Suggestion: Display in-game memory usage

jao · 07-09-09, 05:27 AM

Hi everyone.

I have a relatively easy-to do yet helpful (for me at least) suggestion: whenever somebody uploads new addon, he could specify how much memory specific addon uses in game ( for example, it could be visible under the addon archived file weight, or date ).

Many of us ( hopefully ) are interested and do not care about how much memory addons use. So, sometimes addon picking criteria would be the resource usage. As of now, addon memory usage can be specified in the addon description, but most of the times it isn't. So, for me, It would be helpful to look at the same place for the Addon Memory Usage info.

Hope it helps.

Regards,
Alex.

Dorchan · 11-05-09, 02:55 PM

I think this would be a good idea as well. It seems lately more and more posts are looking for low memory addons and UI's.

**Seerah** · 11-05-09, 03:52 PM

Memory usage varies widely on settings enabled in an addon, how much data it is tracking/storing, amount of events coming in/what's happening that the addon is dealing with, modules enabled/disabled, etc, etc.

The real thing to look for is cpu usage - yet even that depends on your computer specs.

Maul · 11-05-09, 04:31 PM

Memory usage of addons on the part of addon users is mainly an OCD thing and really should not be a criteria for determining if you use an addon or not. Spread the word.

voodoodad · 11-05-09, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by Maul

Memory usage of addons on the part of addon users is mainly an OCD thing and really should not be a criteria for determining if you use an addon or not. Spread the word.

Mucho agree...o... Where people got the idea that an addon even using up to 100 mb is going to make the smallest difference in a system running as little as 3 gigs is beyond me. IT'S CPU CYCLES FOLKS! Not memory use.

Petrah · 11-05-09, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by Maul

Memory usage of addons on the part of addon users is mainly an OCD thing and really should not be a criteria for determining if you use an addon or not. Spread the word.

^^ That. ^^

Phanx · 11-06-09, 05:56 AM

There is absolutely no reason for WoWI or any other channel for public addon distribution to end-users to ever display any numbers representing an addon's resource usage. Not only are such numbers completely dependent on the type of addon and the way it's being used, but 99% of users don't know what they actually mean, and the other 1% of users don't need to know them 99% of the time. The other 1% of the time that 1% who actually understands what CPU and memory usage numbers mean actually need to know them, they know how to access the actual numbers in-game -- not some random static number on a third-party website.

Even if "memory usage" were a meaningful value and you wanted to show it on an addon's download page, how would you go about figuring out what number to show? For example, GatherMate uses very little memory when freshly installed, but more memory after you've spent 8 hours farming herbs in Northrend, and a lot of memory after you've imported a full Wowhead data dump for all node types on all continents. For another example, Recount uses very little memory when freshly cleared, but a lot of memory after you've been collecting data over a whole raid night, and the exact value depends on which types of data you've configured the addon to collect. Which situation would you decide best represented the addon's performance? Would you ask the site's moderators to personally install and test every new version of every addon to get a memory usage value, or would you require that everyone who downloaded the addon used a third-party application and install a profiling addon to collect data and send it back to the website?

Not only is the data you're asking for meaningless, but there is no way to reasonably collect it either.

Dorchan · 11-06-09, 07:09 AM

Hmmm... Sorry, bad wording on my part, I did actually mean CPU resources. I have installed my addons with that in mind since i use a low average computer. Was just wondering if it was possible to see before installing and trying a few different addons to see which one does the best. Again sorry for the confusion.

**Seerah** · 11-06-09, 10:02 AM

CPU usage also depends on what features are enabled and how much work the addon is doing. To use Recount again, it may use 0 CPU cycles when sitting there doing nothing, increase when in a party of 5, more when in a raid of 10, more for 25, more for AV, etc.

Also, judging CPU usage depends on the computer's processor and how much it can handle. My new computer can take a whole lot more being thrown at it before it shows an impact on performance than your lower end machine.

I hope you don't feel like your head is being bitten off in this thread, because that's not really the case. It's just that this is just not feasible.

I suggest installing an addon to look at performance stats (I prefer OptionHouse, myself - you can use it to enable/disable addons, too) and just try different things until you find something that you like and can use.