pagefile.sys - what are my options
- Thread starter _Jimlad_
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yeah did this first off. still reducing the pagefile which is 20% of my ssd is the main issue
If we talk commit limit, would 4 GB physical ram plus a 12 GB page file be enough for most people?
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If everything is left alone things just work. It's once people 'play' with settings things start to go problematic.
Then better get a bigger drive then eh?
So you don't encourage people to understand how their system works? Like... The page file is a resource... how can it benefit me?
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It's up to them if they want to learn about it, I'm not a tutor.
Mind you because people play with their settings that's what keeps me in a job.i've seen a PC with 16GB of ram fall over and die when the pagefile was turned off. we'd been playing crysis, went to alt-tab out of it and the system hard-locked with an out-of-memory error.
we had to force restart. you need the pagefile in windows.
http://www.dansdata.com/io113.htm a very good article.
Yeah i agree if you're a novice, or new to pc's. Me, i have been around pc's for quite a long time so i'm not afraid to play
Or a couple more ssd's maybe yeah (without a pagefile)
, lol, just having a larf wiv yuz, hehehe!.What applications, games, tasks do you use on your PC and how often do you have those things running at the same time?
It doesn't surprise me that a PC with 16GB *could* get away with no page file IF all you do is web surf. That's not really surprising at all, you could do that on 2GB. But if you actually *use* your PC for real work or gaming then you will find that a page file is an absolute must...
Try having 20 tabs open on your web browser. A BluRay movie playing on one monitor. And a big game on the other monitor. Maybe a throw a big application like Photoshop, a virtual machine or Visual Studio into the mix. And every now and Alt+Tab around those processes.
Pretty much any system without a page file, under those circumstances above, will very quickly start behaving erratically at the least and throwing "out of memory" exceptions for individual processes or the entire OS kernel at the worst (BSOD).
I don't see much value on a modern desktop/workstation PC in setting a page file substantially beyond the capacity of the RAM. It can be useful on some server configurations, but rarely on the desktop.
4GB RAM + 12GB page would be a bit silly because even if the page file becomes close to 4GB full the system would already be running like a dog. An extra 6GB on top is really just not going to be that useful except for fending off those pesky "out of memory" errors for a bit longer. Don't get me wrong, having extra page file capacity is fine if you can afford it on your disk storage - it certainly doesn't hurt.
One of the secondary purposes of the page file is to act as a obvious cue that humans can pick up on when a system is running at its memory limits. Generally humans see when a computer is struggling and then refrain from throwing more tasks at it. They will even usually start closing down tasks that aren't important to "help" the computer. The huge disadvantage of not having a page file is that you lose this period of sub-par performance and replace it with a behaviour where the PC is running absolutely fine one second and then the next second it is throwing "out of memory" errors all over the place. There is no smooth transition between the two. It would be like driving a car that goes 1, 2, 3000rpm and then suddenly hits the red line with absolutely no warning.
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My point, if not obviously, about the page file is 16 GB RAM and no page file give you the same commit limit as 6 GB RAM and a 10 GB page file or 12 GB RAM and a 4 GB page file.
So all the standard comments about you guaranteed to run out of memory without a page file, no matter how much physical ram you have, are a bit silly.
So all the standard comments about you guaranteed to run out of memory without a page file, no matter how much physical ram you have, are a bit silly.
The difference is that a 16GB RAM + no page file will run lightning fast all the way up until 16GB memory is used and then it will collapse in a ball of thunder.
Whereas a system with 4GB RAM + 12GB page will run fine up to 4GB and then it will get progressively slower and slower whilst working its way up to the 16GB commit. This is a more desirable behaviour as it discourages the user from pushing the system any closer to its commit limit and therefore impending doom.
A more sensible configuration would be 16GB RAM + 16GB page. This will not only ensure ample real RAM for demanding applications and multi-tasking, but it will also ensure there is an ample 32GB commit limit in total that almost no desktop/workstation tasks today would need to breach.
Whereas a system with 4GB RAM + 12GB page will run fine up to 4GB and then it will get progressively slower and slower whilst working its way up to the 16GB commit. This is a more desirable behaviour as it discourages the user from pushing the system any closer to its commit limit and therefore impending doom.
A more sensible configuration would be 16GB RAM + 16GB page. This will not only ensure ample real RAM for demanding applications and multi-tasking, but it will also ensure there is an ample 32GB commit limit in total that almost no desktop/workstation tasks today would need to breach.
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That doesn't really make sense. Either the applications commit that much memory or they don't.
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End all be end all just leave it alone and problems won't surface.
If you way to play with it then play with it. PS just make sure you put a sock over it.
If you way to play with it then play with it. PS just make sure you put a sock over it.
Memory is committed/used progressively. It isn't allocated in huge chunks (well very rarely anyway). A well configured system will get progressively slower as it gets closer to its commit limit. A badly configured system will not do this, or won't do it enough, before hitting its limit.
You were asking me the question. Take the advice or leave it
You were asking me the question. Take the advice or leave it