ianfromquinns rocks
Level 1 (10 points)
Desktops

Q: More RAM required???

I've recently added more RAM to take my mid 2011 iMac 27" from 4GB to 12GB.

The difference is certainly evident.

Would I see any more evident benefit if I were to increase from 12GB to 24GB of RAM based on the following Etrecheck results?

 

EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)

Report generated 13 April 2015 1:06:57 am AWST

Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

 

Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

 

Hardware Information: ℹ️

    iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) (Technical Specifications)

    iMac - model: iMac12,2

    1 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4-core

    12 GB RAM Upgradeable

        BANK 0/DIMM0

            4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

        BANK 1/DIMM0

            4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

        BANK 0/DIMM1

            2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

        BANK 1/DIMM1

            2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

    Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

 

Video Information: ℹ️

    AMD Radeon HD 6770M - VRAM: 512 MB

        iMac 2560 x 1440

 

System Software: ℹ️

    OS X 10.10.3 (14D131) - Time since boot: 3:32:38

 

Disk Information: ℹ️

    Hitachi HDS722020ALA330 disk0 : (2 TB)

        EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

        Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 2.00 TB (660.44 GB free)

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

 

    OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5690H 

 

USB Information: ℹ️

    Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

    Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

    Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

    Canon MX300 series

    Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

        Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

 

Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️

    Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

 

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

    Mac App Store and identified developers

 

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

        /Library/Extensions

    [not loaded]    com.leapfrog.driver.LfConnectDriver (1.11.1 - SDK 10.10) [Click for support]

 

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

    [loaded]    com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.bombich.ccc.plist [Click for support]

    [running]    com.bombich.ccchelper.plist [Click for support]

 

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

    [loaded]    com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]

 

User Login Items: ℹ️

    None

 

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

    Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.134 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    NP_2020Player_WEB: Version: 5.0.94.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

    OfficeLiveBrowserPlugin: Version: 12.2.0 [Click for support]

    JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 15.0.0 - SDK 10.10 Check version

 

User internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

    Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 7.1 [Click for support]

 

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

    Flash Player  [Click for support]

 

Time Machine: ℹ️

    Skip System Files: NO

    Mobile backups: OFF

    Auto backup: YES

    Volumes being backed up:

        Macintosh HD: Disk size: 2.00 TB Disk used: 1.34 TB

    Destinations:

        Data [Network]

        Total size: 3.00 TB

        Total number of backups: 54

        Oldest backup: 2014-07-14 17:12:09 +0000

        Last backup: 2015-04-12 13:15:16 +0000

        Size of backup disk: Too small

            Backup size 3.00 TB < (Disk used 1.34 TB X 3)

        WD External 3TB [Local]

        Total size: 3.00 TB

        Total number of backups: 21

        Oldest backup: 2015-03-17 04:56:45 +0000

        Last backup: 2015-04-05 08:53:41 +0000

        Size of backup disk: Too small

            Backup size 3.00 TB < (Disk used 1.34 TB X 3)

 

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

        35%    com.apple.photomoments

        30%    photolibraryd

        22%    com.apple.photos.ImageConversionService

        16%    firefox

         5%    cloudphotosd

 

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

    528 MB    firefox

    451 MB    softwareupdated

    412 MB    mds_stores

    206 MB    photolibraryd

    168 MB    com.apple.photomoments

 

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

    3.72 GB    Free RAM

    3.88 GB    Active RAM

    3.92 GB    Inactive RAM

    1.37 GB    Wired RAM

    9.84 GB    Page-ins

    201 KB    Page-outs

 

Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

    Apr 12, 2015, 10:36:29 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Photo Library Migration Utility_2015-04-12-223629_[redacted].cpu_resource.diag [Click for details]

    Apr 12, 2015, 09:33:39 PM    Self test - passed

iMac

Posted on Apr 12, 2015 10:10 AM

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ianfromquinns rocks

Q: More RAM required???

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Kappy,Helpful

    Kappy Kappy Apr 12, 2015 5:40 PM in response to ianfromquinns rocks
    Level 10 (271,811 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 12, 2015 5:40 PM in response to ianfromquinns rocks

    Not likely, but keep an eye out on the Page-outs in the VM information. If it continues growing, then you may need more memory.

     

    Understanding top output in the Terminal

     

    The amount of available RAM for applications is the sum of Free RAM and Inactive RAM. This will change as applications are opened and closed or change from active to inactive status. The Swap figure represents an estimate of the total amount of swap space required for VM if used, but does not necessarily indicate the actual size of the existing swap file. If you are really in need of more RAM that would be indicated by how frequently the system uses VM. If you open the Terminal and run the top command at the prompt you will find information reported on Pageins () and Pageouts (). Pageouts () is the important figure. If the value in the parentheses is 0 (zero) then OS X is not making instantaneous use of VM which means you have adequate physical RAM for the system with the applications you have loaded. If the figure in parentheses is running positive and your hard drive is constantly being used (thrashing) then you need more physical RAM.

     

    Adding RAM only makes it possible to run more programs concurrently.  It doesn't speed up the computer nor make games run faster.  What it can do is prevent the system from having to use disk-based VM when it runs out of RAM because you are trying to run too many applications concurrently or using applications that are extremely RAM dependent.  It will improve the performance of applications that run mostly in RAM or when loading programs.

     

    The latest version of 'top' replaced the words Pagein and Pageout with Swapin and Swapout.

  • by Mike Sombrio,Helpful

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Apr 12, 2015 2:45 PM in response to ianfromquinns rocks
    Level 6 (17,283 points)
    Apple Watch
    Apr 12, 2015 2:45 PM in response to ianfromquinns rocks

    Based on the EtreCheck report you don't need more ram, but it really depends on how you use your mac. Learn how to use Activity Monitor and pay particular attention to memory pressure How to use Activity Monitor - Apple Support You may find that while using your mac for heavy work or having lots of things open at once your memory pressure regularly gets into the yellow or red. If it does that will indicate that you could use the extra ram.