Decided to post today about the upcoming rework of memory management. Up until now Launcher was very aggressive in memory management, just for the ease of coding, but I've finally came around to rework its memory management. With the next update there will be several changes to how Launcher handles its RAM usage. The whole reason of this post is to get feedback, after the update, from the community, on how it all affected the RAM usage (more on that later). From my testing so far the only drawback is occasional increase in initial RAM used to load the Launcher on its startup (by about 2%), but since I have more stuff running in Launcher, than average user, this might not be the case for you (one of the things I want you to test, most likely there will be a slight increase, at least due to the EU/NA2 and new features). After the initial load and some extra time (this time will be different for different systems, as it takes into account multitudes of factors, but most likely won't take more than an hour or so) the RAM usage should drop by about 60% (most likely will be less for average user) in comparison to about 25% in older versions (most likely is less for average user). Of course it all depends on what you do with Launcher and what it loads at start, so most likely the figures will be less impressive on your end. In more active usage new memory management works significantly better than older aggressive one (for example converting files from one format to another in BDO Patcher offloads faster and more RAM).
So far from all of my testing the new memory management is a lot better than the old one, haven't spotted any errors or troubles associated with it either. I've also improved RAM release (Ctrl+Alt+F4 by default) feature, for those that need that extra RAM asap, but as always I don't recommend to use it.
So what type of feedback do I want and why did I post it before release? That's because I want you to take a few notes on the current RAM usage of Launcher. Take notes like this:
- Initial RAM+Page consumption after the load.
- RAM+Page consumption after extra time (probably within 30 min for average user).
- RAM+Page consumption after converting file with BDO Patcher. Also note which file you converted to make sure that you'll convert the same file in the same way with renewed Launcher.
- RAM+Page consumption after pressing Ctrl+Alt+F4.
RAM and Page consumption can be checked in Log (Launcher menu => Tools => Log) or the tooltips of Log tray icons. Just make sure to note "consumed" RAM and Page, not the used.
Restart Launcher and repeat the steps 2-3 times. All of the runs should be about the same, if not then note only average of those that are alike.
After the next Launcher update repeat the steps 2-3 times once again, then compare the results.
I don't need the exact figures, I'm interested in % comparison (e.g.: if you have now 400MB and after update 200MB that will be an improvement of 50% for step X).
I don't expect a whole lot of users to do the testing and I don't need to, 2-3 people will be enough to get the idea. You don't need to do it on purpose, just do what you do (e.g. you can convert multiple files, or change the steps, just make sure to do the exact same thing with the next release) and simply don't forget to take the notes on the memory usage. It might be a slight inconvenience, but the change will be here to stay, and if it causes problems or more memory usage for you then it's in your interest to revert the change while it's still possible. All testers, that will make a proper valid testing, with properly recorded results (Step X - Y% increase/decrease, etc.), will get +1 Honor, 50 Points and a Tester medal