ram seems sufficient but even with a couple tabs open & mail I almost maxed out. Doesn't seem right. I checked activity monitor while idling and nothing is being used but I'm still using 1 gig of ram, while doing nothing. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks !

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Depending on your OS version, 1 GB is normal, as the OS has to use RAM too.

Mac OS X: Reading system memory usage in Activity Monitor​

 

[adammusic]

i'm on lion. thanks for the help

 

[simsaladimbamba]

i'm on lion. thanks for the help

Then 4 GB is not the minimum, but Lion is known for being RAM hungry and also having memory leaks.

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[GGJstudios]

Recently installed 4gb ram into my macbook. I downloaded Memory Clean to free ram after using alot of applications.

You don't need such apps and you don't need to "manage" or track your memory. Mac OS X will manage your memory automatically. The only thing to watch for is page outs, which can indicate that you may not have sufficient RAM.

Using Activity Monitor to read System Memory and determine how much RAM is being used

 

[adammusic]

that memory clean really works. I had like 1.11 gb available. closed all apps. used memory clean and then had 2.6 gb available. Handy little app.

 

[Nameci]

I have not used those memory utility softwares. I let the OS manage the memory. Memory that is not used is memory wasted. Sometimes those apps makes more damage than leaving your system alone to do its job.

 

[GGJstudios]

that memory clean really works. I had like 1.11 gb available. closed all apps. used memory clean and then had 2.6 gb available. Handy little app.

The problem is you're misunderstanding what memory is available. Both free and inactive memory is available to any apps that need it, so you already had that amount available. Read the link I posted to understand memory readings.