using all available memory?

[lancecape]

Hi.

 

When I have a huge scene loaded (e.g. with a bunch of vue objects), max seems to plateau its memory usage at about 4 GB, even when windows' resource monitor shows a little under 2 GB as available. Meanwhile, I have very slow performance moving around in the viewports, and enough crashes to seriously inhibit productivity. Rendering is not a problem.

 

I've searched the forums and the internet as best I know how. This must have been asked before, but I haven't found the answer. The few things I did find (not max-specific) were a little over my head.

 

my setup:

-win 7 64

-8 GB ram

-quadro fx 880m (1 GB mem)

-3ds max design 2010 64

-vue xstream 8.5 64 (run inside max)

-nvidia's 3ds max performance driver

-13000 MB page file*

 

*Windows 'recommended' 12187 MB to me, so I set it to 13000. If higher or lower would be better for any reason, please let me know.

 

Until just a moment ago, I was thinking that max is not using all of what is available, that it is limited to 4 GB by some setting somewhere, and performance is being limited by this fact. But in the process of noting the amount of memory 'in use', in 'standby' and 'free', to ask this question, I noticed something...

 

Though the monitor shows 2407 MB as 'available', 2382 MB of this is listed as standby while only 20 MB is 'free'.

 

So, I take it max is not being limited by a windows or max setting? Rather, given that 99% of the 'available' memory is in 'standby', it is using as much as is really available to it?

 

If so, is it possible to make Max take over the standby memory? And would doing so cause problems elsewhere?

 

Thank you.

[frank1331]

Are you running anything else at the time? How large is the model you are working on? How are you viewing your model? (With textures on all the time, shadows, etc)

 

All those things can contribute to the poor video results you are having.

[lancecape]

I'm running nothing else at the time. I'm viewing it in wireframe. The max scene file is 48 MB. It has hundreds of plants, wind, and water, so I understand that it is very demanding. But I want to make sure I'm taking full advantage of my 8 GB of ram. Thanks.

[LuckyST]

have you configured your viewport display drivers?

maybe you have it set to default software acceleration or somthing.

try running your max in the "change graphics mode" (3dsmax.exe" -h).

[Tommy L]

You RAM doesnt affect the viewport performance. Its just the graphics card. I dont know how good the quadro fx 880m (1 GB mem) is, but it may be worth changing the graphics to OpenGL/maxstream/DirectX and seeing if that helps. Driver update could also resolve your issue.

There are lots of ways of improving your viewport performance. Try setting complex objects to box mode in the object preferences. Or maybe XRef the vegetation.