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Firefox has improved its multi-process architecture in order to isolate more content while keeping memory use low:
Firefox 54 launched with a more advanced multi-process architecture than the one we saw implemented in Firefox 48 last year. The improved architecture raises the number of processes enabled by default from two to five, which Mozilla argues is a "just right" compromise between low memory usage on one side and performance and security on the other.
[...] Switching to a simpler extension model allows Firefox to enable multiple processes and also isolate them in sandboxes. Mozilla previously enabled only two processes, one for the UI and one for content, last year, in Firefox 48. This ensured that the browser wouldn't hang as much due to web pages affecting the performance of the browser interface. It also brought partial sandboxing by keeping the content isolated from the browser (as much as possible).
Mozilla is now taking it to the next level by implementing one process for the browser interface and four for content. Why four? The organization believes that this is the "just right" amount of processes to have for the majority of users, and also in terms of optimizing memory usage.
[...] Mozilla ran its own memory usage benchmarks, which showed significant memory usage reduction compared to Chrome:
- Windows 10 — Chrome used 1.77X memory as Firefox (64-bit), and 2.44X as Firefox (32-bit)
- macOS — Chrome used 1.36X memory as Firefox (64-bit)
- Linux — Chrome used 1.42X memory as Firefox (64-bit)
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 15 2017, @02:49PM (16 children)
Alright, I've bitched in the past about applications being memory hogs. I don't "like" for Firefox, or other software, to use up a lot of memory.
But, being a realist, I built my last box with lots of memory. The machine on which I do everything, has 24 gig of memory. When the wife was ready to build her last machine, I told her that she should consider 8 gig to be the absolute minimum, and that she should really get 16 gig.
My next machine will have a minimum of 32 gig, and I'll advise the wife to go with 16 gig minimum.
Memory is cheap these days. Really and truly, memory is cheap. Not quite dirt cheap, but close. If you can't afford to equip your machine with excess memory, then you probably can't afford a machine.
Firefox wants 1 1/2 gig of memory? And Chrome wants 1 3/4 memory? That's cool - I can run both of them at the same time, without taking a hit in performance.
BUY MEMORY!! Sorry people, it's not 1985 anymore. Whatever you load on your computer is going to gobble memory like children gobble candy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @03:08PM (2 children)
troll face
Did you ditch Intel for ECC support, or did you go with a "workstation" class machine?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 15 2017, @03:24PM (1 child)
I simply cheated, LOL
$ inxi -F
System: Host: sabayon-pc Kernel: 4.7.0-sabayon x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3
Distro: Sabayon Linux amd64 16.12
Machine: Mobo: Supermicro model: H8DM8-2 v: 1234567890 Bios: American Megatrends v: 080014 date: 10/22/2009
CPU(s): 2 Hexa core Six-Core AMD Opteron 8439 SEs (-HT-MCP-SMP-) cache: 6144 KB
clock speeds: max: 2814 MHz 1: 2814 MHz 2: 2814 MHz 3: 2814 MHz 4: 2814 MHz 5: 2814 MHz 6: 2814 MHz
7: 2814 MHz 8: 2814 MHz 9: 2814 MHz 10: 2814 MHz 11: 2814 MHz 12: 2814 MHz
Graphics: Card: NVIDIA GK208 [GeForce GT 730]
Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 driver: nvidia Resolution: 1920x1080@60.00hz, 1920x1080@60.00hz
GLX Renderer: GeForce GT 730/PCIe/SSE2 GLX Version: 4.5.0 NVIDIA 370.28
Audio: Card-1 NVIDIA GK208 HDMI/DP Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel Sound: ALSA v: k4.7.0-sabayon
Card-2 Plantronics driver: USB Audio
Network: Card-1: NVIDIA MCP55 Ethernet driver: forcedeth
IF: enp0s8 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 00:30:48:c8:16:72
Card-2: NVIDIA MCP55 Ethernet driver: forcedeth
IF: enp0s9 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 00:30:48:c8:16:73
Drives: HDD Total Size: 8241.7GB (8.1% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: MKNSSDCR240GB size: 240.1GB
ID-2: /dev/sdb model: HUA722020ALA330 size: 2000.4GB
ID-3: /dev/sdc model: HUA722020ALA330 size: 2000.4GB
ID-4: /dev/sdd model: HUA722020ALA330 size: 2000.4GB
ID-5: /dev/sde model: HUA722020ALA330 size: 2000.4GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 22G used: 18G (84%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
ID-2: /home size: 168G used: 26G (17%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
ID-3: swap-1 size: 33.56GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda3
RAID: Device-1: /dev/md127 - active raid: 5 components: online: 4/4 - sde1 sdc1 sdb1 sdd1
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 56.0C mobo: 44.5C gpu: 48C
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 0 fan-1: 0 fan-3: 0 fan-4: 0 fan-5: 0 fan-6: 0 fan-7: 3229
fan-8: 3890
Info: Processes: 460 Uptime: 46 days Memory: 10260.4/24108.1MB Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.2.19
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 15 2017, @03:40PM
nice. I got an old server instead of buying ECC RAM too.
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Thursday June 15 2017, @04:54PM (11 children)
I'm picturing a tower PC here.
Even for compact laptops?
You are correct that laptop owners often can't afford to replace an entire computer on short notice when the largest module that the chipset supports is no longer enough to run several applications without thrashing swap.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 15 2017, @05:31PM (3 children)
Yeah, I have to concede that. I have an ancient laptop that only supported 196 meg. Don't ask me how they ever arrived at that number, but that was the limit. It really sucked when I fed it WinXP. It made a half-assed decent Linux machine, but only half assed.
Another laptop that the boys dropped here has some oddball memory, which I can't find cheap. It's really strange, in that one memory bank is half-dead, the other works alright. Removing the half-dead memory isn't an option, because that second bank of memory won't run the machine. Weirder and weirder. No one is going to invest the money to get it running right. Actually, I think I have six different laptops scattered around the house, starting with a 286 that started life as an Army computer. None of them are worth trying to upgrade. :^(
But, new laptops? Order the machine with support for memory, at the least. Best to just buy it with max memory installed, but if you are trying to save a hundred bucks now, at least get a machine that will support the upgrade later.
I sure wish that I had the resources to build my own laptop. Decide on a mainboard, and go from there, just like I do with my main computers. That would be sweet!
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Thursday June 15 2017, @05:56PM (2 children)
I can think of two scenarios:
I ordered my current laptop with 1 GB in 2010 and have since upgraded it to 2 GB, but that's as high as an Inspiron mini 1012 goes. I looked on Dell's website and was surprised that in 2017, companies are still selling laptops with 2 GB and no obvious RAM upgrade option at ordering time, such as this Inspiron 11 3000 [dell.com]. Is Microsoft offering some sort of subsidy on the Windows license for not making a laptop's RAM upgradable?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 15 2017, @11:55PM (1 child)
Wow. At first reading, I thought, "That's a silly question" and almost instantly, I'm thinking, "Well, isn't it?"
TBH, it wouldn't be terribly surprising to learn that MS restricted the memory capacity of some laptops. And, less scrupulous manufacturers may well go along with that idea. Sell those 2 gig machines today, and in a couple years, the newer version of Windows will require double that as minimum. So, they sell a machine today, and in two or three years, MS pushes everyone to upgrade again, which will require yet another new machine.
MS does want to sell a new license to you every two years or so.
(Score: 1) by toddestan on Saturday June 17 2017, @07:09PM
Microsoft does restrict the memory capacity of laptops with their licensing. For lower-end machines, Microsoft offers cheaper Windows licenses so long as the laptop doesn't exceed certain specs. Of course, the manufacturer doesn't have to follow that, but in the cheap laptop market, if an additional $10 of RAM also means an extra $50 for the Windows license... well... not going to happen.
Ever wonder why all the netbooks basically had identical specs no matter who made them, and those specs didn't change for years? That's because of Microsoft's licensing.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday June 15 2017, @09:01PM (6 children)
Laptop memory is about $40 for 8 GB. This is higher than it was years ago, probably due to Elpida going bankrupt and supply reduction in response to anemic PC demand. Prices are similar for DDR3 and DDR4.
https://slickdeals.net/f/10210704 [slickdeals.net]
https://slickdeals.net/f/10231860 [slickdeals.net]
https://slickdeals.net/f/10235200 [slickdeals.net]
When you buy a laptop, the extended specs should tell you how many DRAM slots there are and how many are occupied. One 8 GB stick and one empty slot is common, which would be an easy upgrade to 16 GB. Timings and clocks don't usually have to match although that could spell trouble.
In 2017, it's rare to see a laptop with a maximum of 8 GB memory supported. 16-32 GB is more common. One exception would be the dirt cheap Celerons used in cheap Chromebooks, such as the Celeron N3050 [intel.com] which only supports 8 GB. But those Chromebooks will only have 2-4 GB of RAM that is not user replaceable anyway.
If ECC support is desired, you should probably wait for mobile Ryzen, although I don't know if it will actually support ECC. This [staticworld.net] is what AMD is promising for mobile Ryzen vs. 7th gen APUs (Carrizo).
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Thursday June 15 2017, @10:28PM (5 children)
I couldn't find anything about slots in the specs for the Inspiron 11 3000 [dell.com]. All that page says for memory is "2GB, DDR3L, 1600MHz". Does that mean it has only the soldered-in RAM and zero slots?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday June 15 2017, @11:38PM (4 children)
There should be a configuration [laptopmag.com] with 4 GB of RAM but oddly there is no 4 GB option on the page you linked.
The product looks a lot like a Chromebook. The Celeron N3060, 32 GB of eMMC memory, 2 GB DDR3L, 11.6-inch 1366×768 screen, and 720p webcam are specs that can be found in the low-end Chromebooks. Which don't have user upgradeable memory.
Celeron N3060 [intel.com] supports 8 GB max.
My Googling did not find much because most configurations in the 3000 series have a more specific model number like Dell Inspiron 11 3147.
So I decided to use the Dell chat. The rep says that you can add RAM to it manually. Here's the transcript, you can choose to believe him or not:
I went back to the list of user manuals [dell.com]. The specs seem similar to the Inspiron 11 3157 [dell.com]. It lists only on SODIMM slot and it says only 2 or 4 GB is supported.
That may be close. I found the Dell page [dell.com] for that model. It says "Sorry, that system is no longer available." But the header is the same generic "Inspiron 11 3000 Series 2-in-1" like the page you linked me.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 16 2017, @01:56AM (3 children)
Try it again. My experience with online chat help (not with dell) is they will give conflicting info.
(Score: 2) by TheLink on Friday June 16 2017, @04:36PM (2 children)
Nowadays I use youtube to figure out stuff like that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kbHZjWZlj4 [youtube.com]
I won't rely on standard "support" since too many of them don't know what they are talking about. Some may lie or post unrelated/useless answers to have their stats look nice.
I might trust enterprise level support more, might have no choice if it's for stuff I can't find youtube videos for.
The other advantage of the youtube video is you can see how difficult it is and decide to buy a new device instead... :)
(Score: 1) by toddestan on Saturday June 17 2017, @07:15PM (1 child)
I wouldn't totally trust Youtube either. Not the fault of the guys who post the videos on there, but Dell is (or at least was) pretty notorious for changing the internals of systems without any notice or change in model number. So while you might find some guy posting pictures of the internals, you could open up your computer with the same model number and specs and find a totally different board, with different chipsets, numbers of slots, etc.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 18 2017, @02:57PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 16 2017, @12:10AM
My window manager, terminals, editors, shells and a bunch of other programs use pretty much the same memory they used years ago, maybe a little more. They even got some extra functions with that small increase, instead of getting things removed like most of the bloated crap that passes as useful tools today.
But so far no one thinks about running a full JS engine to run ls.
I hope they don't... but I can't be sure, as some editors and other things are already in retardland.