Virtual memory

phil164 · 10 Mar 2006 at 19:16

What's the best configuration for virtual memory?

I've been told to set minimum at 2timesRam +11MB and maximum at 4timesRAM +11MB.

So for my 512MB RAM i've set the min = 1035 and max at 2059.

Is this best?

NathanE · 10 Mar 2006 at 19:22

For 512MB you need at least a 768MB page file.

If you've got the drive space, just make a 1.5GB one and be done with it.

Etaqua · 10 Mar 2006 at 21:37

Letting Windows handle it automatically is usually the best, and easiest answer.

DragonWoLf · 10 Mar 2006 at 22:08

my lecturer goes that if u have 2gb of memory and turn off virtual mem then ** systems runs more effciently(sp)

Neoni · 10 Mar 2006 at 22:40

no virtual memory for me

at all....

i run 2gb its not needed is the virtual memory.

Scythe · 10 Mar 2006 at 22:49

DragonWoLf said:
my lecturer goes that if u have 2gb of memory and turn off virtual mem then ** systems runs more effciently(sp)

Wrong. Some programs refuse to run without virtual memory, so its not effcient. Just set about 1.5x - 2x the amount of ram for Virtual memory.

Fourstar · 10 Mar 2006 at 23:32

Etaqua said:
Letting Windows handle it automatically is usually the best, and easiest answer.

Allowing windows to dynamically resize the pagefile size will lead to it becoming fragmented and kill performance.

I just set mine to a value I'm not likely to exceed. 1.5 Gig pagefile + 512 Meg ram.

/edit - can lead to a loss in performance is probably more accurate than will kill perfomance. It is best to set the pagefile to a constant size.

Etaqua · 11 Mar 2006 at 00:12

Fourstar said:
Allowing windows to dynamically resize the pagefile size will lead to it becoming fragmented and lead to a loss in performance.

That depends how long you leave your computer on for really. If it is under ~9 hours a day, there will probably be no-minimum system performance. If it is on all the time, it would be better to set it to a constant size, but not everyone does that.

NathanE · 11 Mar 2006 at 00:19

DragonWoLf said:
my lecturer goes that if u have 2gb of memory and turn off virtual mem then ** systems runs more effciently(sp)

Then he shouldn't be lecturing.

pegasus1 · 11 Mar 2006 at 00:21

NathanE said:
Then he shouldn't be lecturing.

That depends on what he lectures on i suppose

Scythe · 11 Mar 2006 at 09:50

NathanE said:
Then he shouldn't be lecturing.

Definitely, even a 13/14 year old kid on the forums right now knows than you're lecturer is very wrong. Uhh, can i have his job please? better than a paperound...

CurlyWhirly · 11 Mar 2006 at 20:39

Neon said:
no virtual memory for me at all....

i run 2gb its not needed is the virtual memory.

I used to think like this until I saw this article: http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/virtualmemory.htm

Now I just let Windows handle my virtual memory (page file) and think no more of it