Dynamic RAM Preview max 640MB?

MUTTLEY wrote on 3/6/2008, 12:39 AM

So I got a clean install of Vegas on Vista and for reasons I can't understand the Dynamic RAM Preview max (MB) is saying "Max available: 650MB". The machine has 4 gigs of ram. Automatically manage paging file size on all drives is checked and it says Currently allocated 4393. The machine is dual boot XP/Vista and in XP the standard 1024MB max is shown. Talked to Sony tech support today and the guy I spoke with was unsure of what could cause it as well and said he had to escalate it. Anyone know what I might be missing?

- Ray
Some of my stuff on Vimeo
www.undergroundplanet.com

Comments

rmack350 wrote on 3/6/2008, 7:45 AM
Don't really know but I'd probably try running Vista's display settings in classic mode. That should at least stop Vista from scavenging system memory for graphics.

Even if you have a discrete graphics card with lots of memory on it, Vista is capable of adding system memory to it. Add to that the fact that a card's own memory will reduce the amount of address space available for system memory and you could find that an awful lot of memory is being consumed by graphics and Aero.Turn Aero off and Vista won't need as much memory for the display.

If you're running 64-bit Vista then more of your 4 GB should be available because Vista-64 can use any RAM that had to be remapped above the 4GB addresses, and that would include whatever memory was displaced by your graphics card.

But then, Vegas isn't supported on a 64-bit OS. In any case, try turning off Aero by setting your desktop and theme to classic settings.

Rob
Kennymusicman wrote on 3/6/2008, 10:04 AM
(I keep all the eye candy on - and I can get lots of RAM.)

Could be worth a little look into the interal prefs, and see if you can tweak it.
Search for "ram p" and it'll be teh only option available.
MUTTLEY wrote on 3/6/2008, 11:12 AM
Yea, I've tried turning down stuff, it doesn't make a difference. This is a weird one.

Refresh my memory on how to get to the internal preferences. Thought it was holding ctrl while clicking on preferences but that wasn't it. Been awhile since I've tinkered around under the hood.

- Ray
Some of my stuff on Vimeo
www.undergroundplanet.com
Kennymusicman wrote on 3/6/2008, 11:21 AM
hold down shift, not ctrl
jabloomf1230 wrote on 3/6/2008, 12:00 PM
Vegas is a 32 bit program and without some serious tinkering, it will not use > 2 GB RAM on either a 32 or 64 bit version of Windows. Since the OS on a 32 bit system tends to use at least 4-500 MB of RAM for itself and other running processes, Vegas will never use more than ~1500 MB. On most systems, Vegas limits the preview RAM to 1024 MB, figuring it needs at least 500 MB for its own use aside from preview RAM use.

If you are running 32 bit Windows, the OS (including all programs, etc.) can't use more than about 3.5 GB anyway. If you have a lot of programs and services running, it's possible that only 1100 MB is available when you run Vegas. Check out the thread entitled "A Handy Utility".
MUTTLEY wrote on 3/6/2008, 1:44 PM

Okay, this is even wackier. Though in the regular preferences it shows a max of 640 and will not let me put in more than 640, in the internal settings both the value and default in the Ram Preview Limit (MB) are set to 1024. Whats goin on around here?

- Ray
Some of my stuff on Vimeo
www.undergroundplanet.com
JJKizak wrote on 3/6/2008, 3:03 PM
I am just guessing here but I seem to recall that happening on dual boot systems.
JJK
Kennymusicman wrote on 3/6/2008, 3:16 PM
FWIW - I'm dual booting Vista32/Vista64 and have no such issues.

What graphics card do you have on the system?. I'm kinda wondering if there is something taking out, for some reason, a section of memory. If you had said 640 instead of 650, it would be more numerically sensible, since that would imply a 384MB hole, which is a nice multiple of 128MB. But that's pure pondering.

What happens if
a) you run it under administrator mode
b) you run it under compatability mode.

Would be interesting to see if they have any bearing...
jabloomf1230 wrote on 3/6/2008, 5:20 PM
I know this is a stupid question, but you said you are dual-booting. Now, do you have completely separate installations of Vegas for each boot? Even though the registry settings for Vegas will be kept separate between the two OSes, you also have to make sure that you have two separate Vegas installations, each in its own location. To be extra sure, they each should be on a separate drive or separate partition of the same drive. I used to cheat when I was dual booting XP and Vista and install software to the same folder. Sometimes it worked and sometimes ...
MUTTLEY wrote on 3/6/2008, 9:36 PM

I'm using a NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT. There was no difference running it in compatibility mode or as administrator.

I have two 70 gig raptors, one that has XP and one that has Vista. I installed Vegas on each drive/OS and have double checked the paths.

Baffling.

- Ray
Some of my stuff on Vimeo
www.undergroundplanet.com
Kennymusicman wrote on 3/7/2008, 5:29 AM
I'm running the same Nvidia, so that's not the issue.

I guess an uninstall / reinstall would be the next step, if it's going to be an isssue for you having that value in the ram preview.

I'm out of ideas..
jabloomf1230 wrote on 3/13/2008, 8:26 PM
Why not use your "Hold the Shift key down when selecting Preferences" trick to check to see what RAM Preview value is set at in the Internal settings tab?