RAM Usage

[Michael73]

In general, do programs make appropriate use of available RAM?

Let me explain...

I have a Mac Pro with 4GB of RAM and almost never see any "Page Outs". I think this tells me that I have sufficient RAM.

Now, say I go out and get another 4GB. Will my programs find a way to make use of the additional RAM and run faster or will be just be another 4GB that sits there and never gets used?

It seems like there's actual memory usage and VM usage witch is always GB's above actual. If I added another 4GB (2 x 2GB) would VM go down as it makes more use of the additional physical RAM?

 

[richard.mac]

im not sure about RAM allocation but are you getting a huge VM size? like over 40 GB? this is a bug in Activity Monitor. add a non default column like "Messages Sent" and the VM size will be the correct value.

 

[kuwisdelu]

I believe the VM you see in Activity Monitor is how much the program allocates for itself for future use if it needs, not what it's actually using. If you're not seeing any page outs at all, then I don't think more RAM would make much of a different. If you start running more applications at the same time and start seeing page outs, then more RAM would help you in those situations.

 

[cherry su]

im not sure about RAM allocation but are you getting a huge VM size? like over 40 GB? this is a bug in Activity Monitor. add a non default column like "Messages Sent" and the VM size will be the correct value.

OMG What the heck?! (I just tested your trick) Did you file a bug report?