Why do I have so much inactive memory?

[fridgeymonster3]

I'm running Handbrake to encode several ripped dvd's on my new 2.8 Mac 8-core. Handbrake has been going for about 30 minutes and activity monitor says that my memory usage is as follows (I have a total of 10 GB):

Free: 2.63 GB
Wired: 695 MB
Active: 885 MB
INACTIVE: 5.82 GB
Used: 7.33 GB

Why the hell do I have 5.82 inactive? What does that mean anyway "inactive"? If memory is inactive, but not free, where the heck is it?

 

[darthraige]

I'm trying to figure out why I have 728mb Active! The computer isn't doing anything. lol

Also, can you tell a difference with 10GB ram over 2GB?

 

[SolrFlare]

Short answer:

Inactive memory = free memory but with stuff in it ready for use again if needed.

Long answer:

Inactive memory is a good thing and OS X is going to try and make as much inactive as possible over time.

Inactive means its memory that was used for other applications but isn't being used any more. OS X holds on to the data in this memory until it absolutely has to let go of it so that way programs can access that data faster if they need it again without having to reload it in and out of memory on a regular basis.

 

[irishgrizzly]

Also Handbrake is reliant on your processor not RAM, right?

 

[Rowlander]

Also Handbrake is reliant on your processor not RAM, right?

True. How much CPU-usage does it show you during encoding?

 

[fridgeymonster3]

True. How much CPU-usage does it show you during encoding?

it shows between 60-80% processor usage per each core. When i wpke up this morning the inactive memory was 8.82 GB while the free memory was 10MB!! It doesnt matter much because i run encoding at night but it seems weurd a processing intensive app is making os x make ram inactive.

 

[Infrared]

I'm running Handbrake to encode several ripped dvd's on my new 2.8 Mac 8-core. Handbrake has been going for about 30 minutes and activity monitor says that my memory usage is as follows (I have a total of 10 GB):

Free: 2.63 GB
Wired: 695 MB
Active: 885 MB
INACTIVE: 5.82 GB
Used: 7.33 GB

Why the hell do I have 5.82 inactive? What does that mean anyway "inactive"? If memory is inactive, but not free, where the heck is it?

Maybe Handbrake doesn't need masses of memory at any
one time and simply reuses memory as it passes through
the frames?