Ubuntu
gnome-system-monitor package

Memory usage in system monitor does not match free

Asked by Xantane

I have a system with 6 GB of memory when i see the details on the Resources tab in System Monitor the % used for the memory does not seem to be correct. I'm using a 64 bit version, system monitor reports ( Memory 2.6Gib (44.4%) of 5.8 Gib Swap 2.3 Gib (99.5%) of 2.3 Gib). but free reports
$ free
             total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 6052436 5986784 65652 0 163136 3137700
-/+ buffers/cache: 2685948 3366488
Swap: 2433808 2421616 12192

Why the difference in %, should it not be close to 98%?

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actionparsnip
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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

Can you give the output of:

free -m

it shows things in Mb which is far easier to read.

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Xantane (rcruzp) said : 		#2

Here it is

$ free -m
             total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 5910 5615 294 0 193 3301
-/+ buffers/cache: 2120 3790
Swap: 2376 2331 45

currently system monitor reports:
( Memory 2.1Gib (35.9%) of 5.8 Gib Swap 2.3 Gib (98.1%) of 2.3 Gib)

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Best actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

Yes, that's right.

Note the line:

Swap: 2376 2331

which is 2331/2376 = 0.981060606

Your free RAM (in the output) is 3790Mb

This may help:
http://www.linuxatemyram.com/

Revision history for this message
Xantane (rcruzp) said : 		#4

Great the site you suggested definitely helped, I understand now the actual % on the Memory section is really calculated based on the Free column of the -/+ buffers/cache: line divided by the total amount of mem: line
in this case would be
(1-(3790/5910))*100 which will bring it to a 35.87% in the system monitor

Thanks!

Revision history for this message
Xantane (rcruzp) said : 		#5

Great the site you suggested definitely helped, I understand now the actual
% on the Memory section is really calculated based on the Free column of
the -/+ buffers/cache: line divided by the total amount of mem: line
in this case would be
(1-(3790/5910))*100 which will bring it to a 35.87% in the system monitor

Thanks!

On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 11:43 AM, actionparsnip <
<email address hidden>> wrote:

> Your question #148509 on gnome-system-monitor in ubuntu changed:
>
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-system-monitor/+question/148509
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> actionparsnip proposed the following answer:
> Yes, that's right.
>
> Note the line:
>
> Swap: 2376 2331
>
> which is 2331/2376 = 0.981060606
>
> Your free RAM (in the output) is 3790Mb
>
> This may help:
> http://www.linuxatemyram.com/
>
> --
> If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
> know that it is solved:
>
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-system-monitor/+question/148509/+confirm?answer_id=2
>
> If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
> following page to enter your feedback:
>
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-system-monitor/+question/148509
>
> You received this question notification because you are a direct
> subscriber of the question.
>

--
Roberto Cruz

Revision history for this message
Xantane (rcruzp) said : 		#6

Thanks actionparsnip, that solved my question.

Revision history for this message
antonioMartins (atmartins2001) said : 		#7

quanto de memória ram é necessário para instalar o ubuntu 11.04?