Pagefile size question

[sangwooksohn]

I've read and followed previous posts until now regarding pagefile optimization, setting twice the size of physical memory and spreading pagefiles to other physical hard drives.

Now I purchased a new Opteron system with 4GB of RAM.

Do I follow the same guide regarding the pagefile setting?

It feels like total waste of HDD space setting pagefile that are sized 8GB in each HDD.

Is it neccessary for optimal performance?

Please share your idea.

Thanks.

Sang

[Takeshi]

You're quite right. The usual advise to use 1.5-2.5x RAM as PF would not really apply with large amounts of RAM.

The really objective way to find out is to try out various settings and monitor its usage. I only have 768MB RAM and setting PF to less than this hasn't caused any problems.

Setting PF to another HD would help but since you won't be using much PF anyway I doublt if it's an important issue.

[Brando569]

if you have 4gb if ram you dont really need a pagefile a pagefile (just like a SWAP file in linux) is there for the purpose of additional memory, and is mainly for people that have less then 1gb of ram. if you have 4gb of ram im pretty sure that your not going to use all of the 4,096mb available i would suggest not using a pagefile, rebooting your system, then running it for a little while and see how it runs. if it gives you a "windows doesnt have enough memory blah blah blah...." error turn the pagefile back on, but i doubt it will. like i said to fill up 4gb of ram you would have to be running extremely memory intensive programs such as doom3, Unreal Tournament 2004, Adobe Photoshop and a alot of other programs silmultaneously to fill it up. turning the pagefile off should speed up your computer since it doesnt have to write to the harddrive as much, which means faster read and write times for other things. also incase you didnt know RAM is ALOT faster then your harddrive (i wish i had a 200gb RAMdrive ) try it out and see what happens buddy and if that doesnt work just set the pagefile to either "system managed" or around 1gb

[Martin Zugec]

Setting pagefile is HOAX!!! And one of the most resistent around internet

Moving pagefile to another HDD is good idea, but setting it is NOT GOOD IDEA!

For more informations go to www.sysinternals.com and read Mark´s article about memory management.

However with 4GB of ram you should think about two things:

1.) load some stuff to memory instead of pagefile (there is tweak to do this).

2.) add /3GB switch to your boot.ini. IT IS NOT ONLY FOR PHYSICAL MEMORY, so everyone with server, that have more than 1GB of memory should do this. It is specially recommended for Exchange server.

[enuffsaid]

Amen Martin, AMEN!!!

We've had so many discussion with regard to this topic before. I've always said fiddling about with the pagefile is a NO-NO. No matter how much memory you have. I've taken (along with KoolDrew) alot of heat from this forum telling people not to fiddle about with their pagefile, while others insisted it was okay to NOT USE a pagefile, without ANY technical documenation to back up their comments.

Besides, if one has 4 GIG of RAM, I can only imagine that the HDDs will be proportionally large. (I have still to come across a user with 4 GIG RAM and a 10 GIG or smaller HDD). So why is it such a problem if 4 GIGS are allocated for the pagefile.

KoolDrew, friend! You still around?

Martin, you don't happen to have a direct link to that article, do you?

Edited June 9, 2005 by enuffsaid

[Martin Zugec]

Here you go - it is about memory "optimizers" (another memory-related hoax):

http://emea.windowsitpro.com/Windows/Artic...1095/41095.html

[Skitso]

HD-space is cheap so it isn't a waist if you have enough capacity

[enuffsaid]

Thanks Martin Zugec for the link

@ Skitso

My words exactly:

Besides, if one has 4 GIG of RAM, I can only imagine that the HDDs will be proportionally large. (I have still to come across a user with 4 GIG RAM and a 10 GIG or smaller HDD). So why is it such a problem if 4 GIGS are allocated for the pagefile.

[sangwooksohn]

Thanks you all for valuable inputs. I really appreciate them. :-)

Anyway, back to the topic, it's not that I am in a trouble setting 4GB pagefile settings on my hard drives. As many of you have predicted, I do have suffient enough space for having 4GB pagefile.

My question is, since I have 4GB of physical RAM, having pagefile that is twice the size of my RAM seems to be useless.

I understand that Windows do need pagefile no matter how much RAM I have. It's just how much do I need if I have fairly large 4GB of RAM.

For instance, will setting pagefile sized to 256MB give me problem?

Do I have to have pagefile of Microsoft recommended 1.5 times the size of my RAM for minimum, even with 4GB of RAM?

Thanks.

Sang

[Martin Zugec]

Thats what I tried to say and what you can read in article I provided - dont mess with pagefile, leave it on OS memory management!

[enuffsaid]

I agree with Martin.

At best you can move your pagefile to another drive (not another partition on the same drive as Windows is installed), like martin said already.

Martin also says that it would be wiser to let Windows manage your pagefile. Sure you could set it to 256MB, but it would be wiser if you just left it as it is.

I know what it feels like to see a huge file on your HDD for which you see no apparent use. Mine is (only) 1.5 Gig (1 Gig RAM), but believe me, you'll get used to it.

On the other hand, if MSPaint and MSN Messenger are all you use, go ahead and change it to 256MB. But... I cannot judge what YOU will be doing with your computer in the future. My advise is ALWAYS leave your page file managed by Windows.

Again, thanks Martin for your valuable input.

[jaclaz]

As already posted elsewhere, these articles give a good idea on how to manage the swap file:

http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

http://www.petri.co.il/pagefile_optimization.htm

http://www.adriansrojakpot.com/Speed_Demon...mization_01.htm

jaclaz

[enuffsaid]

As already posted elsewhere, these articles give a good idea on how to manage the swap file:

http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

http://www.petri.co.il/pagefile_optimization.htm

http://www.adriansrojakpot.com/Speed_Demon...mization_01.htm

jaclaz

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You've posted those EXACT links before here in this thread. And we established then already that they are not the most reliable sources. Why are you posting those links again?

[gunsmokingman]

I have used this setting for the last couple of years with no problem max = 384 and min = 384 on my C drive. I dont Install any thing on C:\ other than my page file. I have My Os installed On D:\

I have used the same setting on these computers

P2 256 ram

Amd 1.7 256 ram

P4 2.8 512 ram

There is not any real rules on this but only general guide lines.

Article To Read 1

7) Improve XP's Virtual Memory Settings

On its own, Windows places your "swapfile" or "paging file" (a portion of your hard drive that's used as a kind of pseudo-RAM) on your C: drive, and sets it up so it can grow and shrink as needed. However, you may be able to do better. For example, if you have more than one physical disk in your system, you may get better performance from either placing the swapfile on the lesser-used disk (assuming it's the same speed as the primary disk) or by splitting the swapfile across two disks. You also may see modest improvements in responsiveness if you set the swapfile to a fixed size, so Windows won't waste time growing and shrinking the file on demand.

[Brando569]

i turned of the paging file on my dads Dell Gen4 XPS with 1gb of ddr2 ram and his computer runs fine!