I've been having some run-out-of-memory problems (GC overhead limit) with my NetLogo model and doing some research I ran into the following info (below). I am not a computer science guy so please excuse me if I am using the wrong terms here, but apparently I can change the RAM storage size so my model doesn't run out of memory (?) However, I have no idea how I should set the new memory threshold level and I wonder if someone could advise me on that? I am currently working on a Win 7 PC with 16 Gb RAM memory (2 8-GB slots and i5 processor), how much do you think I should change the -Xmx1024m to? See the reference below:
How big can my model be? How many turtles, patches, procedures, buttons, and so on can my model contain?
We have tested NetLogo with models that use hundreds of megabytes of RAM and they work fine. We haven't tested models that use gigabytes of RAM, though. Theoretically it should work, but you might hit some limits that are inherent in the underlying Java VM and/or operating system (either designed-in limits, or bugs).
The NetLogo engine has no fixed limits on size. By default, though, NetLogo ships with a one-gigabyte ceiling on how much total RAM it can use. If your model exceeds that limit, you'll get an OutOfMemoryError dialog.
If you are using BehaviorSpace, note that doing runs in parallel will multiply your RAM usage accordingly.
Each platform contains ".cfg" files containing JVM settings. There is one cfg file for each sub-application (NetLogo, NetLogo 3D, HubNet Client, etc.) Although the file location varies by platform, the process for changing it is the same. Locate the section of the file that looks like the following:
[JVMOptions]
[there may be one or more lines, leave them unchanged]
-Xmx1024m
[there may be one or more lines, leave them unchanged Modify the value immediately following]
-Xmx , changing it to the amount of space you need, save the file, and restart NetLogo.
