MikeP Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Here's what I got: 32 bit version of 2009 Auto Cad 64bit windows 7 6GB ram Installed Will I benefit from more ram? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGAL Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 32 BIT can address just over 3gb and no more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khama Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Yeah this is true. 32-bit will not utilize more than this. It is definitely limited. The thing I want to know is how did you get it to install on 64-Bit Windows. The setup file notices you are running 64-Bit and will cancel the installation. Tell me how you did that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaveMan Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 32 Opperating Systems will use 2 Gigs Ram There is a switch that you can enable in the system.ini file to enable 3 Gigs When the amount of ram has been used - i think from autocad 2008 there will be a pop up dialog to say that the platform is running out of memory. If the amount of memory use has been exceeded AutoCAD will fall over. I have never seen AutoCAD use the swap drive space once all the ram has been used - always falls over. On 64Bit workstations - the swap drive space does get used. Have tested a workstation with 12 gigs ram - and pushed the memory use to 20 gigs (using swap drive space) without the platform falling over - although very slow. One of the biggest problems that i have noticed is that most CAD personal are not good at Data management - Model Breakdown structures - and the ablility to work within the means and resources they have - they usually push things to the limit untill things falls over causing a grevious loss of time and production. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 It is entirely possible to load 32-bit software on a 64-bit computer. I have 32-bit versions of 2004 and 2007 running under Win7 Ultimate 64-bit as well as 64-bit versions of 2010 and 2012. 32-bit programs will be installed in the Program Files (x86) folder. If you have a 32-bit computer and the correct motherboard you can install a maximum of 4GB. Windows will recognize a little over three-quarters of that and no more. To get it to that however AutoDesk and Microsoft both recommend the user set the 3GB switch in the Boot.ini file. Both websites have instructions on how to do this. It is simple but there is one warning you must heed and that is some graphics cards do not play well with the 3GB switch enabled and your system will not fully boot. Windows controls the use of the swap drive (a.k.a. - virtual memory) not AutoCAD. If you are running a 32-bit system and get "out of memory" errors then the system is telling you that not only have you filled physical RAM but your swap drive is under sized as well. Instructions for increasing the size of the swap file can be found at the Microsoft website as well as at PC World and Smart Computing. I recommend setting it to a max of 2.5-3X the amount of installed RAM and make the Min and Max settings the same so Windows will set aside a contiguous portion of your hard drive that no program can write to for the swap drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLW210 Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Maybe you should read THIS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 If I were still running my old 32-bit computer I readily admit to the fact that I would be stupid enough to try this for no other reason than to test the method. Why? Because I am a geek/nerd at heart. I seriously doubt that most people would even attempt to do this due to lack of overall experience working outside of a GUI. I have to laugh when the author mentions viewing the firmware memory map as many users find it difficult enough to adjust virtual memory settings (easy) which is very well documented (step-by-step) and done within the GUI. Great article though. BTW...Have you attempted the tweak? I wonder how many people who open the link will 1) get all the way through the article and 2) understand what they're reading? I see hundreds of eyes rolling back into heads and suddenly people start nodding off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLW210 Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Thinking about it. I have old computers at home I like to attempt such things with. You can go to Goodwill or Salvation Army and pick an old 32 bit for very little. The theory seems sound enough to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 I just got rid of an "old" computer I could have tried this on. Wish I knew about it sooner. Have screwdriver...will tinker! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkent Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 It seems like everyone misread the post, the OP has Win7 64 with 32bit AutoCAD 2009 running on it. The comments about 3GB switches and whatnot are not germane to the question. If the OP is opening really large files then adding more ram might help but 6GB is a fair amount of ram and adding more may not give a noticeable improvement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Need I point out that my comments were not meant for the OP but for khama? I find the resultant discussion interesting just the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLW210 Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 It seems like everyone misread the post, the OP has Win7 64 with 32bit AutoCAD 2009 running on it. The comments about 3GB switches and whatnot are not germane to the question. If the OP is opening really large files then adding more ram might help but 6GB is a fair amount of ram and adding more may not give a noticeable improvement. I have misread nothing, see the link in my post. In short it describes the ability of 32-bit software to access more than the software license limit imposed by the OS. In short answer form, it seems to me it can access to the limit of the Windows 7 64-bit he is using (no mention of Home Starter ~ Ultimate), though in practicality, this could be limited by Windows and/or the Autodesk software as they could still have limits for 32-bit on 64-bit systems. So, with that said, only Autodesk and Microsoft could honestly answer that question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkent Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 whats the most ram 32bit CAD will be able to use?Here's what I got: 32 bit version of 2009 Auto Cad 64bit windows 7 6GB ram Installed Will I benefit from more ram? The OP is asking two questions, 1) what is the most ram 32bit AutoCAD will be able to use?, and 2) Will his setup benefit from more ram? 1) From the link provided: Both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows can use all of physical memory, including above 4GB, BUT (emphasis mine) each 32-bit Windows application has at most 3GB of linear address space through which to access physical memory. So the answer to question 1 seems to be 3GB or less. 2) The answer seems to be no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLW210 Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 One quote from all that info? This is in relation to the aforementioned license limits. Both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows can use all of physical memory, including above 4GB, BUT (emphasis mine) each 32-bit Windows application has at most 3GB of linear address space through which to access physical memory. This..is the point of the article. Put aside for now the fine print of what it means to “fully utilize” and ask what’s even possible. Especially if you’re one of the many who believe that 32-bit operating systems can’t by definition use more than 4GB of RAM, what do you expect to see for the System Properties in the original 32-bit Windows Vista on a machine with 8GB of RAM? [ATTACH=CONFIG]33403[/ATTACH] No, this image is not a mock-up, though the red rectangle is my addition to highlight that this 32-bit operating system which ordinarily finds only 3069MB of RAM on this machine seems happy to have 8189MB. Windows will use all this memory, too, not that I have any ordinary need for it to do so. [ATTACH=CONFIG]33404[/ATTACH] The next picture is as much a record of my unimaginativeness as of 32-bit Windows Vista actually using (very nearly) all the installed 8GB. An entirely ordinary test program writes 1GB of data from a single memory block to a file and reads the file back into that same memory block. That takes a while, even on a fast machine. By the time that eight instances are running concurrently, all the physical memory is in use: The OP is asking two questions, 1) what is the most ram 32bit AutoCAD will be able to use?, and 2) Will his setup benefit from more ram? 1) Unknown. 2) Maybe. Best way to get your answer is to max out AutoCAD 32-bit and see if it uses more than 3 GB of memory on Win 7 64-bit. For those that believe in a mathematical limit..... A surprising number of people who claim some sort of attention as expert commentators would have you believe that using more than 4GB of memory is mathematically impossible for any 32-bit operating system because 2 to the power of 32 is 4G and a 32-bit register can’t form an address above 4GB. If nothing else, these experts don’t know enough history: 2 to the 16 is only 64K and yet the wealth of Microsoft is founded on a 16-bit operating system that from its very first version was designed to use 640KB of RAM plus other memory in a physical address space of 1MB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkent Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 One quote from all that info? Only one quote needed because the question is about 32bit AutoCAD and not 32bit OS. Everything you quoted has to do with the 32bit OS does it not? Very little of that article has anything to do with this question because the OP has 64bit OS and not 32bit and the question is about using a 32bit program within a 64bit OS. At least that is what I read from the OP, do you read it differently? Thanks, rkent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperCAD Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Will I benefit from more ram? That would depend on the problems that you are currently experiencing. 6GB of Ram is a fair amount, but if your problems are related to opening and saving files, I don't think the increase will help much. Moving to a solid-state drive would be a better option. If your problems are related to how the program works when you have the file open, or if you're doing a lot of 3D work, then there are many other factors that would figure into it (i.e. processor speed, graphics card, 3D settings in AutoCAD, etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLW210 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Only one quote needed because the question is about 32bit AutoCAD and not 32bit OS. Everything you quoted has to do with the 32bit OS does it not? Very little of that article has anything to do with this question because the OP has 64bit OS and not 32bit and the question is about using a 32bit program within a 64bit OS. At least that is what I read from the OP, do you read it differently? Thanks, rkent No, the article is equally about the ability of 32-bit programs to access more than 4 GB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.