3GB Switch NX5

[mikebuchter]

I am currently using the 3GB switch on XP, running NX5 and I am not able to open up my assembly with <3000 parts currently. I am upgrading to a W7 x64 machine with 8GB ram, will this solve the issue? I know there are companies opening up assemblies with 10,000+ parts, any suggestions?

 

[JohnRBaker]

You will also have to install the 64-bit version of NX.

In the mean time, are you using Lightweight Reference Sets? In Assembly Load Options, have you toggled ON 'Partial Loading' and toggled OFF 'Load Interpart Data'?

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.com/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[mikebuchter]

I did not chose a reference set in the "Load Options" but the reference set within the Assembly is set to "Lightweight". I also did not use partial loading or the load interpart data.

 

[JohnRBaker]

PLEASE, do NOT create Reference Sets in an Assembly file. Reference Sets should be used in the detail part files ONLY.

Getting back to taking advantage of lightweight (faceted) Reference Sets, this can all be done automatically for you. First, go to...

Customer Defaults -> Assemblies -> Site Standards -> Reference Sets

...and make sure that there is a name assigned to both the Model and Lightweight Reference Sets. Also toggle OFF the 'Add New Components Automatically' option.

After accepting these changes and restarting NX, and go to Assembly Load Options and in the section titled 'Reference Sets' make sure that the 'Use Lightweight' is at the top of the list and that the 'Apply to All Assembly Levels' option is toggled ON.

Also, if you're opening assemblies which were created in a older version of NX, I would run all my files through 'refile_part.exe' first so that they are already fully up-to-date since updating them on the fly does take extra system memory.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.com/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[mikebuchter]

When I would open the assembly I would change the sub-assembly to "Lightweight" I did not create any within the assembly.

I was able to get it open choosing the "Lightweight" reference set in the Assembly Load options.

How long will this option work for, I am at 2,700 parts right now, but in the end it will be close to 10,000.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Setting the Reference Set for the Sub-Assembly Component to 'lightweight' is a waste of time and button pushes. Please leave it as 'Entire Part' If you have done what I advised you to do, this will give you your best results.

As for your Assembly containing 2700 components, by today's standards, that's almost medium-size at best.

For example, I just performed a test on my Dell M4500 laptop running Windows 7 with 4GB of memory. The assembly as many levels and contains a total of 11,757 components. I opened it using NX 5.0.6.3, first with the Load Options set to the optimal settings, requiring only 213MB of memory to fully open the assembly. I then exited NX, restarted a new session and now with the Load Options set to there LEAST efficient settings, it still only took 607MB to fully open the Assembly.

It would seem that your files are much more complicated than we normally run into. A few questions: does the details part files also contain drawing or manufacturing information? That is, are you NOT using the Master Model approach when creating Drawings or doing tool-path generation? If NOT, this would explain why your piece part files are so large and why it's taking so much memory to open your Assembly.

Anyway, you may need to look carefully at exactly what sort of data is being included in your piece part files since 2700 components is not really all that large of any assembly.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.com/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[mikebuchter]

Yes many of the files are 1-5mb and they do include the drawing sheets.

Where can I check how much memory I am using?

 

[JohnRBaker]

After you've opened your assembly, go to...

Help -> About NX

...and when the 'legal disclaimer' comes-up, select the large button labeled 'System Information'. Now you will see a page with all sorts of information including the version of NX that you're running as well as selected system information such as how much memory is available as well as how much is currently being used.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.com/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[looslib]

The mster model approach will greatly reduce the memory used, especially if you have multi-sheet drawings in a single file with the part geometry. Separate the drawing from the part and your need for a 64-bit machine may disappear. (BUT, you will enjoy the benefits of a 64-bit system.)


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli