RAM usage: inactive vs. free?

[QCassidy352]

My free RAM as registered by Menu Meter is consistently about 400 MB greater than as registered by Activity Monitor. The difference is that Activity Monitor draws a distinction between "inactive" RAM and "free" RAM, whereas Menu Meter does not.

So which is the true measure of how much RAM I'm using? What does it mean to say that RAM is "inactive" as opposed to "free?" thanks!

 

[grapes911]

This has been discussed to death. Here is a lot of good info. Let us know if you need more.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/187013/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/182471/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/176700/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/170904/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/159775/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/157874/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/150924/

 

[QCassidy352]

thank you. I apologize for not doing a search first.