[G4] RAM Advisory

[Mel]

The best way to determine this is to open a terminal window after you 
have been running your usual applications for a while. Run the top 
command. Look for an item on the VM: line called pageouts. If the 
pageouts number is small or zero, you have plenty of RAM to do what you 
want to do. If pageouts is a large number (e.g. in a similar order of 
magnitude to pagins) then you don't have enough RAM and swapping is 
slowing you down. Keep adding RAM until your usual applications yield 
no or very few pagouts. I have 768 MB with 10.2.8 and my top gives the 
following:

MemRegions: num = 4410, resident =  172M + 12.1M private, 86.5M shared
PhysMem:  65.3M wired,  113M active,  435M inactive,  613M used,  155M 
free
VM: 4.49G + 3.62M   11693(0) pageins, 12(0) pageouts

With 155M free and only 12 pageouts after two days of uptime, I 
conclude that I have enough RAM. My initial guess based on your 
description is that you could use some more, but let your machine tell 
you.

Mel

On Friday, October 17, 2003, at 04:33  PM, lavode at comcast.net wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> OK, I know that more RAM is good.  However, I also know that there is 
> a point of diminishing returns.  I have 600+ mb in my PowerMac 7300 
> running OS 8.6, and it could just as well have 400 mb and it would 
> still work just as well.
>
> I also have a Yikes with 300mb RAM running 10.2.8.  The question is, 
> will I get a noticeable increase in performance by adding more RAM?  
> Not knowing how much of a memory hog X is, I don't want to add RAM 
> when it won't do me much good.  I don't render, and don't have a lot 
> of memory intensive applications.
>
> TIA,
> Lavode
>
>
> ----------
> G4ist, a listserv for discussion of everything G4.
> FAQ at <http://www.themacintoshguy.com/lists/G4.html>.
> Send a message to <G4-DIGEST at themacintoshguy.com> to switch to the 
> digest.
>
> XRouter | Share your DSL or cable modem between multiple computers!
> Dr. Bott | Now $139.99      <http://www.drbott.com/prod/xrouter.html>
>
> Dr. Bott LLC   4-port USB Hub in translucent Graphite!
> Dr. Bott LLC   <http://www.drbott.com/prod/ghub.html>
>
> Small Dog Electronics   http://www.smalldog.com  | Canon Digital 
> Cameras |
> --Quicksilver & refurbished G4's arriving daily! |   and Camcorders!!  
>   |
>
> MacResQ Specials: LaCie SCSI CDR From $99! PowerBook 3400/200 Only 
> $879!
> Norton AntiVirus 6 Only $19! We Stock PARTS! <http://www.macresq.com>
>
> OS X News, Dr.Mac, Forums, Tutorials, Tips, Hints, FAQ?s - 
> http://www.osxfaq.com
>