Free memory - What is the general rule?

[Edoras]

What is the the free memory general rule to ensure programs run smoothly.?
How many Megabytes should we leave free for
- System Memory?
- Program Memory?

Pls advice. THanks.

[himitsu]

I try to have it at 1 meg, seems reasonable.

If you are running programs like PowerRun then you may need as much memory as the largest program you stored there. (coz they need to swap it into the RAM before runnin.)

[ksjenkins]

I maintain about 9MB free :D I've been making extensive use of the AliasExt area of the Internal MS. Having a lot of free RAM is useful for viewing large pix, spreadsheets, doc's etc.... Check out this thread for moving most of your 3rd party apps to the Internal MS here: http://www.cliesource.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29231&highlight=aliasext

[Edoras]

Originally posted by ksjenkins
I maintain about 9MB free :D I've been making extensive use of the AliasExt area of the Internal MS. Having a lot of free RAM is useful for viewing large pix, spreadsheets, doc's etc.... Check out this thread for moving most of your 3rd party apps to the Internal MS here: http://www.cliesource.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29231&highlight=aliasext

When u say 9 MB free, did u mean System Memory plus Program Memory or only Program Memory?

[Marre]

I think he means only program memory.

Technically, you shouldn't need to maintain a lot of free ram (as opposed to desktop or PPC) but it is safe to maintain at least a meg or two because your program might be writing new data, loading things from memory card, writing game saves, and so on.

You have little control over the system memory and nor it is used much so just don't worry about it.

[dwig]

... also, apps that store large data files on MS generally need to have as much free main memory as the file they are opening. These apps are things like map programs and "Office" clones that read non-PalmPDB formatted files. Opening a 1.5 meg map in a map application or a 1.5meg XLS spreadsheet in something like Documents-to-Go or QuickOffice will require somewhat more that 1.5 meg free main memory.

If you don't use this type of app then keeping 1meg free is reasonable; you might get away with as little as 500k. I try to keep 3-4meg free; I use QuickOffice but rarely open files larger than 500k.