memory management Topic is solved

[plunder]

Operating system: win7 64bits 4GB RAM
Browser version: latest
32-bit or 64-bit browser?: 1
Problem URL: 0
Browser theme (if not default): 0
Installed add-ons: 0
Installed plugins: (about:plugins): 0

[Problem summary: the *.EXE continues to allocate the prior amassed/accumulated memory consumption, even when the user tries to cut down the memory consumption by closing all other tabs except for 1; only a kill process and restart of the *.EXE returns a fresh "fast" tab]

just a general observation, looking for confirmation 's all.
nothing specific, i open 1 instance of Pm, and open several tabs for simple web browsing on modern webpages (gmail, youtube, insta, amazon, flashscore). after making some good use of those pages (e.g. checking several gmail accounts, watching some video clips, scrolling suggested insta posts, clicking around in amazon account) i notice that the system has become slower at responding (cursor placement, typing delay, loading of youtube pages, etc).

so i check with Process Explorer (sysinternalsdotcom). palemoon.exe is using a whooping ~1.4GB Private Bytes. Fair enough, explains why system has become slower, it is struggling with the memory load!

So i close all tabs except for one (gmail). However, the cursor placement and typing experience is still delayed! and palemoon.exe is using ~1.2GB Private Bytes, i.e. closing all the other tabs hardly helped the memory consumption (while it does when using the Firefox browser instead!).

So i exit the browser completely (kill process). And relaunch the browser, with 1 tab only (gmail). Memory consumption: 0.3GB. Cursor placement and typing in gmail experiences no delay. Feels like a fresh slim lean browser.

Maybe there is a fix for this memory management problem?

[Moonchild]

That is entirely by design. There is nothing to "fix".
It's called making efficient use of caching. The browser has multiple different ways in which resources are being cached in memory, from page caches to texture caches to media caches to js object caches, etc.
In addition, some cached data will only be released after a certain time of non-use, so your memory may shrink over time as well, but by design will in most cases never return to "fresh start" amounts since some caches have browser session lifetimes.

[plunder]

That is entirely by design.

Thank you for the information!
I can only repond that i wished that it weren't that way.
I wished that Pm browser always tried to keep the allocated memory as low as possible, i.e. with no caching.
The purpose of caching is to make the browser load (similar/same) pages or websites faster, but at that point (1.4GB EXE) the browser has become already slower, less reponsive because of the caching (~bloated memory consumption).

In contrast, as mentioned, 1 Firefox instance, 7 tabs. When i close 6 tabs, the memory consumption goes drastically down, right away.

I will continue to use Pm browser because 7 tabs in Pm consumes notably less memory than 7 tabs in Firefox, but i also notice that Firefox, for 2-3 tabs, loads the pages notably faster and with less webpage compatibility problems. Meaning, Pm browser has some pro's but also (accetable) con's in direct comparison to Firefox performance.

I'll take it!

[Moonchild]

I wished that Pm browser always tried to keep the allocated memory as low as possible, i.e. with no caching.

That would be unacceptable as it would absolutely kill performance.

In contrast, as mentioned, 1 Firefox instance, 7 tabs. When i close 6 tabs, the memory consumption goes drastically down, right away.

That is because Firefox uses multiple processes and basically just "shuts down a browser child". As you noticed, that approach uses significantly more memory for each tab, and the inter-process communication also exponentially loads your CPU the more tabs you have open.

it's up to you to decide which approach works better in your limited memory setup and with your browsing behaviour.

[jobbautista9]

You can try to keep the memory usage as low as possible by clicking on Minimize memory usage in about:memory once in a while. However, it still won't solve the issue of heavyweight sites like Gmail leaking memory (mainstream browsers workaround this problem by shutting down the process of the Gmail tab, but this is by no means a proper solution) which can only be solved with a browser restart. My suggestion is to keep the usage of heavyweight sites as least as possible, don't open and use lots of them at the same time, and close the browser when done with those sites and open the browser again for surfing lighter sites with no hiccups in responsiveness.

Or better yet just separate out Gmail to a dedicated Chromium instance, as Google services work best with Google solutions anyway.

[FranklinDM]

Off-topic:

You can try to keep the memory usage as low as possible by clicking on Minimize memory usage in about:memory once in a while.

I do vaguely recall that there used to be a Firefox extension (probably about a decade ago) that does this automatically for every N minutes/hours/based on the duration set in that extension's settings.

[moonbat]

I do vaguely recall that there used to be a Firefox extension (probably about a decade ago)

There's Suspender right here - automatically unloads unused tabs after a set period of inactivity.

[jobbautista9]

Off-topic:
Suspender deals with tabs, not about:memory

Anyway this legacy add-on called Free Memory (caa:addon/freememory) which seems closest to what FranklinDM is talking about. Doesn't seem to be working when I installed it though.

[Night Wing]

@ plunder

You can't have low memory consumption and then complain when your system starts getting slower when you have 4 GB of memory. Basically, you want to "have your cake and eat it too" with all of the tabs open on heavy websites.

Since you state you are using Windows 7, 64 bit; then I'm going to guess your computer's motherboard is 64 bit.

If your operating system is 64 bit Windows 7 "Home Premium", then your motherboard can access up to 16 GB of memory. If your operating system is 64 bit Windows 7 Ultimate, 7 Professional or 7 Enterprise; then your motherboard can access up to 192 GB of memory.

With only 4 GB of memory, you've "starved" your system for memory. If you want a fast system with all of the tabs you want open, put in more memory because memory is inexpensive now when it comes to Windows 7, 64 bit computers.

Easiest solution is to purchase 16 GB of memory for your system because your system won't be starved for memory anymore.

[Mæstro]

Off-topic:
What is this post icon with the three lobes meant to represent? This is the first time I have noticed somebody using it, but the question has been with me a while.

[moonbat]

Off-topic:
Looks like a sad face.

[Nigaikaze]

Off-topic:
What is this post icon with the three lobes meant to represent?

Off-topic:
Looks to me like a radiation warning sign.

[Mæstro]

Off-topic:
What is this post icon with the three lobes meant to represent?

Off-topic:
Looks to me like a radiation warning sign.

Off-topic:
I had thought of that also, but the ionising radiation symbol would have the dot at centre and sharp, not rounded edges. My other guess is that it is a horrified face, but the ‘mouth’ seems identical to the ‘eyes’.

[Nigaikaze]

Off-topic:
Right-clicking the image to the left of the title of the first post and selecting "View Image" loads a .gif file called "radioactive.gif."