With 16GB of RAM, Can I afford to run windows with no pagefile?

I think 'memory' in that context is meant in a broader sense. A 32-bit program can (usually) only access a 2GB memory space - it's a limitation of addressing (referencing the memory) rather than of any particular sort of memory.

It doesn't matter whether the 2GB of data happens to be in RAM or in the page file. The program doesn't actually know which parts of its data are in RAM, because Windows handles that stuff transparently. Windows presents the program with a continuous memory space and then maps that memory space to RAM and/or pagefile behind the scenes. That way Windows can shift data in and out of RAM where required, without the program losing track of it and throwing a wobbly. Virtual memory is pretty clever stuff.
 
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I would still keep a pagefile for 'just in case' scenarios.

I ran out of physical (16gb) earlier this week and it wasn't a pleasant experience - especially when some of the apps open were critically important :/

Created a pagefile on the mechanical drive as a safety net
 
Subliminal Aura said:
I ran out of physical (16gb) earlier this week and it wasn't a pleasant experience - especially when some of the apps open were critically important :/
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Exactly. You might as well just have a system-managed pagefile on a mechanical disk somewhere - what's a few GB on modern (non-SSD) hard drives? Probably won't make any performance difference, but will prevent any horrible crashes in the situation where you do run out of RAM.

I don't really understand the common aversion to pagefiles on tech forums. OS makers implemented the technology to prevent you having to worry about out-of-memory crashes... use it! People seem to see pagefiles as a performance measure, where I'd say it's a reliability issue really. Once you run out of RAM and have to hit the pagefile then you're in trouble in performance terms, but running slowly is a lot better than crashing.
 
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RavenLunatic said:
Assuming most programs in use today are 32bit and Windows x64 only allocates 2GB blocks of memory to those programs. Would windows not start hitting the page file for that application once a 32 bit program uses up the 2GB of memory? Having the page file in a ram disk would surly stop any performance hit?
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If memory serves, 64 bit versions of windows can allocate up to 3gb of memory to 32 bit programs. This is the max that can be read by 32 bit apps so it will not page stuff to the HDD unless you have less than 3gb to allocate :)
 
NathanE said:
Suddenly this post and this post should make more sense to people.
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God I haven't seen errors like that in a long time, from early 00's when I had 256mb RAM.

I just leave the page file be. With 16GB it's pretty much never used, but at least it's there. If I had a SSD I'd put it onto my mechanical drive, but other than that, Windows does a brilliant job.

Windows 7 has to be the first Windows that I haven't had to mess around to get it to work as I want it to. It does everything I need, and it does it well.
 
On Linux you and explicitly instruct the kernel to resist swapping unless it's really necessary. I'm mobile at the moment, can someone Google to see if the same can be done for Windows?

Linux parameters : swapiness
 
FallshirmjAEger said:
If memory serves, 64 bit versions of windows can allocate up to 3gb of memory to 32 bit programs. This is the max that can be read by 32 bit apps so it will not page stuff to the HDD unless you have less than 3gb to allocate :)
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On 64bit it is 4GB, if the app is LAA. But as Mattus said, it is about address space. If the app hits the upper limitation then that is it. The page file will not provide more memory for the application.
 
Some of us use the pagefile, some of us don't tbh I'm running 8GB of ram and notice no difference with or without it
 
I have 12GB RAM and have no pagefile.

Never ever had any problems. Even with FSX maxed out on Eyefinity using addons with blistering detail.

But I guess I dont run uber-demanding programs like some of you guys like music-creation apps, vid-editing apps etc. I guess I might get a crash then!

Mattus said:
People seem to see pagefiles as a performance measure, where I'd say it's a reliability issue really. Once you run out of RAM and have to hit the pagefile then you're in trouble in performance terms, but running slowly is a lot better than crashing.
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I agree totally, very well put!
 
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But why turn it off?! It's pointless. Just keep a pagefile on a mechanical disk... it takes minimal space and potentially improves reliability. Where is the meaningful advantage of disabling the pagefile?
 
I don't think it's going to affect reliability of an SSD really :p I've had mine on the SSD since day one and my SSD is still saying it has 8 years of life left...
 
mrk said:
I don't think it's going to affect reliability of an SSD really :p I've had mine on the SSD since day one and my SSD is still saying it has 8 years of life left...
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Sorry, I meant that having no pagefile decreases reliability because when you run out of RAM, programs start crashing!
 
The thing is windows does populate a the page file - whether it continues to read/write to it during normal operation I don't know. I'm not that much of a windows expert. I would however love to know if there's an app that actively shows you PF usage ?

As mentioned previously, linux however can be instructed to lower its weight on the swap. Just found this, might be of use

http://superuser.com/questions/237137/how-to-control-ram-swap-usage
 
Mattus said:
run out of RAM, programs start crashing!
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When you have 8GB or more RAM you'd have to be doing some pretty labour intensive stuff on your PC to run out of RAM.

For gaming disabling/enabling the pagefile makes zero difference
 
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