Memory allocation

[eosman]

Hi all
Sharpcap Pro user here
Quick question,
I mainly do Solar and Lunar imaging with the odd planetary session,I don't use live stacking
I run a Laptop with 250gb SSD with 16gb RAM , says I have 69gb available ,what would the best memory allocation setting to use to get the best performance.
Regards Les

[admin]

Hi Les,

I expect that the '69Gb' available is the SSD disk space, so separate from the memory allocation.

Anyway, for the memory allocation for your usage of SharpCap, set the 'Live Stacking and Display' slider to the minimum it will go to, and the 'High Speed Frame Cache' to the maximum. If you have previously turned up the 'Live Stacking and Display' you will need to turn that down first in order to get the other as high as possible (the total of the two is limited to prevent excessive memory usage causing problems).

More general advice is to make sure you are using the 64-bit version of SharpCap (you probably are, but worth checking) and to clear as much space as possible on your SSD and then 'optimize' it before imaging sessions. The optimizing helps ensure that the empty space has all been wiped ready to take new data and can help speed up writing the data to SSD. To do this, right click on the 'C:' drive in Windows explorer, choose 'Properties', then the 'Tools' tab, then you can start the optimize process.

cheers,

Robin

[eosman]

Thanks Robin.
Hopefully get a chance to use it with the way the weather has been and typically the largest spot group in 10 years
Regards Les

[eosman]

I may try saving to an external hard drive too as I'm imagining that may give me more space

[turfpit]

Les

My capture laptop is an i3 which has just been upgraded from 8gb to 16Gb memory. My settings via
File > Sharpcap Settings > Memory tab are:

memory_settings.JPG (26.29 KiB) Viewed 1571 times

It is set for lunar capture. I acquired a new camera which allows me to capture at greater than 100fps. I was getting a lot of buffered frames but things are better now. A 'live stacker' might use different memory settings.

Dave

[eosman]

Thanks Dave
I'll give then a go, just got the memory up from 69 to 142gb after a a clean up and delete unneeded software
Looks a bit more healthy
Thanks for the help
Les

[turfpit]

Les

The ‘Memory’ referenced in the image above is Random Access Memory (RAM) installed in the computer. The 69 to 142Gb you mentioned is better described as ‘free disk space’.

With a well organised lunar session I typically capture 150Gb in 1 hour. My 500Gb disk drive has been outgrown with the faster camera. I have a 1Tb drive waiting to be installed.

Dave

[eosman]

Sounds similar to myself with a Solar session with a good day 80gb+.and the odd camera swap Included depends on activity and condions may update my HD too in time, cheaper than a new laptop
Regards Les

[Altocumulus]

I find my biggest issue is RAM - that's the deciding factor, especially with fast frame rates in Solar. I'm usually OK until the buffer begins to overload!

[eosman]

I find my biggest issue is RAM - that's the deciding factor, especially with fast frame rates in Solar. I'm usually OK until the buffer begins to overload!

Very well worth seeing if you can increase the RAM, just added 8gb DDR3 so 16 in board now my Fujitsu imaging laptop a few years old but works well, would like a larger SDD as only 256gb maybe weigh up the cost of having it done against a refurbished laptop but that's for future