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Can the %MEM value for a process show more than 100% in top output?Is this ever possible?

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No. The %MEM column represents physical memory usage, and normal processes cannot even reach 100%, since the kernel always occupies some part of it.

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What if it is using some swap? Theoretically can it ever be more than 100%? – user973430 Sep 30 '11 at 19:53
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I did say physical memory. Swap doesn't count. (My test program only reached 85% after allocating 6 GB of memory on a 4 GB machine.) – grawity Sep 30 '11 at 20:12
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