Is this normal? Just wondering if I'm having a Safari memory leak.
Any suggestion is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Any suggestion is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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Safari 4.0.3 Using 400+ Actual Memory...What Gives?
- Thread starter donster28
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yea its not uncommon to find safari eating up a lot of RAM. Multiple tabs get stored in RAM, so they can add up quickly. Not to mention safari 4's top sites feature. Browsers use up a LOT of RAM and CPU nowadays.
So, I just upgraded to SL, and now find Safari using about 2-3 TIMES as much memory as it used to. This morning, I opened my normal windows and sites, Safari was using 600+MB of memory, this used to be about 125MB. What gives is right, I'll have to stop using it at that rate.
anyone else having this issue? I continue to have safari with ONE window open using more than 500MB of RAM. that just makes NO sense at all.
anyone else having this issue? I continue to have safari with ONE window open using more than 500MB of RAM. that just makes NO sense at all.
BaldiMac
macrumors G3
Safari aggressively caches content in RAM for speed benefits. The fact that a program uses RAM is not a bad thing. That's what it is there for!
Memory leaks and problems releasing RAM when other programs need it can be a problem. But I haven't seen any evidence that the latest version of Safari has any such problems.
Memory leaks and problems releasing RAM when other programs need it can be a problem. But I haven't seen any evidence that the latest version of Safari has any such problems.
My Safari ( latest version) uses only 44.8 MB....when its open...but uses 97 to 100 when I'm browsing..
Firefox is using 261.4 MB....
all on snow leopard..
you might want to try setting up top sites so they direct to blank websites, and see if that has an effect on safari's RAM usage. I get the feeling top sites loads into RAM as soon as safari starts because I get a spinning beach ball (where that didn't happen in safari 3) might be worthwhile for you to look into. just a thought.
it also depends what ssites you go to. Heavy image sites will cache more in the ram where as text sites will be a little less.
we live in an era where 4GB is almost the norm, whats 500mb 😛. if you are worried about it, just exit safari and reopen it, and its fresh again 🙂
Well, 64-bit apps will generally use around twice the RAM their 32-bit counterpart would. 64-bit can be a two-edged sword...switch Safari to 32-bit and see.
Browsers tend to bloat up fast in RAM usage if you watch a lot of videos, especially HD videos.
Firefox isn't much better...a serious video session will leave it using any where from 300-500 MB.
FWIW, Safari 4.0.3 is using ~100 MB with 4 tabs open in one window for me, no video content.
Hi, I'm new to this forum, but I have to post me experiences with Safari. I think there is surely a problem here guys.
I love photography. I often visit sites that display pictures at their native resolution. This can often be as big as 9600x7200. After about an hour of browsing through photo shoots and medium format nature photography, my ram usage is absolutely insane and unacceptable.
Check out the attachment. Safari is using 4.55GB (!!!!!!!) of physical memory. How can this be?
I love photography. I often visit sites that display pictures at their native resolution. This can often be as big as 9600x7200. After about an hour of browsing through photo shoots and medium format nature photography, my ram usage is absolutely insane and unacceptable.
Check out the attachment. Safari is using 4.55GB (!!!!!!!) of physical memory. How can this be?
Attachments
They are hunting memory leaks.
For example: http://webkit.org/blog/20/were-hunting-memory-leaks/
But some are patently to be on the run 😱
For example: https://bugs.webkit.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=Memory+Leak
A couple of observations and request for education (mine)!
First, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to 1 & all!!
I've been wondering the same thing for a little while. I know browsers will cache stuff (I haven't yet found the preferences page where I can control cache behaviour for Safari - any ideas?) but I do expect memory usage to drop a fair amount once I close a tab or window that contained video etc!
It's also slightly (very) amusing to think that I'm having memory leaks whilst hunting for info on memory leaks... (is that because I'm a Brit, human, or just me?! ;-))
I did spot the following:
They WERE hunting memory leaks - last update for the site at the given URL was in 2005!
Can somebody enlighten me on exactly what a memory leak is, in the context of OS X?
Lastly, I'm struggling to understand why a 64 bit app uses twice the memory of a 32 bit app? I can see that in some cases it *might* use *some* extra memory, but not twice as much. A 64 bit app will have instructions that are 64 bits long, but given that a 64 bit processor can do some things in 1 instruction what a 32 bit processor would need 2, 3 or even 4 instructions to do, the 1:2 ratio doesn't hold. Further, what ever data structures are being used, they'll use almost exactly the same amount of memory as a 32 bit app - storing a single character of text (8 bits) does not use up a 32 bit word, or a 64 bit word - compilers are smart when it comes to this sort of thing these days!
So, can somebody point out what I'm missing?
Cheers
Martin
First, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to 1 & all!!
I've been wondering the same thing for a little while. I know browsers will cache stuff (I haven't yet found the preferences page where I can control cache behaviour for Safari - any ideas?) but I do expect memory usage to drop a fair amount once I close a tab or window that contained video etc!
It's also slightly (very) amusing to think that I'm having memory leaks whilst hunting for info on memory leaks... (is that because I'm a Brit, human, or just me?! ;-))
I did spot the following:
They WERE hunting memory leaks - last update for the site at the given URL was in 2005!
Can somebody enlighten me on exactly what a memory leak is, in the context of OS X?
Lastly, I'm struggling to understand why a 64 bit app uses twice the memory of a 32 bit app? I can see that in some cases it *might* use *some* extra memory, but not twice as much. A 64 bit app will have instructions that are 64 bits long, but given that a 64 bit processor can do some things in 1 instruction what a 32 bit processor would need 2, 3 or even 4 instructions to do, the 1:2 ratio doesn't hold. Further, what ever data structures are being used, they'll use almost exactly the same amount of memory as a 32 bit app - storing a single character of text (8 bits) does not use up a 32 bit word, or a 64 bit word - compilers are smart when it comes to this sort of thing these days!
So, can somebody point out what I'm missing?
Cheers
Martin