Memory usage, P4 vs PIII ??

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

Hi,

I have been monitoring memory usage on two PCs to gather info. re. a RAM
upgrade, and found discrepancies in the amount of memory a module takes
on two PCs.

1) Dell Dimension 8300, P4 3GHz, 1GB RAM, XP Pro
2) Dell Latitude CPxJ, PIII 750MHz, 512MB RAM, XP Pro

If I run task manager and look at the processes tab, on each machine,
they show that similar processes are using different amounts of memory.

Examples
avgcc.exe uses 10,860K on the Dimension, and 9,500K on the Latitude
zlclient.exe 3,196 2,820
services.exe 3,136 2,936
taskmgr.exe 4,396 3,548

avgcc.exe is part of the AVG anti-virus package and I'd assume that it
would use the same amount of memory on any machine. That assumption is
wrong, obviously, but why should that be?

(I'm only giving AVG as a example, every process uses more memory on the
Dimension.)

Any thoughts?

Regards, John

 

[galen]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

In news:RapZd.1059$6P4.337@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net,
John Fryatt <jrf1@ntlworld.com> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

> Hi,
>
> I have been monitoring memory usage on two PCs to gather info. re. a
> RAM upgrade, and found discrepancies in the amount of memory a module
> takes on two PCs.
>
> 1) Dell Dimension 8300, P4 3GHz, 1GB RAM, XP Pro
> 2) Dell Latitude CPxJ, PIII 750MHz, 512MB RAM, XP Pro
>
> If I run task manager and look at the processes tab, on each machine,
> they show that similar processes are using different amounts of
> memory.
> Examples
> avgcc.exe uses 10,860K on the Dimension, and 9,500K on the Latitude
> zlclient.exe 3,196 2,820
> services.exe 3,136 2,936
> taskmgr.exe 4,396 3,548
>
> avgcc.exe is part of the AVG anti-virus package and I'd assume that it
> would use the same amount of memory on any machine. That assumption is
> wrong, obviously, but why should that be?
>
> (I'm only giving AVG as a example, every process uses more memory on
> the Dimension.)
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Regards, John

I can't support this with facts but I can make a similar observation here. I
think that applications in the Windows environment, unless strictly coded,
will use more RAM when they have more available. The reasons for my two
exact statement - Windows and strict coding - is because I can't honestly
say I've tried on another OS and I'm guessing that it's possible to assign a
max memory cap into an application at some level so that an application
which wouldn't ever need more than X-amount of RAM would only be allowed, at
max, X-amount. I know, for instance, that Explorer on this computer that I'm
using now is using a great deal more RAM than is used on a much slower PC
that is running beside me as I'm working. I can't honestly say that I *KNOW*
that is why it's happening but that's my general idea of what is happening.

Galen
--
Signature changed for a moment of silence.
Rest well Alex and we'll see you on the other side.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

Galen wrote:
> In news:RapZd.1059$6P4.337@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net,
> John Fryatt <jrf1@ntlworld.com> had this to say:
>
> My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
>
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>I have been monitoring memory usage on two PCs to gather info. re. a
>>RAM upgrade, and found discrepancies in the amount of memory a module
>>takes on two PCs.


>>1) Dell Dimension 8300, P4 3GHz, 1GB RAM, XP Pro
>>2) Dell Latitude CPxJ, PIII 750MHz, 512MB RAM, XP Pro
>>
>>If I run task manager and look at the processes tab, on each machine,
>>they show that similar processes are using different amounts of
>>memory.
>>Examples
>> avgcc.exe uses 10,860K on the Dimension, and 9,500K on the Latitude
>> zlclient.exe 3,196 2,820
>> services.exe 3,136 2,936
>> taskmgr.exe 4,396 3,548
>>
>>avgcc.exe is part of the AVG anti-virus package and I'd assume that it
>>would use the same amount of memory on any machine. That assumption is
>>wrong, obviously, but why should that be?
>>
>>(I'm only giving AVG as a example, every process uses more memory on
>>the Dimension.)
>>
>>Any thoughts?
>>
>>Regards, John
>
>
> I can't support this with facts but I can make a similar observation here. I
> think that applications in the Windows environment, unless strictly coded,
> will use more RAM when they have more available. The reasons for my two
> exact statement - Windows and strict coding - is because I can't honestly
> say I've tried on another OS and I'm guessing that it's possible to assign a
> max memory cap into an application at some level so that an application
> which wouldn't ever need more than X-amount of RAM would only be allowed, at
> max, X-amount. I know, for instance, that Explorer on this computer that I'm
> using now is using a great deal more RAM than is used on a much slower PC
> that is running beside me as I'm working. I can't honestly say that I *KNOW*
> that is why it's happening but that's my general idea of what is happening.

I haven't found a definitive answer to this, but it seems to be tied in
to the amount of memory available and how Windows decides to allocate
memory to processes, page stuff in/out etc.
To really understand I think a lot more reading is needed, along with an
ice-pack for my brain, so I'll probably leave it there.