Computer not utilizing all 16GB of RAM

[ptc-5166790]

I have been hearing some complaints recently on the speed of CREO 2.0 on our workstations. Upon further investigation our PCs are only using between 4-5GB of the available 16GB for processing. The rest is in cache and I confirmed is not being used by any other programs. Anyone have experience with this? What can I do to unleash the power!

-Allen

[DHLewis]

What OS are you using? 32 Bit or 64 Bit? My first thought would be you are using a 32 Bit OS that will not be able to address all the RAM. Only 64 Bit OS will be able to use all the RAM.

[ptc-5166790]

Sorry, should have given some CPU specs.

64 bit OS

Windows 7 Professional

Dell Precision T3600

Intel Xeon CPU ES-1620 @ 3.6GHz 3.6GHz

[StephenW]

My impression is that CREO 2 is noticeably slower than Wildfire 5. We've been on it for over a year now and I don't notice it being slow but it was painful in the beginning.

More RAM does not always equal more speed. If your assemblies (or parts) aren't large enough, you'll never utilize the extra RAM. We used to run 8GB until we started noticing crashes and extreme slow downs. Got to looking and noticed that the switch to CREO 2 also came with a significant increase in RAM usage. We've all upgraded to 16gb now. I've only noticed once or twice where I was approaching using all my RAM.

If you are using up all your RAM, then the extra memory requirement goes to the page file. That's when things get really slow.

[BenLoosli]

Creo2 does seem slower than Wildfire, but speed is not alwyas impacted by RAM.

As Stephen said, unless you parts are large enough to use all the RAM, Creo2 will not use it.

Have you tried loading your largest assembly model and see what RAM usage is then? A complex detail part with lots of irregular surfaces may use more RAM than your largest assembly. Assemblies are only pointers to the actual part files, so RAM usage may be low, depending on what all is loaded. A drawing file may also show large RAM usage.

[ptc-5166790]

Ive watched the RAM usage the entire time a full assembly is loading it it does not go above 6GB. 10GB sits in the cache. Ill check with out IT guys and see what the speed is.

My next trick will be to save the entire assembly on the local drive and then see what happens.

[dschenken]

Are you using PDMLink? Are parts stored locally?

[ptc-5166790]

Parts are stored on server in the building within 30ft of me. No PDM Link yet.

[dschenken]

I'd recommend getting the Sysinternals tools from Microsoft, especially Process Explorer. It has much better information than task manager about what is running and what resources are used.

Unfortunately, PTC does not give the same consideration to users of its own tools in terms of instrumenting memory use, cpu use, allocations based on functions performed.

It could be the software is delayed because of a network delay. Or there is a feature that could be defined to be regenerated faster. Without inside information about the software all you see is the software seems slow.

What I don't know is why you think that more memory will make the machine go faster. Memory is like gasoline in a car. If you have a small tank you need to stop all the time to get refilled, but if you have enough, carrying more doesn't help. Unlike a car, a single fuel tank (and the motor) can be shared. Perhaps there are other programs running that are slowing you down.

[Inoram]

Use process explorer and check GPU memory usage.

[Inoram]

How much video memory do you have?