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marvin128

Q: what does more ram memory get me?

what does more ram memory get me?

iMac, iOS 5.1

Posted on May 7, 2012 11:44 PM

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Q: what does more ram memory get me?

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  • by X423424X,

    X423424X X423424X May 8, 2012 12:42 AM in response to marvin128
    Level 6 (14,237 points)
    May 8, 2012 12:42 AM in response to marvin128

    It gives you a more efficiently running system.  More ram means less paging, i.e., writing to the slower backing store (swap space) on the disk. 

     

    Executable code needs to be run from memory, not the disk.  Also, certain data needs to be in memory too.  That memory is finite.  So if a new program needs to be loaded or some of its data used, something already in memory needs to be "swapped" out, i.e., written to the disk to make room for the new stuff, unless there is already some free space to load it.  This is done by the system so you don't have to worry about it.  But if there isn't enough memory you can see there's going to be a lot of swapping to and from the disk the more you do.  Conversely, with more memory, there's less swapping, so the slower disk doesn't have to be used as much and the entire system runs more efficiently, smoothly, and possibly (depedning on how much disk accesses the programs themselves do) faster.

     

    Open your Activity Monitor (in Utilities) and look at the System Memory display.  Here's an article on how to interpret the info:

     

    Using Activity Monitor to read System Memory and determine how much RAM is being used

     

    It will give you a feel for how your system is behaving with the memory you have and whether you would benefit from adding more.

     

    Here's a related article:

     

    Does your Mac need more memory? How to know if you need a RAM upgrade

  • by RRFS,

    RRFS RRFS May 8, 2012 11:45 AM in response to marvin128
    Level 5 (4,490 points)
    May 8, 2012 11:45 AM in response to marvin128

    You can have more applications open at the same time without slowing your system down too much.

     

    And what X423424X posted.

  • by Carolyn Samit,

    Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit May 8, 2012 12:00 PM in response to marvin128
    Level 10 (123,770 points)
    Apple Music
    May 8, 2012 12:00 PM in response to marvin128

    Hi..

     

    Better overall performance, fewer freezes, fewer spinning beach balls. Ability to have more apps running at the same time.