Why does memory usage increase after RAM upgrade

I upgraded my MBP RAM from 4GB to 8GB. I'm not running any additional applications, so I expected machine's RAM usage to remain the same as it was before upgrade.


However, my RAM usage has increased to 4.6 GB. Why does my machine need more RAM now for the same lot of programs?


Hardware Information:

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,2

1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2 cores

8 GB RAM


Video Information:

Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: 1024 MB


System Software:

OS X 10.9.2 (13C64) - Uptime: 0 days 1:5:15


Disk Information:

APPLE HDD ST500LM012 disk0 : (500.11 GB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted>: 209.7 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 499.25 GB (204.2 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted>: 650 MB


MATSHITADVD-R UJ-8A8


USB Information:


Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)



Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver


Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller


Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad


FireWire Information:


Thunderbolt Information:

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus


Kernel Extensions:

com.rim.driver.BlackBerryUSBDriverInt (0.0.74)


Startup Items:

HWNetMgr: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWNetMgr

HWPortDetect: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HWPortDetect

ProTec6b: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6b


Launch Daemons:

[System] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.rim.BBDaemon.plist 3rd-Party support link


Launch Agents:

[System] com.hp.messagecenter.launcher.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.rim.BBAlbumArtCacher.plist 3rd-Party support link

[System] com.rim.BBLaunchAgent.plist 3rd-Party support link


User Launch Agents:

[not loaded] com.google.GoogleContactSyncAgent.plist 3rd-Party support link

[not loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist 3rd-Party support link


User Login Items:

iTunesHelper

Reminders

Calendar

Mail

Google Chrome


Internet Plug-ins:

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 12.0.0.77 - SDK 10.6 3rd-Party support link

Flash Player: Version: 12.0.0.77 - SDK 10.6 Cannot contact Adobe

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.9.0 - SDK 10.7 Cannot contact Oracle

Default Browser: Version: 537 - SDK 10.9


Safari Extensions:

Open in Internet Explorer: Version: 1.0

Searchme: Version: 1.2


Audio Plug-ins:

BluetoothAudioPlugIn: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.9

AirPlay: Version: 2.0 - SDK 10.9

AppleAVBAudio: Version: 203.2 - SDK 10.9

iSightAudio: Version: 7.7.3 - SDK 10.9


iTunes Plug-ins:

Quartz Composer Visualizer: Version: 1.4 - SDK 10.9


User Internet Plug-ins:

Picasa: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link


3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player 3rd-Party support link


Old Applications:

/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Office

Open XML for Excel: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Office Setup Assistant: Version: 14.2.0 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Alerts Daemon: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

SyncServicesAgent: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Database Daemon: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Graph: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Database Utility: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Office Reminders: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Upload Center: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

My Day: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Chart Converter: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Clip Gallery: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft AutoUpdate: Version: 2.3.6 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link

/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app

/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011

Microsoft PowerPoint: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Excel: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Outlook: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Word: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Document Connection: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MERP2.0

Microsoft Error Reporting: Version: 2.2.9 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Ship Asserts: Version: 1.1.4 - SDK 10.4 3rd-Party support link

Microsoft Language Register: Version: 14.3.9 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Additional Tools/Microsoft Language Register/Microsoft Language Register.app

Solver: Version: 1.0 - SDK 10.5 3rd-Party support link

/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Office/Add-Ins/Solver.app


Time Machine:

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: NO - Auto backup turned off

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 464.96 GB Disk used: 274.78 GB

Destinations:

Angad Sethi [Local] (Last used)

Total size: 931.19 GB

Total number of backups: 2

Oldest backup: 2014-01-27 11:09:05 +0000

Last backup: 2014-03-29 17:14:02 +0000

Size of backup disk: Adequate

Backup size 931.19 GB > (Disk used 274.78 GB X 3)

Time Machine details may not be accurate.

All volumes being backed up may not be listed.


Top Processes by CPU:

3% WindowServer

3% iStats

2% EtreCheck

0% BBLaunchAgent

0% sysmond


Top Processes by Memory:

131 MB mds_stores

131 MB Google Chrome

98 MB Finder

90 MB ocspd

82 MB mds


Virtual Memory Information:

3.41 GB Free RAM

2.26 GB Active RAM

1.44 GB Inactive RAM

916 MB Wired RAM

3.24 GB Page-ins

0 B Page-outs

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Apr 4, 2014 8:15 PM

Reply
4 replies

Apr 4, 2014 9:16 PM in response to Gladiator_S

Also, in your case you can see from the very last section of your report that more memory is being used for holding program's and data. Notice that "Page-Ins" is high and "Page-Outs" is zero. This is VERY GOOD 🙂 It means that it is not using the hard disk to swap out apps and data, which it would if there was not enough RAM. This way, your mac runs faster. In future, if you notice a slow-down, you can rerun the report and see if you have a lot of page-outs; then it might be time for even more RAM.

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Why does memory usage increase after RAM upgrade

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