"Matt Magoffin" <postgresql(dot)org(at)msqr(dot)us> writes:
> I have a SELECT query that causes an out-of-memory error on my production
> Postgres 8.3 server.
8.3.which, and what exactly is the query and its EXPLAIN plan?
> I believe the culprit is from the sort in the query,
No, the problem seems to be here
> ExecutorState: 841031232 total in 51159 blocks; 1712232 free (56
> chunks); 839319000 used
and it's impossible to guess what that's about without a lot more
details than you provided. The sort's only eating 28MB:
> TupleSort: 28303408 total in 13 blocks; 5346944 free (14 chunks);
> 22956464 used
regards, tom lane