10-01-2005, 03:20 PM

My computer says it has 4.6 GB of virtual memory. Is that normal?? I restarted, and emptied cache and it still says that seems like a little much to me

10-01-2005, 07:06 PM

No, that's totally normal...Unix system have a very different way of managing virtual memory than Windows does

10-01-2005, 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by Avalon

No, that's totally normal...Unix system have a very different way of managing virtual memory than Windows does

Yes... Windows allocates a set amount of virtual memory for a user session, by default it is set to automatic and it's adjustments are dependent on the amount of RAM you have.

The OSX VM system is quite different - it's not really so end-user oriented, and it doesn't really take into account the amount of RAM you have. It's set up to make adjustments automatically for applications and sets up a memory "road-map" that the application can use as long as it's loaded.

Both systems have their pros and cons... Neither of them should or need to be messed with by most users, especially on OSX (which is why there isn't a standard-level interface that is easily accessible). Advanced Windows users on the other hand find it much easier to locate and modify the VM settings, and are able to make modifications to improve certain levels of performance (especially in newer memory-hungry games like BF2 where the constant swapping of mass amounts of textures can sometimes find its way into the page file and cause a uneeded amount of disk usage and lag)

10-02-2005, 02:13 AM

I have another question. In Finder, it shows that the swapfile is only 64MB, but the Activity Monitor says the VM size is 3.95GB. I only have 1.5GB physical memory; if the swapfile is only 64MB, how could the VM size be 3.95GB?

Why?

10-02-2005, 03:58 AM

Originally Posted by falltime

...Advanced Windows users on the other hand find it much easier to locate and modify the VM settings, and are able to make modifications to improve certain levels of performance (especially in newer memory-hungry games like BF2 where the constant swapping of mass amounts of textures can sometimes find its way into the page file and cause a uneeded amount of disk usage and lag)

Giving more memory to programs that need it...somehow reminds me of the old days in OS9. :cool:
I know it's not the same thing, but it sounds similar. :p

@AlexN:
The VM is for the whole system, not for the Finder alone. Even when you have no apps running, there are a bunch of system services that run, and therefore get VM allocated. On a UNIX/Linux system it is the same, by the way...the VM size looks huge.

10-02-2005, 06:55 AM

Originally Posted by Avalon

@AlexN:
The VM is for the whole system, not for the Finder alone. Even when you have no apps running, there are a bunch of system services that run, and therefore get VM allocated. On a UNIX/Linux system it is the same, by the way...the VM size looks huge.

I said in Finder, it shows the swapfile is only 64MB, not just the Finder. The location of the swapfile is system-wise. It's /private/var/vm/swapfile0