Allocating more Ram/mem to an application.

[Josh Tiffany]

Hello, my name is Josh, I was wondering if there is a way to allocate more memory to an application. I have heard that you can go to the application's "get info" or "show info" and click on a dropdown called "memory", however, I have tried this and I don't have a dropdown called that. I've also heard that Mac allocates memory to something if it needs that much, if this so then I'm not using my full potential of ram on an application etc.
if someone could please tell me anyway to do this I would be very gratefully. At the moment I have 16gb of ram and an I7 processor, but I find myself only using about 3-5gbs on my daily Mac usage. I would like to use the other on making my preferred application stronger and faster.

Thank you for your time
-Josh

 

[treekram]

Some applications may be programmed to take advantage of more RAM such that a configuration setting will make the app ask for more memory. As far as I know, the way that a *nix-based OS works with regards to applications and memory is that it simply gives the memory that the app requests and if the request can't be filled, it will deny the request. So you need to check if your app can make use of additional RAM. Some databases can configured to use more RAM. If your app is a Java application, the Java VM places a total memory limit it uses which can be changed (but if you don't get a message saying you don't have enough memory, this won't help). These are just two examples that I'm aware of. If your app isn't built to take advantage of more RAM as some type of configuration setting, the OS won't force additional memory on it.

 

[Josh Tiffany]

The application I'm running takes the minimum of 2gbs, therfor my system puts a request for 2gbs which is the very minimum which is quite annoying since I know I have at least 10 gbs that are useless. Also the program I'm running is not java based. Is there maybe a way to use console to override this request so maybe I could add more to it?

 

[treekram]

I don't understand the statement, "The application I'm running takes the minimum of 2gbs". Where are you getting that information from? If it is from the application documentation stating something to the effect that as a default the application will use 2GB of RAM, then perhaps the application may be able to be configured to request more RAM - you'd have to ask the software developer or look on the Web for this information. However, if there's just a blurb on a web page describing the application's system requirements as "2GB RAM", that doesn't necessarily mean it can be configured to use more RAM. If you're getting the 2GB minimum from the Activity Monitor or the ps command, I don't know how one would know that that's the minimum memory that the application will use.

The application is the one the requests the memory. As far as I know, the OS cannot force an application to use more memory - the current programming models are such that an application has to be programmed to use memory, it wouldn't know what to do with memory it's not programmed to use.

UPDATE: In looking at the web, it looks like the information you had about increasing the memory an application uses by using "Show Info" or "Get Info" dropdown refers to the Classic Mac OS, the last version of which was released in 2001. This OS wasn't based on *nix, so it had a different memory allocation model.

 

[Ritsuka]

Yes, the manual memory configuration was a Mac OS 9 and earlier thing, on Mac OS X/macOS an application decides by itself how much ram to use.

 

[chrfr]

The application I'm running takes the minimum of 2gbs, therfor my system puts a request for 2gbs which is the very minimum which is quite annoying since I know I have at least 10 gbs that are useless. Also the program I'm running is not java based. Is there maybe a way to use console to override this request so maybe I could add more to it?

What is the program? Specific questions are always more useful than vague ones.

 

[Josh Tiffany]

What is the program? Specific questions are always more useful than vague ones.

Steam is the application I would like to put more into.

I don't understand the statement, "The application I'm running takes the minimum of 2gbs". Where are you getting that information from? If it is from the application documentation stating something to the effect that as a default the application will use 2GB of RAM, then perhaps the application may be able to be configured to request more RAM - you'd have to ask the software developer or look on the Web for this information. However, if there's just a blurb on a web page describing the application's system requirements as "2GB RAM", that doesn't necessarily mean it can be configured to use more RAM. If you're getting the 2GB minimum from the Activity Monitor or the ps command, I don't know how one would know that that's the minimum memory that the application will use.

The application is the one the requests the memory. As far as I know, the OS cannot force an application to use more memory - the current programming models are such that an application has to be programmed to use memory, it wouldn't know what to do with memory it's not programmed to use.

UPDATE: In looking at the web, it looks like the information you had about increasing the memory an application uses by using "Show Info" or "Get Info" dropdown refers to the Classic Mac OS, the last version of which was released in 2001. This OS wasn't based on *nix, so it had a different memory allocation model.

Thanks for this info, I was wondering why it didn't work.
[doublepost=1498495844][/doublepost]Did they remove the get info method or did they replace it with something else?

 

[chrfr]

Steam is the application I would like to put more into.

It's not possible to change the memory allocation, and if I'm not mistaken, most Steam games are 32 bit which means that they cannot use more than about 3GB of RAM anyway.

 

[Josh Tiffany]

Well, darn that sucks, now I have to play on minimum graphics and fps.

 

[DeltaMac]

...Did they remove the get info method or did they replace it with something else?

OS X (now macOS) has never provided a means to manually adjust memory management, and has relied on the system to provide RAM to apps that request more RAM --- on an as-needed basis. I think you will find that even your Steam app will be using more RAM when it requests it from the system. It's all automatic, and nothing that you can really control. In early OS X days (maybe 15 years ago or more), that memory management wasn't always too great for supplying memory, and (more importantly) releasing memory when it was no longer needed by an app - and there were several different methods for adjusting the memory in use. IRRC, those system adjustment tools haven't been particularly useful for years, as the system itself is pretty good at allocating memory when needed, so there is little incentive for developers to provide those tools now.
I expect if you open your Activity Monitor, then launch your Steam game, you will note that the steam app active memory will often peak out, changing dynamically. That's what the system does, and it (generally) works very efficiently, and without ever needing any help from you

 

[chrfr]

Well, darn that sucks, now I have to play on minimum graphics and fps.

Performance issues in gaming are most often related to CPU or GPU demands, not memory.

 

[Josh Tiffany]

Performance issues in gaming are most often related to CPU or GPU demands, not memory.

Oh, really?? I didn't even know that, do you have any tips to make make an application run with higher CPU and Gpu?

 

[chrfr]

Oh, really?? I didn't even know that, do you have any tips to make make an application run with higher CPU and Gpu?

No, you would need a faster computer. These are hardware limitations, not software.

 

[Josh Tiffany]

Dang, I'll just have to be fine wth minimum, thanks for the info guys

 

[DeltaMac]

Or, there can be improvement if you run your game in Windows - which is easy to install on your Mac with the Boot Camp assistant included in your Mac system (if you want to try that!)

 

[Josh Tiffany]

Ok, thanks I will