memory shortage and 32/64 bit systems
 

I have a PC having a core 2 quad CPU and 4 GB of RAM on a 32bit win OS. I am to model a complex case and I am usually in need of about 5~7 million meshes. As far as I have experienced, the required memory is sth about 1GB/1 million of mesh. So I have memory shortage for the run. How can I find the maximum affordable No. of mesh by the system (with either segregated or coupled solvers)? Another question is that, does just with a 64 bit win OS I can have more RAM used? if true, how can I do that. the motherboard has 4 sockets for RAM installation and I can use up to 8GB of RAM, Which generally can solve my problem. thanks a lot

Re: memory shortage and 32/64 bit systems
 

Basic rules of thumb:

32-bit you can access ~ 1.5 Gb Ram (windows) per processor

32-bit you can access ~ 2.0 Gb Ram (linux) per processor

Theoretically you should be able to access 2^32 bytes of RAM (~4 Gb) though this is practically system limited.

For a 64-bit system you can access ~ 2^64 bytes per processor i.e. no memory problems. Good luck.