Time to upgrade RAM?

[G99]

Not doing much today, only Safari open. I have a look at Activity Monitor, and find this:

Is it time I upgraded my RAM?
In case you need to know, uptime is just over a week. Will restarting free up memory?

 

[WildCowboy]

Your memory at the time of the snapshot was pretty good, but you do have a good number of page outs. You might want to pick up some more RAM to help that.

 

[G99]

Your memory at the time of the snapshot was pretty good, but you do have a good number of page outs. You might want to pick up some more RAM to help that.

But, doesn't that depend on the uptime? My uptime is just over a week, so maybe that is affecting it (?)

 

[yippy]

The inactive ram is actually also free, it is just marked that a program that is now closed has its ram there so if you open that program again it is already in ram but if another application needs it it will be given to that app.

Well, for a week your pageouts aren't to bad so you are definitely not hurting for ram. That said, you are just hitting your limit and so your heavier loads would benefit from more ram.

Sort answer, if you have the money, get some, if money is tight, you don't need it.

The only thing uptime will affect is the pageouts, restarts don't free up ram any more than quitting applications will.

 

[WildCowboy]

But, doesn't that depend on the uptime? My uptime is just over a week, so maybe that is affecting it (?)

Sure...but the number is still kind of high. I also tend to look at the ratio of page ins to page outs. I don't have a specific ratio that I'd like to see, but yours is higher than I'd like.

 

[G99]

The inactive ram is actually also free, it is just marked that a program that is now closed has its ram there so if you open that program again it is already in ram but if another application needs it it will be given to that app.

Well, for a week your pageouts aren't to bad so you are definitely not hurting for ram. That said, you are just hitting your limit and so your heavier loads would benefit from more ram.

Sort answer, if you have the money, get some, if money is tight, you don't need it.

Should I take it to an Apple Store to do it, or is it better to do it on my own?

 

[G99]

Sure...but the number is still kind of high. I also tend to look at the ratio of page ins to page outs. I don't have a specific ratio that I'd like to see, but yours is higher than I'd like.

I guess I should upgrade then. I wonder why Apple only installs this much on its stock models...

 

[WildCowboy]

Don't know what kind of machine you have, but adding RAM is pretty easy across the board. Get the right kind from a reputable third-party vendor and pop it in yourself...you'll save a ton of money.

 

[G99]

Don't know what kind of machine you have, but adding RAM is pretty easy across the board. Get the right kind from a reputable third-party vendor and pop it in yourself...you'll save a ton of money.

I have an iMac G5. I'll look for some instructions.
EDIT:Looks pretty easy.

 

[beatle888]

Not doing much today, only Safari open. I have a look at Activity Monitor, and find this:
View attachment 48101
Is it time I upgraded my RAM?
In case you need to know, uptime is just over a week. Will restarting free up memory?

restarting does help. so does running the maintenance scripts built into osx. to be honest, if your running basic applications i wouldnt spend the money. its nice to update your machine but if you dont need to its just a waist. maybe take that money and put it towards a savings for your next system. or maybe starting an S&P 500 investment portfolio

anyway, ive used 512MB of ram for the last five years doing basic tasks. my girlfriend actually bought me a gig but i returned it because i really didnt need it. instead we exchanged it for a gig of iMac ram...she has horrid computing habits, leaving twenty plus windows open at a time and never quits applications. i tried to explain to her but she never uses the computer efficiently. i realized that the computer should be configured to work the way SHE wanted to work...thats why we bought an extra gig. now she can surf the web, use iPhoto, iTunes and word all at once with twenty plus windows open and never shutting anything down.

she really works that iMac. i however can do the same with less.

 

[G99]

restarting does help. so does running the maintenance scripts built into osx. to be honest, if your running basic applications i wouldnt spend the money. its nice to update your machine but if you dont need to its just a waist. maybe take that money and put it towards a savings for your next system. or maybe starting an S&P 500 investment portfolio

anyway, ive used 512MB of ram for the last five years doing basic tasks. my girlfriend actually bought me a gig but i returned it because i really didnt need it. instead we exchanged it for a gig of iMac ram...she has horrid computing habits, leaving twenty plus windows open at a time and never quits applications. i tried to explain to her but she never uses the computer efficiently. i realized that the computer should be configured to work the way SHE wanted to work...thats why we bought an extra gig. now she can surf the web, use iPhoto, iTunes and word all at once with twenty plus windows open and never shutting anything down.

she really works that iMac. i however can do the same with less.

I haven't had major problems, but sometimes, I get a minor slowdown. I think upgrading RAM would iron this problem out.

 

[beatle888]

this is a screen grab of my current system

i have entourage, safari, itunes, quicktime and activity monitor open. oh and if you didnt know this it might help. any widget you have open will take up ram. even when your not looking at them.

 

[G99]

Actually, it may have just been coincidence.
After a logout, I got:

 

[tristan]

The answer to "Should I upgrade my RAM?" for any Unix-based system is always "Yes". Cash out your 401k, sell your kidney, whatever it takes to add that RAM.