When you say you set virtual memory to 4096MB, I assume you mean "minimum" = 4096MB, but I have no idea what you set "maximum" to. 8GB is just at the boundary GC3 will need at the Beta 4 level (Beta 5 should be an improvement as they say they are including their first step of optimizing memory use, and said the improvement is in the 25% range).

Also, with a computer with 8GB, MicroSoft recommends the virtual memory be set at "minimum" = 8196MB and "maximum" = 24576. Change your virtual settings and see if it helps you. If not, you have two choices, 1) add more RAM (bumping it to 10GB may be enough) or 2) wait for Beta 5 (tentatively scheduled for the middle of this month). Even then, if you plan on playing the really big galaxies, you may still need to increase your RAM, but I recommend a "try it and see" approach.

Hi Lucky Jack, thank you for your feedback, sorry I did not put that in a clear way, I had set my virtual memory to 4096MB either minimum and maximum. I am going to try changing this and see if it helps, I will let you know.

Thanks.

I get the same issue.  Freezes all the time for a few seconds.  6GB of top notch gaming RAM and 9,121MB max page file.  What min/max should I change it to for this game?

Unfortunately, even with those changes made to my virtual memory, the game randomly hangs in the same way, I don't even have time to complete 1 turn until I have to kill the game and restart it, like this over and over again therefore never reaching anywhere. It is a bit frustrating.

Let's hope Beta 5 brings us the best memory usage optimization possible.

I don't completely freeze myself, it is more like a pause while something is processing.  Changing my virtual memory had no effect.  I too hope for some major performance improvements this next patch.

MicroSoft recommends setting virtual memory to minimum = 1 * RAM (in your case, 6144 MB) and maximum = 3 * RAM (18432 MB). This recommendation from MicroSoft appears to be a "one case fits all" thing.

Also, since you say it freezes for a few seconds and that you have only 6GB RAM, I am thinking that what you are running into is severe page swapping. At the Beta 4 level, GC3 can only just barely get by with 6GB RAM with the graphics settings set to the minimum options (if at all). We have been told by Stardock that the first optimization for memory usage will be available in Beta 5 and there is a chance that it will run with 6GB.

I suspect the memory usage optimization in Beta 5 is only the first round. My guess is that the later Betas will have even more memory usage optimization. That just seems to be the nature of the beast called "game development".

Something I don't get though is for example Rhaegor has 6GB RAM and his game only freezes "for a few seconds", but I have 8GB RAM and it doesn't only freezes for a few seconds but forever, therefore I am starting to think it has to has to do with something else but memory usage, for example an issue that only happens in my laptop, I don't know...

I still once in a long while get freezes although I have 16 gb ram and a page file of about 22 gb.   So I am really thinking that the amount of ram isn't the problem.   It's probably the toughest debug there is though.   At least in a crash frequently it will be reproducible and a crash dump file will be produced.   It is true that you can force the creation of a dump file using the task manager when a freeze occurs before you kill the game process, and send a link to it with a ticket, but I am not sure that is much help.

One thing I wonder about is that it may be a graphics issue...my card is an HD 5700 (does have 1gb video ram) running about five years old now.   Even with latest drivers it may be having a problem.        

Still fairly confident that they will eventually get a  handle on this.

My laptop has 8G RAM too, and I've never seen one of these freezes, even on an immense map.  Maybe it does have to do with video ram, since my nVidia card has 4G.

I keep toying with spending around $140 or so to get a new video card (which will work without upgrading my power supply).   But I think that is the point where I jump to a new rig entirely, and that isn't happening for a while.    And there is no guarantee that it will help, my suspicions to the contrary.

As I say, it isn't a huge issue for me.   I have about 17.5 hours into an immense game and have had 1 or 2 hard freezes, which isn't exactly a four alarm fire.

So I finally played long enough that I got a permanent freeze.  It does not seem the same as other freezes though.  I got stuck on "waiting" during the end of my turn and it never turned white.  I have a save.  If I reload the save it is still stuck on waiting.  Turn 343 or so.  Anyone know how to solve that type of lock up?

Personally I have 16 GB of RAM, around 48 GB of virtual memory, and a Radeon R9 280X with 3GB of memory. Yet, I've been getting random freezes ever since I started playing back in beta 2. I highly doubt it has to do with system specs, unless my CPU is too slow for GC3, as I'm running on a stock i7-930.

It is worth noting that beta 3 cut down on the amount of freezes I get significantly. They still occur however; they happen anywhere from the middle of selecting a decision, to browsing the tech tree, to even when I'm just looking around the main map.

As an additional point I did once observe a freeze on a tiny game at turn 1.  Then played to the end of the game (after aborting and reloading)  without problems.  Hard to get a handle on.

@Rhaegor:  if you can reproduce the freeze, definitely submit a ticket using the support faq.    I have seen where sometimes one can actually save a game during a wait freeze, if so, you can try saving and reloading.  Other than that, I know the "wait" hang is a known issue, but your additional data may very well help them pin this down.

I did save the game during the wait freeze.  I thought if I quit and reloaded it would be gone, but nope, the save is stuck in the wait mode.  I will upload it later today, I read the bug submission thing and it seems...complicated...

It takes a bit of effort I agree.   One needs a separate login for the ticket area to begin with.  Once you are able to submit a ticket, Uploading support files isn't too bad but for large files like dump files...they are usually too large to upload directly--- and the error message you get is misleading.  You need to host them on dropbox.com or whatever and supply a link.  

OK, I am playing turn 187 of my immense game and I happened to have Windows Process Explorer (a dl from microsoft) running.   The game hung, and I glanced at the Memory use and there was no change, steady with over 6 gB physical memory available.   But when I clicked the GPU tab, it showed the use drop immediately to near zero and the GalCiv process replaced by something called csrss, which appears to be a windows process.

Well, if the game hung it's to be expected that demands on the GPU would end, so I don't know if this is really any new information.   

Now I'm not saying this to be mean. But a $140.00 video card is probably a pile of garbage. Unless you only plan on playing strategy games on a pc I usually strongly recommend buying in the $400.00 range of cards. But I play everything, and rebuild my computer ever 2 years. So take that into account, I want an mid-high end machine for the games I play and live stream.

I am getting a huge amount of disk swapping which slows the game down a massive amount and makes it almost unplayable. I have 4GB RAM. The machine is probably 3-4 years old with Win7 64 bit.  I'm hoping there will be significant memory optimisation in the next beta. Many wonderful strategy games released in recent year or two play just fine on my machine.

The builds they have been showing in the live stream they say already have 40% memory reduction, which should be a big help.   From the devs estimate we are still about 2 weeks away from that release, assuming things go relatively smoothly.   

I was looking at 

EVGA GeForce GTX 750Ti SC 2GB GDDR5 Graphics Card

for $155 at Amazon, which I could use without upgrading my power supply.  Now, I agree, it's not a great card perhaps, but it is way better than the HD 5700 AMD thing I have infesting my desktop at the moment.   My issue with going better  is that then I will need a power supply(current is 350w), and at that point my 5 year old XPS should be recycled for a new box anyway.   And I am trying to hold off on that move.  

Your point is well taken though in that partially upgrading will just mean you have redo shortly anyway.

To be sure, at my age I just can't play shooters and other fast reflex games with any satisfaction, so I do try to stick to turn based strategy (or pseudo turn based like Paradox games).

For issues like this, I'd recommend looking through the support FAQ and submit a support ticket with all the requested information.

https://forums.galciv3.com/452855

OK will do when I get some time.

@Island Dog:  I have put in about a half dozen data sets --- but since the freezes are random and not reproducible, I am not sure how helpful it is.   Nevertheless, the next time I get a hard freeze I will send in another ticket.

Oh, I should add that I have started using CPUID HWmonitor (free download) that monitors the temperature of various components like GPU and CPU, etc.    I was suspicious that I was getting overheating, particularly of the video card, but if this monitor is any good that is not the case, as the temperatures are well within specs while running GC3.