Rendering on a 32bit sytem

[rishmantrijo]

Hi guys! I'm in doubt in the case that my unit having a 4gb of RAM could'nt maximize the RAM usage in rendering large scenes. It's limiting the RAM only at around 2.5gb. Beyond that it crashes. When I am checking the run in the task manager, there is still available RAM but when it reaches for that 2.5gb & go above that it crashes. Is it due to the 32bit sytem that I am using. Coz I heard that using the 64 bit would maximize the use of my RAM in rendering large scenes.. Any enlightenment?

[amer abidi]

Yes youre right, a 32-bit system would use up to a maximum of 3GB per process, and that's only when you use the /3GB switch option. A 64bit OS, however, will use all the ram you have installed on your machine.

[BOXXLABS]

All 32bit apps have a maximum theoretical limit of 4096MB - or 4GB.

 

Some 32bit apps (such as 3DSMAX and Adobe AE) are artificially limited to 3GB by their designers...

[AJLynn]

Adam- I think he's talking about the OS memory map division. 32-bit Windows has a 4GB address space, which must be divided between system and application address space. The standard division is 2GB each, which becomes the limit Max can possibly get at even with swap (this is address space, not physical RAM). The /3GB switch changes it to 3GB app and 1GB system. This is sometimes not enough, and unpredictable results can occur if, for example, there is not enough system space to load the video driver. I've had better results with the /USERVA switch which allows setting a specific number in MB instead of just 3GB, E.G. /USERVA=2700 was needed on a machine in my office to let it load the Geforce driver.

[rishmantrijo]

Yeah your right, watching over my rendering processes in the task Manager, most of my renders is limited for just 1.5GB of RAM coz the rest is used with the application itself & other datas. Even I have a 3GB of RAM space available, I could not possibly use it all in 3DsMax. Better to switch I think for the 64-bit system. Anyway I'm just maximizing the use of my 1.6GB dual core laptop doing for such an amount of render process..

[BOXXLABS]

Adam- I think he's talking about the OS memory map division. 32-bit Windows has a 4GB address space, which must be divided between system and application address space. The standard division is 2GB each, which becomes the limit Max can possibly get at even with swap (this is address space, not physical RAM). The /3GB switch changes it to 3GB app and 1GB system. This is sometimes not enough, and unpredictable results can occur if, for example, there is not enough system space to load the video driver. I've had better results with the /USERVA switch which allows setting a specific number in MB instead of just 3GB, E.G. /USERVA=2700 was needed on a machine in my office to let it load the Geforce driver.

 

also true.