I am currently running a simulation that needs a higher mesh refinement than my computer can handle to get completely accurate results. The results I get are acceptable for what I need, but I would like to be able to set the mesh to what I believe would provide me the best results, then control the mesh density by setting the approximate maximum cells to get the best ram utilization while still leaving enough ram to be able to use outlook and a couple other applications. Is there any rule of thumb for how much ram each cell utilizes?
you can only access it from inside the solidworks kb, customerportal.solidworks.com. this requires subscription. it used to also be in the help or technical reference as well.
my opinion is you are likely going to get minimal improvements in "accuracy" by adding more cells, especially if you are saying that the accuracy is in the range that is acceptable to you. you might want to look at how sensitive your solution is to mesh by applying things like mesh controls in different areas. keep the same overall cell count, but move the elements around. but again, i'm not exactly sure what you're looking to gain.
Another options, go to the cloud. Throw on an amazon instance, get instant access to as much RAM as you want. in the end, you need more cells and therefore more hardware, there is no solution to that other than more hardware.