Solidworks 2005 out of memory?

We have all had issues like this. To check how much ram you can really use try the Patbench benchmark found at

Run it with 12 iterations and watch memory usage in the task manager while it runs.

1. It is an easy thing to update the video drivers. You should be running the ones on SW list.

1. Typically Windows will run out of memory when usage approaches the number you have posted. This varies depending on many things.

2. Try using the 3GB switch documented elsewhere on this news group. That should fix the problem.

1. ATI cards are known for less than stellar SW performance. Your VAR may not have said all they wanted to.

snipped-for-privacy@ransohoff.com wrote in news:1127822088.794468.117450 @g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Same scenario here, but I'm on win2000 so I can't use the /3gb switch. I usually crash when SW reaches 1.2GB allocation. I know some people have been able to get higher than that without the switch, but I haven't. In my work, it is usually during a large STEP file import.

As a side note, I really don't think SW handles large file imports very well. Sometimes it will be able to open the assembly, but then when I try to save, the RAM required skyrockets and SW crashes. Why can't it open and save each piece as it comes along.

If your VAR can't duplicate this, its surprising. Most VARs are very familiar with this topic if they have any significant experience.

After rereading your post again, is SW getting the 1.2gb allocated to it, or is that your total system allocation? The former is the situation I have had. Another 200mb or so would be allocated to other things running on my system at the time.

MHill

Thanks for the reply. I've updated the video drivers and since my system has locked up twice (the power off to reboot type). I changed the setup to "optimized" for Solidworks and haven't had any trouble as of yet.

Again, the other systems we're running and have had the same problem w/ are running Quaddro FX500's. I was leary of the ATI's when I bought these newer systems, but it's the best Dell offered at the price point we could afford (for whatever reason the Quaddro wasn't offered at the time). That said... I have a hard time believing it's video driver related.

I'll try the 3GB switch... I understand how that could make a difference. In previous versions of Swx, you only got that message when Windows did literally run out of memory (task manager is pegged at the top of the memory window and the system is unresponsive otherwise). It just doesn't make any sense to me that Windows would report to Swx it was out of memory (or couldn't have anymore) when there is plenty more to be had... unless Swx is "missunderstanding" something from Windows and taking it as an out of memory error.

Furthermore, I've been in situations where I've used upwards of 1.6GB of RAM w/ no problems. So... what gives w/ that?

The amount of ram you will actually be able to use depends on how big a contiguous chunk of memory the program needs and how much is being used for page files and cache by the system.

As you note, this is a mystery. It's apparently a mystery that the folks at SolidWorks haven't been able to solve either. Or maybe they are unwilling to look into it for fear of what they will find. In our experience, the 3GB switch is typically good for another half a GB or so before the system goes south again. Your mileage may vary.

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems "take the garbage out, dear"

We run into the same thing here and I am on a Precision 360. I just think it is these machines. They suck. I restart more than other people. That is the only thing that I have left. All the drivers and everything is up to date. Chalk it up to a CPU that is not designed for top of the line engineering work.

KM

I don't know if it's legitimate to blame it on Intel, Ken. We've got a 370 that we use primarily for Anysy and Moldflow, but it sees quite a bit of SolidWorks use as well. It doesn't seem to have any more difficulty than our (admittedly older) AMD machines.

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems "take the garbage out, dear"

I am not blaming Intel at all. I am blaming Dell. These boxes were ordered before I got here and the stroy from my boss is that he called Dell and talked to someone in sales support on getting a computer for SolidWorks. He gave sales support the whole rundown of what we do and we ended up with a Dell 360 with a Quadro NVS video card with 1 GB of Ram. For all the pretty stuff we do with surfacing blah blah blah.... These computers just aren't enough. The computer now at least has a Quadro FX 2000 in it. Still stuck at 1GB of RAM til next year.....

KM

I think that's expected. I'm not entirely sure how RAM works but you'll always tank with any app long before you actually utilize 100% of the memory. It's got something to do with your system needing free memory just to operate, sort of like room to move about I guess.