Very little RAM free when idle

[anotherarunan]

Hey guys

Recently Ive noticed that when i close all my apps and just have finder and activity monitor open i only have about 20% free (440mb out of 2.5gb), i have 850mb inactive and 970mb active with 340mb wired.

My fans seems to be running high when just opening itunes...and they randomly go quiet again. Something seems to be wrong..but im not sure what. Any tips?

 

[richard.mac]

this is a common misconception. free RAM is basically inactive + free where inactive RAM is used to your advantage. i suggest you look at this

theres also a bug in the VM size (assuming youre using Leopard). to correct it add a column that is not already shown using the "View" menu.

in activity monitor set to "all processes" sort the by CPU usage. is there anything that looks out of the ordinary?

 

[MrT8064]

you can always try restarting, this should free up some! or quitting apps and reopening them.

sometimes i have had safari use 600mb or RAM MADNESS!

 

[CanadaRAM]

Don't worry about 'free' RAM - let OSX handle it.

 

[ChrisA]

Hey guys

Recently Ive noticed that when i close all my apps and just have finder and activity monitor open i only have about 20% free ...

Don't worry, the quick answer is that "free" RAM is not helping you at all. The job of the OS is to put RAM to use. The more creative ways the system can find to use RAM the better off you are.