14 DAY TRIAL // Keeping your RAM as free as possible is one of the paramount requirements in order to have a fast operating computer that reaches the best performance. Of course, the functioning of a PC is also influenced by the amount of physical memory it comes with, but if congested by resource hogs, the sheer quantity becomes really irrelevant. In this case, you need something to help you watch and improve the operation of the machine.
Monitoring the memory of a computer can be done via the Windows Task Manager but to optimize it you'll need specialized tools. Some utilities offer dozens of options to both track the RAM performance and enhance it, but sometimes they come with a hefty price tag. There are nevertheless many freeware apps you can try and MKN MemoryMonitor is a nice piece of software from this specific category that certainly tries to make a difference. It successfully keeps the memory as free as possible and thus the system becomes more stable and runs smoother.
The utility comes with a neat and simple interface that displays all the details you need to keep a close eye on the performance of the computer's memory. It shows both physical and paged memory performance and the graph can be displayed with a refresh rate between 3 seconds (very low) and 0.1 seconds (very high). This means that MKN MemoryMonitor is able to show you the real-time behavior of your PC's RAM. This feature is doubled by numerical representations of page size, kernel, system cache, pool allocations and frees, page faults and many related details. Of course that these entries mean little to nothing to the less experienced user, who is more interested in the percentage of used memory that will show if the system is close to an optimal or a critical state.
Each time you hover the mouse over the live graph, you'll see the exact amounts of physical and paged memory as well as the System Cache in MB. Whenever you feel like getting the most of the computer's memory, you can hit the Optimize Memory button that instantly frees some of the used RAM so your PC can catch its breath and run faster. This simple functionality literally eliminates other complicated configuration settings that would confuse newbies; instead, the power users who like to play with memory tweaks could regard this as a minus.
The optimization settings are quite straightforward and are easy to understand by both experienced and inexperienced users. Consequently, the optimization can be done automatically when a certain threshold is reached. These usage limits vary between 50 and 90 percent. What this means is that when the computer memory becomes clogged and less than 50 to 90 percent is available, MKN MemoryMonitor will free as much RAM as possible to prevent the system from freezing or running with annoying glitches.
This application is also capable of optimizing the RAM when the system becomes idle, so you won't even feel it working. Anyway, the program runs comfortably in your system tray and manages the memory without you having to instruct it every step of the way. Once you've set up MKN MemoryMonitor and added it to the system startup, you won't have to worry about memory faults while operating the PC. If you feel the need to check the software every now and then, simply put the cursor over the tray icon and you'll instantly see the real-time graph and the percentages of physical and paged memory.
It's also worth mentioning that while running, the software uses a really small amount of system resources and this should be expected if you need to optimize your RAM as the last thing you need is another application running on your PC eating up memory. For Vista users however, this utility is rendered rather useless by the SuperFetch built-in feature of the OS that is designed to manage the virtual memory installed on your computer.
The Good
MKN MemoryMonitor is very easy to use and it operates smoothly to improve the system performance. The simple Optimize Memory function enables any PC user to free up the RAM with a single click and the basic settings are also very easy to understand.
In addition, the information provided in the main window of this utility is very accurate. When compared to the performance info provided by the Windows Task Manager, it showed exactly the same values.
Another plus is given by the fact that the software is very lightweight on system resources. During our tests it rarely reached 1MB of RAM usage, most of the time running with under 700 KB.
The Bad
On the downside, the most obvious deficiency is the lack of a help file that would explain some of the technical terms to the less experienced users.
Also, the options are rather scarce and the only available configurations are those related to the automatic optimization.
The Truth
MKN MemoryMonitor does its job very well and keeps the RAM free while running in the background. It can be easily configured and it illustrates the "set and forget" concept for software applications.
It would be great if the utility received a few more optimization options for the advanced users to tinker with, but all in all you won't need much more than it already offers in order to keep the memory and the system as a whole running smoothly.
