Why is Yosemite using so much graphics memory?

[lotones]

I have an mid 2011 iMac with an AMD Radeon HD 6970M with 1GB GPU memory, and Yosemite is using almost all of the 1GB for nothing... no apps open:

Of course, everything is lag and buggy too, but I think this has a lot to do with it. Why is Yosemite such GPU mem hog?

 

[haafling]

Got istat menus and a Iris Pro and the memory usage is normal.

It also seems that you don't have any background applications running so I'd advice you to do a clean install.

 

[MaxPayne79]

I have an mid 2011 iMac with an AMD Radeon HD 6970M with 1GB GPU memory, and Yosemite is using almost all of the 1GB for nothing... no apps open:

Image

Of course, everything is lag and buggy too, but I think this has a lot to do with it. Why is Yosemite such GPU mem hog?

what app is this?

 

[45ACP]

What app?

what app is this?

It think it is iStat Menus.

- - Ray - -

 

[MaxPayne79]

It think it is iStat Menus.

- - Ray - -

thanks man. will check it out.

 

[lotones]

what app is this?

Yes, it is iStat Menus.

Got istat menus and a Iris Pro and the memory usage is normal.

It also seems that you don't have any background applications running so I'd advice you to do a clean install.

Ugh... I know you're probably right, but I really didn't want to spend a day doing a clean install. The last few OS X upgrades were relatively painless, but this one has been buggy and almost unusable. And I'll really be pissed if a clean install doesn't fix this issue.

Thanks for the quick response.

 

[haafling]

Yes, it is iStat Menus.



Ugh... I know you're probably right, but I really didn't want to spend a day doing a clean install. The last few OS X upgrades were relatively painless, but this one has been buggy and almost unusable. And I'll really be pissed if a clean install doesn't fix this issue.

Thanks for the quick response.

I've read that some people with graphic issue solve the problem turning dashboard (in mission control) off, you could try that, who knows

 

[ohms12]

I have an mid 2011 iMac with an AMD Radeon HD 6970M with 1GB GPU memory, and Yosemite is using almost all of the 1GB for nothing... no apps open:

Image

Of course, everything is lag and buggy too, but I think this has a lot to do with it. Why is Yosemite such GPU mem hog?

Your version of iStat seems to show a lot more than mine! (I don't see any info on what my GPU is doing) May I ask what version you're running?

 

[lotones]

Your version of iStat seems to show a lot more than mine! (I don't see any info on what my GPU is doing) May I ask what version you're running?

That's v.4.22. There's a v.5 thats "optimized" for Yosemite that I tricked into installing. That was nice too, but so far I saw no real reason to upgrade so I reinstalled v4.22. As far as what's shown, here's how it's setup:

I've read that some people with graphic issue solve the problem turning dashboard (in mission control) off, you could try that, who knows

Thanks for the tip. I tried it but no relief on the GPU mem. I'm beginning to wonder if Yosemite just uses more GPU memory, because my desktop wallpaper looks like it's been bumped up in resolution, and I keep four spaces going for multitasking. Weird thing is this morning when I woke the computer from overnight sleep the GPU memory was almost maxed out. Then I started safari and it dropped to half, then down to 1/3, then bounced back up to one half as I was watching. Five minutes later it was back up to 3/4 capacity. I wouldn't care at all except I'm almost certain it's the reason the finder is lagging so much. Almost everything else after the Yosemite upgrade has smoothed itself out.

I may just stay up all night and do a clean install...