Free RAM - a dif in iBook performance between 25M and 1G?

Question

Hi...I keep several programs running on my iBook 1.33 with 768 onboard. Activity Monitor shows that at its lowest, my free RAM dips to around 25 or so megs when I'm streaming video from a news site.
My question is whether or not there is a difference in the Book's performance when I have 25 megs of free RAM....or 500 megs? Or being "in the green" means that there is simply enough...being "greener" won't make a difference...
I know that more is always better, but I'd like to know if more is necessary.
The answer will determine whether or not I switch out the 512 for a 1G.
I'd appreciate any feedback...Thanx!

Answer 1

In those instances where chip RAM is needed (and not in a video-intensive
situation where you can't upgrade VRAM, and regular RAM is not shared)
the chip RAM is faster and more readily is available to priority applications
and the OS X system itself. And Virtual Memory (VM) is slower, due to
the fact that is derived by the computer having to read-write to/from the
internal hard disk drive, and that is a slower and less-direct process.
Another way to speed up a limited upgrade option computer would be to
pay to have (or be brave and suffer any consequences, and DIY) the
internal hard disk drive replaced with a faster spin-rate new drive which
also has a larger buffer - and - more free space. This and the chip RAM
could make the computer act more like a faster model computer. At
least until the hard disk drive gets fragmented and or more than 3/4 full.
There are more than a few things one can do to enhance the performance
of the hard to upgrade iBook G4 (or iMac G4) since you can't change the
CPU or make the system bus work any faster. Bottlenecks aside, a few
items that can be upgraded, along with a regimen of routine maintenance
can help almost any computer not pushed beyond its limits, to work better.
Even with a hard disk drive only 75% full, it can be more sluggish and
waste processing and swap-file cycles (moving data bits as VM to/from
the hard disk drive when taxing the limited resources of the computer)
if the hard disk drive has never seen much maintenance. If you use an
external FireWire enclosed hard disk drive, and learn how to clone the
whole iBook's drive contents over, then be sure the clone-copy can boot
the computer, before proceeding; you could use the disk utility to wipe
the drive and use the zero-overwrite option, totally erasing and then to
reformat the drive again, to clear any low-level issues and defragment
the drive, (plus pull any seldom used saved items off the computer,
to free-up hard disk drive space, for the system to use as swap & VM)
you could also reclaim some of the original illusions of speed now lost.
{As the computer's OS gets more and more parts, updates and also
any application and associated files to sort through, it will run slower;
VM also this adds into the mix, with a fuller and older hard disk drive.}
In reference to: ' replacing an iBook G4's hard disk drive? ' you may wish to
read links here: http://www.applelinks.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/142/
In reference to bootable clones of OS X systems:
http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html
Minor to major background maintenance, preventative, can be helped
through the use of this utility interface tool; it can help the OS X and
your computer generally run a bit better. I use OnyX's 'automation'
selection and also have this utility's preferences set for it to restart
by itself after it runs all of the checkboxed items in this set. For this,
see: Titanium Software - OnyX: http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english.html
Also, About Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions (& 'repair disk' from
the booted installer's version of Disk Utility; research this further.)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1452
Sometimes, even just repairing those disk permissions can help; and
the OnyX tool can run that, as part of the Automation sequence; but
it should be run more often from D.U. than you'd need to use OnyX.
Troubleshooting permissions issues in OS X (and using Disk Utility)
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106712
There is a relationship between RAM, free HDD space as Virtual Memory,
system maintenance, disk drive health, and other interrelated details.
Good luck & happy computing!
edited 2x to add links.