CODEWITHSUNDEEP
matlabmemory
Ander Biguri
Ander Biguri

Reputation: 35525

Why is my maximum possible array bigger than my RAM?

I have a new computer in my lab with 32GB of RAM and a newly installed MATLAB 2014b.

When I do 

memory

I get:

Maximum possible array:     55973 MB (5.869e+10 bytes) *
Memory available for all arrays:     55973 MB (5.869e+10 bytes) *
Memory used by MATLAB:      1550 MB (1.625e+09 bytes)
Physical Memory (RAM):     32706 MB (3.430e+10 bytes)

Which kind of confuses me a bit. So, I can have an array of 55GB (wow, I'm quite amazed) on a computer with 32GB of RAM? How is this possible?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 503

Answers (1)

Ander Biguri
Ander Biguri

Reputation: 35525

As @Amro and @Divakar suggested, this is due to virtual memory. For other users as lost as me when asking the question, there are some very useful links to understand this:

  • Swap/page file:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paging

  • Virtual memory:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_memory

https://superuser.com/questions/42854/what-is-virtual-memory-clarification-needed

What's the difference between "virtual memory" and "swap space"?

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions