RAM on galaxy S3 - Discussion - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi all,
Ok so I've got this phone a week ago, and I like it so far. Ieike the beautiful screen and the great battery life. I gave my galaxy S2 to my wife.
However, this phone has a serious issue and I am really surprised that it is not floating all over XDA: It is the RAM.
I used to install more than 120 applications on my s2. Despite that I had about 200 to 300MB of free RAM.
As a common sense, I did the same on my s3, but I ended up with around 80 to 100 mb of free RAM. I WAS SHOCKED
I tried to be more scientific so I did more investigation on this issue:
Both all phones are rooted , both running on custom ROM.
S2 on 4.1.2 XXLSJ ROM with stock Kernel. No system apps are removed. Has all bloatware.
S3 on 4.1.2 XXEMA2 ROM with stock Kernel however it is approximately completely cleaned from bloatware like ALL share , all widgets that I don't use, kies, Samsung apps, and every other irrelevant stuff.
After closing all recent/ running apps , I got In Running services :
S2 506MB RAM used / 321 MB RAM free
S3 759MB RAM used / 74MB RAM free
To get more info, I installed an application Called android status from market. It didn't show anything abnormal.
As you can see in the attached screenshots, while the running services are approximately the same, the cached processes are a lot more on the S2 since it's still bloated But still despite all that the S2 has much more free RAM!!!!
This issue is driving me crazy!!
What could be the culprit !!!?
Can anybody please enlighten me!?
Thanks
Sent from my GT-N8000 using XDA Premium HD app

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Linux is not windows, free ram=wasted ram

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The ram management is poor on S3 and multitasking is crippled.
From launcher redraws to phone and contact lag.. Everything is caused by it
There's no solution but only workarounds.
_________________________________
Typed with one finger on a sheet of glass

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been discussed to death, search the other multiple threads for an answer

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Life Engineer said:
Hi all,
Ok so I've got this phone a week ago, and I like it so far. Ieike the beautiful screen and the great battery life. I gave my galaxy S2 to my wife.
However, this phone has a serious issue and I am really surprised that it is not floating all over XDA: It is the RAM.
I used to install more than 120 applications on my s2. Despite that I had about 200 to 300MB of free RAM.
As a common sense, I did the same on my s3, but I ended up with around 80 to 100 mb of free RAM. I WAS SHOCKED
I tried to be more scientific so I did more investigation on this issue:
Both all phones are rooted , both running on custom ROM.
S2 on 4.1.2 XXLSJ ROM with stock Kernel. No system apps are removed. Has all bloatware.
S3 on 4.1.2 XXEMA2 ROM with stock Kernel however it is approximately completely cleaned from bloatware like ALL share , all widgets that I don't use, kies, Samsung apps, and every other irrelevant stuff.
After closing all recent/ running apps , I got In Running services :
S2 506MB RAM used / 321 MB RAM free
S3 759MB RAM used / 74MB RAM free
To get more info, I installed an application Called android status from market. It didn't show anything abnormal.
As you can see in the attached screenshots, while the running services are approximately the same, the cached processes are a lot more on the S2 since it's still bloated But still despite all that the S2 has much more free RAM!!!!
This issue is driving me crazy!!
What could be the culprit !!!?
Can anybody please enlighten me!?
Thanks
Sent from my GT-N8000 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
I had the same issue
HTC Desire HD (768MB RAM) - Custom ROM - Always 150-200MB free RAM
S3 i9300 (1GB RAM) - Stock ROM (cleaned, lots of services stopped etc) 100MB or less free RAM
S3 LTE i9305 (2GB RAM) - Stock ROM (cleaned, lots of services stopped etc) 600-500MB free RAM
On my Desire HD never had luancher redraws, dialer, messaing app dropping from memory but was a issue on the S3, I think its an issue with higher resolution screens and software not optimized properly (memory management).
I have seen a fair few Xperia T devices which also have 1GB RAM but they seem to have 200-300MB free RAM.
I have the S3 LTE (i9305) now and RAM usage is always above 1GB, generally around 1.1/1.2 GB.
Maybe it's just Samsung software.
Thanks

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Daanlt said:
Linux is not windows, free ram=wasted ram
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to tell you but that's not true!
I can multitask easily on my S2 but I cant on my S3!! We can't just give some arguments just to convince ourselves!
I can open up to 5 apps and seamlessly switch between them while I can't do the same on my s3! It reopens the app!
Damn I'm really depressed by this sh*t! It should have been 2 RAMs!
Sent from my GT-N8000 using XDA Premium HD app

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DSA said:
been discussed to death, search the other multiple threads for an answer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please guide me Mr. consider me as an ignorant!
All I could find was some threads in Q&A which unfortunately are only Q without any convincing A!!
Sent from my GT-N8000 using XDA Premium HD app

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eggman89 said:
The ram management is poor on S3 and multitasking is crippled.
From launcher redraws to phone and contact lag.. Everything is caused by it
There's no solution but only workarounds.
_________________________________
Typed with one finger on a sheet of glass
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please point me to some workarounds I'm ready to try some!
Sent from my GT-N8000 using XDA Premium HD app

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I have a nexus 7 and the amount of memory used by identical apps is 2-3 times more on the s3. It must be down to the architecture of the processors and compiling.
I have to remove loads of bloat and freeze some apps when not in use to make it usable. Shocking really.
Sent via TCP/IP

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Daanlt said:
Linux is not windows, free ram=wasted ram
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stfu
Free ram is not wasetd ram , its used to cache apps in the ram and when the ram is full no apps will be cached and and no apps will run in the background :thumbdown:
Btw my friend and my sister gs3 have the same problem probably there is ram leaking with gs3
And I dont have any problem with s2 here too running LSD
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
Edit: mali driver r2p4 is known to leak the ram in JB so I bet its still leaking ram even after patching the framework
http://forum.insignal.co.kr/viewtopic.php?t=76

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The ram issue on the S3 is well-known. The memory management isn't as good as it could have been. I blame bloatwiz. Don't know if we should cry or laugh. They have crammed more than 800 MB of bloat in a phone that runs perfectly without it. A full odin rom is approx 1.2 GB and it's possible to reach a size of 300 MB (I know, because I have tried), by seriously cleaning up the system partition, in terms of apps and libs and it runs without a hitch, and has loads of ram left.
It also goes without saying that unused ram, is wasted ram.

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yahyoh said:
Stfu
Free ram is not wasetd ram , its used to cache apps in the ram and when the ram is full no apps will be cached and and no apps will run in the background :thumbdown:
Btw my friend and my sister gs3 have the same problem probably there is ram leaking with gs3
And I dont have any problem with s2 here too running LSD
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
Edit: mali driver r2p4 is known to leak the ram in JB so I bet its still leaking ram even after patching the framework
http://forum.insignal.co.kr/viewtopic.php?t=76
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you actually read a bit of the thread instead of aggressively dismissing the post, you would have realized that the lower amount of ram is because there are more cached processes. That's where the RAM went. The underlying issue is the RAM management itself.
As others have pointed it out, unused RAM is wasted RAM.
If you don't have a good knowledge of what you are saying, better not tell others to shut up and maybe put it in practice yourself.
Also, there is no proof that there is a leak in the Mali hack job from Samsung in stock roms. It's not comparable to the leaking in CM which is completely replicable.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

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More free RAM=better multitasking,it's a fact.It's only wasted if you are going to run only 1 app at a time or else android will start killing apps when your phone is running out of memory.Not to mention the annoying browser refreshes which I face a lot even when I'm running only1 app with the browser(e.g:Facebook).If I'm playing a heavy game and recieved a 1 min call, the game restarts and I lose my progress.The problem is the terrible memory management in touchwiz ROMs,I have tried out a few AOSP 4.2 ROMs before and I have to say that multitasking is much better on them and browser refreshes happen less frequently.So,if you are ok with losing TW's features, flash an aosp ROM for better multitasking.

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drakester09 said:
If you actually read a bit of the thread instead of aggressively dismissing the post, you would have realized that the lower amount of ram is because there are more cached processes. That's where the RAM went. The underlying issue is the RAM management itself.
As others have pointed it out, unused RAM is wasted RAM.
If you don't have a good knowledge of what you are saying, better not tell others to shut up and maybe put it in practice yourself.
Also, there is no proof that there is a leak in the Mali hack job from Samsung in stock roms. It's not comparable to the leaking in CM which is completely replicable.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL can u check how many apps are cached when when the free ram too low ( 80 or 90 MB ) u will got 1 or 2 + as soon as u close the app it will get killed instead of get cached :silly:
for god sake stop saying free ram is wasted ram ( if is that ur theory then go for 512 MB ram device its enough for u beause free ram is wasted ram ) and live with **** multitasking
and Mali driver leak is just a thought because the free ram problem only happened on JB on ICS my sister device was have about 200MB ~ most of the time

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Well used to have this issue. Rooted, installed omega 40 and I can seamlessly multitask upto 6-7 apps at a time. Try omega rom, multitasking is great in this rom.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

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yahyoh said:
Stfu
Free ram is not wasetd ram , its used to cache apps in the ram and when the ram is full no apps will be cached and and no apps will run in the background :thumbdown:
Btw my friend and my sister gs3 have the same problem probably there is ram leaking with gs3
And I dont have any problem with s2 here too running LSD
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
Edit: mali driver r2p4 is known to leak the ram in JB so I bet its still leaking ram even after patching the framework
http://forum.insignal.co.kr/viewtopic.php?t=76
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what you are saying the apps are not cached they are kept in RAM, please learn what caching is, cached apps are stored in the cache partition of the phone, they are not cached in the RAM otherwise the phone is doing nothing with them.
Android works by moving background apps to the internal memory, if you switch your phone on check RAM usage, then open apps using the home button to get back to the home screen and check it you will see that no matter how many apps you open the free and used RAM values barely change up to a certain point, this is the app caching at work.
If you home out of apps you will see why Android caches apps.
Running stock ELLA I just used the recent apps, and home button, opened 7 apps and used the home button to return to the home screen, no launcher redraws, and my apps all opened instantly where they were.

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yahyoh said:
LOL can u check how many apps are cached when when the free ram too low ( 80 or 90 MB ) u will got 1 or 2 + as soon as u close the app it will get killed instead of get cached :silly:
for god sake stop saying free ram is wasted ram ( if is that ur theory then go for 512 MB ram device its enough for u beause free ram is wasted ram ) and live with **** multitasking
and Mali driver leak is just a thought because the free ram problem only happened on JB on ICS my sister device was have about 200MB ~ most of the time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said:thumbup:
I'm also sick of listening about "free ram is wasted ram".
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

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I dont see any problems here, this isn't just turned on either.
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Mine always hovers around 650/832... Even if i have crap ton of apps running,

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