Mac Pro 2013 Using Too Much RAM

I have a 6-core Mac Pro (2013) with 64GB of RAM. I have this feeling that the computer, and some assortment of processes, is sucking up a lot more of the RAM than they need to. As a point of reference, I use the vast majority of the RAM for audio production.
My concern is that, when I turn my computer on, it is already using 10 GBs of RAM right off the bat. One particular process, kernel_task, likes to use anywhere from 2-10 GBs. I can't imagine there is any reason for the Mac and all of its other processes to ever exceed even 4 GBs of RAM, let alone the upwards 20-30 that it will eventually consume. I say this because I migrated all of the data and processes form my 2010 Macbook Pro, which only has 8GB. Upon start-up, it is never using more than 2-4 GBs of RAM. I would assume, then, that my Mac Pro can get by using little more 4GBs (preserving the other 60GB for my much more resource-intensive music work). Both the MBP and Mac Pro have Mavericks 10.9.
Is there a way to cap the amount of RAM the computer, and any other process, uses, so I can preserve the majority of it for the tasks I know need it most?

Have you seen www.macperformanceguide.com ? focus is more on graphics and photography and where 128GB is shown to help.
The old method, to conserve and not use memory, went away years ago so as not to let a valuable resource sit idle and not being used.
Even if you don't have pageouts the system dynamically will use more if and when there is more memory present.
The numbers you report are not unusual. 1-2GB in today's world is like 50MB might have been 20 years ago - people were moaning over the fact that OS 7 was a memory hog as it now needed 40-50MB just to launch the Finder.

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My MacBook Pro is using too much RAM.

Hello,
I have got Apple MacBook Pro 13.3” (ME865LL/A) with OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 and I’ve noticed that my MacBook is using too much RAM. I'm doing nothing, I've got opened only my Google Chrome web browser and my notebook is using about 6,6 GB RAM of 8,0 GB... Have you ever had problem like my? I was reading about Memory Booster - RAM Optimizer. What do you think about that?
Thanks in advance for your help!

I don't use any AV software - if you just keep a watch on what you download and where it's from, you've no need for it, either.
See The Safe Mac -> Mac Malware Guide. There is some malware and adware for Macs, but no viruses (although you can pass them along to your Windows friends!).
Clinton

MacBook Pro using too much RAM

I have 15" MacBook Pro, purchased in February, 2013. It has 2.6 Ghz Intel i7 processor, 8 GB RAM and a 750 GB hard drive. The HD is about 25% filled, mostly with photos. It came with Mountain Lion, I upgraded to Mavericks, then to Yosemite. I go back and forth between Safari and Chrome for my browser. (I've heard Chrome uses too much memory, but I've found the opposite to be the case for my computer.) All upgrades went smoothly, no problems. I love using it, EXCEPT...
Over the past year, I've thought it was using too much RAM for very simple activities and it slows to a crawl using Aperture or MS Word. Even when just web browsing, and nothing else open or running, the computer will use 6 to 7 gigs of available RAM. Using Aperture is so slow it's no longer fun... I wait and wait for the beach ball to go away and it does, eventually (Won't need to worry about Aperture for too much longer, I guess). I've been thinking about Lightroom to replace Aperture, but I'm worried that I will have similar problems with a new program. Any suggested solutions? Thanks!

Hey danfrompeoria,
Thanks for the question. If I understand correctly, you are using a lot of memory. I would recommend that you read this article, it may be able to help you isolate or resolve the issue.
OS X Yosemite: If your Mac runs slowly
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Have a great day,
Mario

Firefox uses too much ram

My FIrefox has been using too much RAM as of late. I have followed all the steps in the firefox support page about checking for possible plugins that may or may not be using too much RAM, but after starting firefox in safe mode, there really wasn't much of a difference. Maybe like 5k kb less, but it's still not enough to account for the 1.7million kb that firefox ends up using with one tab open.
I like to leave my pc on for a bit, and sometimes I'll leave firefox running with a tab open while I'm using other applications, but even if i restart my firefox, the RAM usage does not decrease. After closing all applications and leaving only firefox running, it appears to be around 1.5million kb. Only if i restart my whole pc does the RAM usage drop back to normal levels, and then it ramps back up after a period of time.
I would like to get this resolved soon, or at least figure out the cause of this.
http://puu.sh/9ihMr/585bac7192.png
http://puu.sh/9ihPx/4a9da78104.png
My system has:
2x2GB DDR3 Kingston memory modules
Radeon HD5850 with 1 GB of RAM
AMD Phenom II X4 955 processor 3.20GHz
Windows 7 Professional, SP 1 64-bit OS

Start your Computer in safe mode with networking. See if there
is still a problem.
It could be the work of one of your add-ons, or even add / mal-ware.
Look thru your add-ons list and make sure you know what each one is
there for. Also, check the programs that are on your computer
'''Windows > Start > Control Panel > Uninstall Programs.'''
'''Mac: Open the "Applications" folder'''
Go thru the list and use a web search to check any that you don't
know what they are.
'''''[https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-caused-malware Troubleshoot Firefox Issues Caused By Malware]''''' {web link}

My MBP mid 2014 is using too much RAM

My MBP mid 2014 is using too much ram on kernel task, and some others what can I do to fix this?

To add to Tim's excellent advice, look at my numbers for my quad-core i7 iMac with 12GB RAM installed:
As you can see, the system has reserved almost all the available RAM but the swaps are zero and the memory pressure is on the bottom of the scale. My computer runs very fast.
RAM handling in OSX changed with OS10.9 and continues in 10.10. The measures you were using only apply to Mac OSX 10.8 and older.
If your swaps move up into the Gig range, you are probably using a bunch of RAM. You cannot upgrade RAM in a 2014 Retina model so it behooves you to avoid third-party utilities like "FreeMemory," keep an eye on Safari extensions, and be frugal with your user login items (System Preferences > Users and Groups > {your account} > Login Items tab).

FF using too much RAM and getting slow

FF is using too much RAM
After I start FF, like 5 minutes later, it's using like 1gb of ram, and if i dont restart it, i grows to 3gb~4gb of RAM used

the article above didn't help
updated to the beta version and solved it

Bridge memory leak/using too much ram

I just built a new PC tower for business use and installed PS, ID, LR, and BR CC trials. I already have all of these (CS5) on my personal laptop, all work fine. Bridge on the new tower has been using WAY too much ram/caching too much and crashing everything. I'd changed cache preferences, purged the cache several times, and within days it is back at it again. PC specs: 8 core AMD processor, 16GB ram, 2x 3TB HDD
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I have tried to analize better what happens. In the dashboard I only have a calendar, a calculator, a clock and one postit (but there is nothing writen on it). If I use something in the dashboard, for example, the calculator, and I do some multiplications, after a couple of minutes the use of memory of the dashboard starts to increase. I closed any other program and in some minutes I have sen how it increased until I stopped the process when it was using more than 2GB! (you can see it in the picture). It's very strange! (Thank you very much for your help!)

Labview 2010 vi using too much RAM and causing Crashes

hello everyone,
I was given a LV 2010 vi to integrate with another functionality.This Vi is used for a long time on XP and Windows 7 platform having various RAM size.it still runs fine on those PCs. This Vi has functionality that it waits for user to press start button that it reads data and plots.however i am not giving start command and it starts consuming too much RAM and resulting system Crash.
System Config: I have Core i5 CPU 650 @ 3.20GHz with 2 GB RAM and windows 7 .
Plz show some methods to prevent them and why it is happening.?
Note:1) i also checked my ram through windows test and it has no error.
2) windows shows me some low disk error sometimes.
plz help me out here i am stuck here for week.
thanks & regards

Post your VI if you are allowed, we cannot help you without that info...
If you are a beginner in LabVIEW, it will not take 1 day to gain some level. LabVIEW is a full featured programming language, it is very easy to program it wrong. I suggest you to start learn it using the online resources. You have an active LabVIEW licence? If so, you can access the "self-paced online training" via menu point "MyNI", see top of this website just next to your name (you need to connect your account to your licence in order to use the online training). Another option could be to pay for a virtual classroom course, get more info here: http://sine.ni.com/tacs/app/overview/p/ap/of/lang/en/pg/1/sn/n5nline,n24:12725/id/1582/ I did this a few years ago (Core 1 and 2.) and the tutor from NI was very professional, and it was also comfortable since you attend the class via internet from yoour home or workplace.

Need advice on what Mac Pro to purchase/how much ram

Hi.. this is my first post...
I have been a Logic user for--15 years??-- and love the program. I have been using only pcs and now have to switch to Mac because, well..... we all know why....
Here's my question....
With a certain amount of cash to spend ( using Logic pro/ express ), and a lot of audio samples to crunch, am I better off::::
1.---buying the more expensive 3.0 ghz Mac pro with, say, 3 gigs of ram or,
2.---buying the cheaper 2.7 ghz Mac pro and use the savings to load up with more ram memory?
I lean towards the #2 just because 'they' say more ram is good. Up to now all my pc's were just stock and they ran, more or less, fine with few problems. Mind you, I was using midi exclusively..no audio files at all.
I will be recording only one live instrument ( a flugelhorn---brass instrument ) so that's about it!!
Any guidance would be appreciated..
Thanks all
Ray
Miami Beach

Well, the old computer saying goes, "buy the fastest computer you can afford, at that time"... or something like that...
That being said, a new 2.7 Mac Pro ain't a shabby beast, by anyones standards.
3 gigs of RAM is pretty good... for now. But in anticipation of the new OS Leopard, and the inevitable rewriting of Logic that will take place (or is currently in progress), to allow it to access more than 4 gigs of RAM... more RAM wouldn't hurt either. You'd be putting yourself in a position to be able to take advantage of those advancements, when they occur.
So, my 2 cents is with you... a 2.7 Mac Pro with more RAM (maybe 6 to 8 gigs worth...? ) looks quite nice.

My Macbook pro Mid 2012 Model Seems to be using too much RAM

Hello everybody, I recenlty bought a Macbook pro Mid 2012 Model and I absolutely fell in love with it! I use it everyday for school, work, and for my musical hobby.
I haven't had a single problem with it until recently, and it seems like the RAM memory is being all used up without me even running programs. This problem barely started rougly 2-3 weeks ago and it's becoming annoying. I do plan to upgrade the ram soon seeing as the extra RAM will help run my engineering software I'm going to be using.
Anywho I'm just looking for tips, suggestions or answers as to why this problem is occuring. Also heard from a fellow employee that Google Chrome can cause this problem with RAM and battery life as well.

Stop using Chrome for any number of reasons and stick to Safari. An aspect of OS X memory management is to take over as much memory as possible in order to better manage the memory, however, this does not mean you are running out of memory. You only run out of memory when you try to run too many applications concurrently given the amount of RAM you have. You will know when that happens because the computer will slow down, you will see the beachball a lot, everything you do takes forever, and the hard drive will be grinding away.
About OS X Memory Management and Usage
Using Activity Monitor to read System Memory & determine how much RAM is used
OS X Mavericks- About Activity Monitor
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.

Premiere Pro CC2014 on Mac Pro 2013 using Bootcamp. Good idea?

I'm thinking of getting a Mac Pro (late 2013 'trashcan' model with 6 core processor) due to it's portability vs a regular desktop and due to it's over original purchase price resale value if re-sold in Brazil. Since the Mac version of Premiere seems to be buggier than the Windows version, based on forum discussions I've read, and since I much prefer Windows vs OSX, can anyone with experience running the latest version of Premiere Pro on a MacPro through Bootcamp chip in with their thoughts? Does it work just as well as running Premiere CC2014 on a native Windows desktop? Are there any issues I should be aware of? Problems with connecting devices through Thunderbolt ports with Bootcamp?
Thanks for any input!!!
BTW, I don't want this thread to turn into a Windows vs OSX debate, unless directly related to the performance/stability of Premiere Pro. Thanks.

mojo,
Do you have QuickTime and the associated codecs installed in your PC?
Thanks,
Kevin

Laptop using too much RAM

I've had this problem for ages now and I want to know why.
These are the stats from my Activity Monitor:
Free: 170mb
Wired: 927mb
Active: 2.02gb
Inactive: 947mb
Used: 3.85gb
VM size: 258.16gb
Page ins: 47.91gb
Page outs: 7.4gb
Swap used: 3.95gb
Correct me if i'm wrong but doesn't this mean the system is desperate for memory and could be using up to 3.85gb + 3.95gb = almost 8gb (used + swap)?
After like a week my laptop is nonstop beach balling the ram available runs to 0mb and the system stall, more evidence pointing to the lack of RAM.
But heres the problem, when I add up the real and virtual ram of all processes I get the following totals:
Total real = 2.83 GB (system claims this to be as high as 8gb from above)
Total virtual = 7.74 GB (system claims this to be over 250gb)
I've had multiple apple engineers on it and none of them have any idea. This was an upgraded system from leopard to snow leopard. I've tried reinstalling the system and copying my home folder back over and only installing the software I need, doesn't make any difference.
Theres a gushing memory leak somewhere and I want to find it. Any suggestions?

No, what it means is that you don't understand the data. Your computer has 4 GBs of RAM installed. At the moment you used AM to provide the statistics your computer had 170 MBs of Free and 947 MBs of Inactive RAM or a total of 1,170 MBs of Available RAM. The balance of the 3.85 GBs of RAM is in use. 927 MBs is in use by the OS - Wired - and 2.02 GBs is Active meaning it is in use by the running applications you are using.
If your computer has a swap file in use of 3.95 GBs, then it means you are trying to use too many applications concurrently for the amount of RAM you have installed. This will result in severe slowdown accompanied by excessive thrashing of the hard drive. Simple solutions: 1. Run fewer applications concurrently; or, 2. Install more RAM.
The information on Virtual RAM is irrelevant and has meaning only for programmers. It has nothing to do with actual memory use by programs.
I doubt any Apple engineers have looked at this or they could have told you what I've said above. If you spoke to engineers without a clue, then I doubt they know anything about Macs and probably work for another company, not Apple. For more about memory usage in OS X see the following:
About OS X Memory Management and Usage
Reading system memory usage in Activity Monitor
Memory Management in Mac OS X
Performance Guidelines- Memory Management in Mac OS X
A detailed look at memory usage in OS X
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.

Firefox using too much RAM

When starting (or restarting Firefox) everything is fine - even with loads of tabs open. Slowly, even if I'm not using it the RAM usage increases 500M and up.
I'm running 35.0.1, but the problem existed with earlier versions too. Reading various threads looks like I'm not the only one, but none of the threads come up with a solution.
I have however tried all the things suggested, disabled hardware acceleration, running in safe mode, etc. Makes no difference. The problem remains. The only thing that works is closing Firefox and reopening it, say every 30 minutes - that's a pain.
As I say this has been going on for a long time in various version (certainly a year or two) and on various PCs. On 64 bit machines with loads of RAM it's a nuisance, but I have some applications which will only run in a true 32 bit environment, and in on those machines Firefox is to all intents and purposes unusable.
The other thing that works is using explorer, but I've been a Thunderbird user almost since day 1 - back in the days when real mozilla techs gave real technical support - so I really don't want to have to do that.
Would be good, as a starting point if someone could say how much RAM Firefox should use running in safe mode with only one tab open. That would at least put a stake in the ground.

What programs do you have installed on your machine? You said you already "altered" the about:config variables. Which ones did you alter? You can try using an earlier version and/or a portable one. Have you tired refreshing Firefox? Try starting Firefox in private browsing mode.
I cannot replicate this problem you are having, I have currently 10 tabs open and it is barely pushing the 400mb mark. It may be an issue with Windows 7. Have you used Ccleaner to clean out the registry, after an uninstall, before you reinstall it?

Adobe Air Uses Too Much RAM

No matter what application i use, Adobe Air just eats as much as it wants:
On screenshot you can see Market Samurai uses 1052MB which is ridiculous. And it is growing!
Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit
4GB of RAM

Memory "eating" is a strongest and hightest trouble of AIR and of Adobe company too.
So, empty and simple AIR application under Android allocated 95M of RAM !!!
And this value returned from AIR System.privateMemory() function.
Why AIR need so much RAM?
What contended in this heap? Runtime machine?
With a huge collections of photos of developer's grandmothers?
Developers from Abode never think about optimization. Never think about others developers - theirs customers.
We need a simple and easy way to strong descreasing amount of RAM allocated by AIR. May be 30M will be a good number. But for empty applicatiobn is still too large.

The system using too much ram than before

After I updated my laptop to Yosemite 10.10 . The system using almost all of the ram even though I only opened safari and iTunes. Any tips or ways to fix this? Thanks

soontobemacguy,
Don't worry about how much RAM you have "free" vs. how much you have installed. Instead, look at the amount of "inactive" RAM you have. When you quit any running application, the physical memory addresses it was using are transitioned to "inactive" status, not "free." If and when you launch the application again, the same adresses are re-allocated to it, making it available to you much quicker.
As you use up your "free" memory, and more is needed for a new application, it is taken from old "inactive" memory as needed. In other words, a better indication of what is currently available to you (and your applications) would be the combination of "free" and "inactive." Also, you should keep in mind that virtual memory will be created and used as necessary to meet your needs, regardless of how much physical RAM you have. Relying on virtual memory is not ideal, but it works.
Scott

Mac Pro 2013 Using Too Much RAM

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