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Switcher Hangout (Windows to Mac)
understanding memory in activity monitor
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<blockquote data-quote="Raz0rEdge" data-source="post: 1699523" data-attributes="member: 110816"><p>You are confusing memory with storage. The files stored on your HDD are going to affect how much storage you have. So open up Disk Utility and highlight Macintosh HD and look at the bottom to see how much <strong>Available</strong> space you have. You should ideally leave at least 20% of your <strong>Capacity</strong> to ensure proper operation of OS X.</p><p></p><p>Now to the memory question, I'll answer this in the context of my machine, so the numbers won't match yours, but you'll understand how it works. I have the following numbers:</p><p>[CODE]</p><p>Physical Memory: 16GB</p><p>Memory Used: 13.39GB</p><p> App Memory: 8.81GB</p><p> Wired Memory: 3.72GB</p><p> Compressed: 884.1MB</p><p>Cache: 2.57GB</p><p>Swap Used: 954.5 MB</p><p>[/CODE]</p><p></p><p>What you care most about is the Memory used section and of that the Wired section. In my case I've used a good portion of memory, and nearly 4GB is wired meaning that it can't be moved around because of its use by applications. Looks like my memory needs have been greater than what has been available with the applications that are running and thus I've used some swap space to make memory available to applications..</p><p></p><p>The pressure meter is just a representation of where your needs are. That is, if you have many applications holding onto a lot of memory (Wired) and making further demands, then your memory pressure would be high and assuming you can upgrade your memory higher, this would help alleviate the situation. But, like me, if you are on a Retina MBP that has fixed memory, then you have what you have..</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Raz0rEdge, post: 1699523, member: 110816"] You are confusing memory with storage. The files stored on your HDD are going to affect how much storage you have. So open up Disk Utility and highlight Macintosh HD and look at the bottom to see how much [B]Available[/B] space you have. You should ideally leave at least 20% of your [B]Capacity[/B] to ensure proper operation of OS X. Now to the memory question, I'll answer this in the context of my machine, so the numbers won't match yours, but you'll understand how it works. I have the following numbers: [CODE] Physical Memory: 16GB Memory Used: 13.39GB App Memory: 8.81GB Wired Memory: 3.72GB Compressed: 884.1MB Cache: 2.57GB Swap Used: 954.5 MB [/CODE] What you care most about is the Memory used section and of that the Wired section. In my case I've used a good portion of memory, and nearly 4GB is wired meaning that it can't be moved around because of its use by applications. Looks like my memory needs have been greater than what has been available with the applications that are running and thus I've used some swap space to make memory available to applications.. The pressure meter is just a representation of where your needs are. That is, if you have many applications holding onto a lot of memory (Wired) and making further demands, then your memory pressure would be high and assuming you can upgrade your memory higher, this would help alleviate the situation. But, like me, if you are on a Retina MBP that has fixed memory, then you have what you have.. [/QUOTE]
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Switcher Hangout (Windows to Mac)
understanding memory in activity monitor
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