When does a Mac (nMP) clear the unused VRAM?

[rasmusjohansson]

Might be a really stupid question but I've noticed that sometimes when I've used my nMP for visual stuff (work in Photoshop/lightroom or flight sim) that uses some of the VRAM it just keeps eating it and even though I've closed all the application the memory isn't released until I've restarted my computer. Has anyone else noticed this? Or is the VRAM released when it is needed from an inactive state not visible in the charts from iStat?

This is a screenshot from iStat.

 

[netkas]

Why would you care, anything crashes?

If not, let the drivers handle it. Or its just an error in istat.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Modern systems don't "clear" used storage (RAM, hard drive,) when it is no longer needed. They just leave it in the last state, and overwrite it when needed. Even though you have "released" the use of the RAM within the application, that just makes the OS mark it "available," it doesn't actually "release" it.

It's nothing to worry about. It won't degrade performance. When you need the use of that VRAM, it will be used.

If you *ARE* seeing performance degradation after using a GPU/VRAM intensive app, then check Activity Monitor to see if the app is still running - it may not be declaring the VRAM "available" when it is done with it, which would be a program bug that can be solved by force-quitting the app. (And if THAT doesn't do it, a restart would likely be required - or at least a log out/log in cycle.)

 

[rasmusjohansson]

Modern systems don't "clear" used storage (RAM, hard drive,) when it is no longer needed. They just leave it in the last state, and overwrite it when needed. Even though you have "released" the use of the RAM within the application, that just makes the OS mark it "available," it doesn't actually "release" it.

It's nothing to worry about. It won't degrade performance. When you need the use of that VRAM, it will be used.

If you *ARE* seeing performance degradation after using a GPU/VRAM intensive app, then check Activity Monitor to see if the app is still running - it may not be declaring the VRAM "available" when it is done with it, which would be a program bug that can be solved by force-quitting the app. (And if THAT doesn't do it, a restart would likely be required - or at least a log out/log in cycle.)

Okey thanks for the clear up @Anonymous Freak! I haven't seen any issues at all just curious why it stayed at high percentages even after quitting applications. You learn something every day!