A note for the people who manage NinajTrader development

[NinjaTrader_Dierk]

The RAM footprint of NT7 will be smaller than those of NT6.5 (first beta inQ2 09). However, there still as a windows imposed limitation of ~1.6GB per process which you still could hit e.g. on excessive load of tick data. We will provide details as we roll Q1.

[Mindset]

Y

I will forward your request to disable the 20 seconds waiting time to perform a new search.

This IS a most irritating thing - searches often require a couple of goes to get the right words to connect with what you want.

[cunparis]

This IS a most irritating thing - searches often require a couple of goes to get the right words to connect with what you want.

I hit refresh as fast as I can while the 20 seconds counts down to 0. I'm not sure if it creates load on the servers but it's fun.

Seriously though, 20 seconds is a bit weird. Must be some default in the program for those who are running the forums on a pentium 2.

[whitmark]

Dierk,

For any 32-bit process windows only would use max up to ~1.6 GB RAM.

I was under the impression that NT7 would take advantage of a 64 bit OS as a 64-bit process or am I mistaken. Do 64-bit applications still have a ~1.6 GB limit?

Also, I understand that the inside bid/ask data in addition to the last will be available in the historical data cache. Interesting to learn you are targeting more efficient memory usage (suggesting more historical data lookback) given the amount of data per market is expanding significantly. Looking forward to learning more as you work with NT7.

Whitmark

[Gains]

The RAM footprint of NT7 will be smaller than those of NT6.5 (first beta inQ2 09). However, there still as a windows imposed limitation of ~1.6GB per process which you still could hit e.g. on excessive load of tick data. We will provide details as we roll Q1.

I had the same concern as Whitmark. Do you intend to release NT 7 only in a 32 bit version? Isn't it possible for you to simply compile both a 32 bit and a 64 bit release? Wouldn't 64 bit addressing eliminate the "Windows imposed limitation" for all practical purposes?
I for one am planning the switch to x64 when Win 7 arrives and I might even update my 32 bit Vista laptop to Vista 64 next month. I think a lot of users will make the move to x64 during the lifespan of Ninja 7.

Setting the 64/32 bit issue aside, as far as this limitation "per process" goes... is each chart run as a separate process?

Thanks! I can't wait for the beta either.
Gains

[cunparis]

Do we really need more than 1.6 gigs of memory? Every time I see NT going above 1 gig (I have 4) it gets really slow and I restart. When I don't restart it crashes anyway. I can't imagine NT using 2 gig efficiently. My bet is there are memory leaks and that letting it go to 2gig would just make it more slow.

[NinjaTrader_Ben]

Hello,

I recommend visiting this link for improved performance:

http://www.ninjatrader-support.com/HelpGuideV6/PerformanceTips1.html

[Gains]

Hello,

I recommend visiting this link for improved performance:
http://www.ninjatrader-support.com/H...anceTips1.html

Thanks for that reminder Ben.
After I finish back testing I always forget to go back and reduce the number of bars in the chart. Once again I was running with over a year of bars when just three months is plenty.

Does anyone have any comments on the other questions?

Thanks,
Gains

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

NinjaTrader 7 will be supported on 64 bit OS' as well.

[Gains]

Do we really need more than 1.6 gigs of memory? Every time I see NT going above 1 gig (I have 4) it gets really slow and I restart. When I don't restart it crashes anyway. I can't imagine NT using 2 gig efficiently. My bet is there are memory leaks and that letting it go to 2gig would just make it more slow.

I think the reason you are crashing is because Ninja at that point is taking all of the available system resources. At that point Windows is trying to furiously swap RAM data to the hard drive swap file and this slows everything. When resources are maxed out like this the OS and other running programs become unstable or so slow that they might appear to be crashed when they are just frozen for a while.

32bit Windows has a theoretical ability to address 4GB but in practice it is usually less than about 3.5GB for hardware mapping reasons. Windows itself hogs a huge chunk of the RAM.

I too noticed in the past when I would open many charts Ninja would rapidly get to the 1GB consumption range and hit the wall.

Under a 64bit OS the memory addressing limitations are for practical purposes eliminated. I am planning to build an 8GB machine to give Ninja and the other programs plenty of breathing room. Unfortunately my understanding is that if Ninja is compiled only as a 32 bit release it might not benefit at all from running on x64 Windows. It could though depending on how x64 Windows creates a 32 bit virtual space for it to run in. Will NT be given an entire 4GB space of it's own? If so then things should improve.

So what I am saying is if NT is only compiled as 32 bit but gets it's own 4GB of space then things are better.
If it is compiled as 64 bit then it will be able to use as much RAM as you want to throw at it and things are even better.
If it is compiled as 32 bit and it does not get a wide open 4GB home of it's own then things might not change that much.

Any Windows/NET memory mapping experts out there?
Hey support, will there be a 64 bit version of NT or just a 32 bit version verified to run well under x64?

Thanks,
Gains

[NinjaTrader_Dierk]

To clarify: NT7 will support 64bit Win OS, but still be a 32bit process -> 32bit limitations still will apply.

[Gains]

Ok, thanks Dierk.

Do you have any insights about whether it will get it's own 4GB space if I have say 8 GB installed? I'm thinking NT does not crash just because it uses more than 1 GB it crashes for 32 bit OS reasons as I mentioned above (or is it below). ;-)

Thanks again for the prompt answer!
Gains

[NinjaTrader_Dierk]

32bit process limitations still will apply. AFAIK, they are around 1.6GB RAM still.

[Gains]

Oh well, thanks again.

I know it was mentioned earlier the "RAM footprint" will be smaller so I appreciate very much that you are addressing the space concerns in this version.

I guess v8 might make the move to 64 bit code? ;-)
How about MONO/NET capability down the road too! :-)

Thanks for the answers, I can't wait to get my hands on NT 7.
Gains

[NinjaTrader_Dierk]

Unfortunately there is not nothing scheduled at this time in regards to supporting MONO or providing NT as a true 64bit app.