Good morning Keith,

Have a look at
http://cran.r-project.org/bin/windows/base/rw-FAQ.html#There-seems-to-be-a-limit-on-the-memory-it-uses_0021

The short answer is that "it depends"...
a) memory is limited under windows
b) R is essentially a serial program - HOWEVER it depends what you're
actually doing - if you're working with large matrices then there are
parallel versions of BLAS that can be used...  On a multi-core windows
machine with lots of memory you can of course run up multiple copies of R
and run each independently

Kind regards,
Sean

On Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 4:40 AM, Keith Satterley <keith@wehi.edu.au> wrote:

> I've read some postings back in 2002/2006 about running R on multiple core
> CPUs. The answer was basically separate processes work fine, but
> parallelization needs to be implemented using snow/rmpi. Are the answers
> still the same?
>
> I ask because we are about to order a laptop running Windows for a new
> staff member. Some advice on the following would be helpful.
> It will be ordered with Vista, with a free upgrade to Windows 7. It will
> have 8GB of memory
>
> A quad core CPU costs about AUD$1100 more than the fastest (Intel T9900-6M
> Cache, 3.06 GHz) dual core CPU.
> I'm wondering if there is value in ordering the quad core. We are looking
> at a time frame of 3-4 years.
>
> Is anyone aware of near future plans to implement some form or
> parallelization that would more or less be hidden from the normal user?
>
> It is anticipated that analysis of Next Gen sequence data will be
> important.
>
> I've read the Windows FAQ about running R under Vista. We will probably
> start with Vista. I've read some posts in R-devel indicating people are
> running R under Windows 7. Is it safe to assume that R will run under
> Windows 7 after it is released?
>
> We are hoping to make use the 8GB of memory. Am I right in assuming that
> when the 64 bit version of Windows 7 is available, it will allow R users to
> make good use of the 8GB of memory. Does this happen under the current
> higher end versions of 64 bit Vista?
>
> cheers,
>
> Keith
>
> ========================
> Keith Satterley
> Bioinformatics Division
> The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
> Parkville, Melbourne,
> Victoria, Australia
>
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