I will attach the example in a subsequent comment. If I execute: gcc -O1 -c xf86ScanPci.c
it sucks up 805M of virtual memory. No optimization, no problem. gcc -v Using built-in specs. Target: i686-pc-linux-gnu Configured with: ../gcc-4.2.0/configure --prefix=/opt/gcc-4.2.0 --enable-threads --with-system-zlib --with-gmp=/opt/gmp-4.2.1 --with-mpfr=/opt/mpfr-2.2.1 --enable-__cxa_atexit Thread model: posix gcc version 4.2.0 -- Summary: Excessive memory usage (805M!) Product: gcc Version: 4.2.0 Status: UNCONFIRMED Severity: minor Priority: P3 Component: c AssignedTo: unassigned at gcc dot gnu dot org ReportedBy: jsberg04+computing dot bugs dot gcc at ftml dot net GCC build triplet: i686-pc-linux-gnu GCC host triplet: i686-pc-linux-gnu GCC target triplet: i686-pc-linux-gnu http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=32266