No Page File...Better Performance?

[pgebhard]

I just put 512 more MB of RAM in my box and I have a lot of free ream now, so do you know if getting rid of the page file on the hard drive would speed things up overall? I know other people have discussed this and probably know the answer, but I searched the forums and didnt find a recent discussion about it. Thanks!

 

[Robor]

Some apps require a page file. I think the best thing to do is set your pagefile to a fixed size (both min and max size). I believe it's usually 1.5x total RAM but if you've already got a GB of RAM a 1.5 GB swapfile might be a bit much.

 

[MichaelHudson]

Leave it alone.

 

[charlie21]

As long as you didn't run out of free RAM, I think you would be ok. But if you do, you're hosed.

 

[John]

Just set a 512MB static swap.

 

[dunkster]

Read MS KB articles 308417 and 314482, regarding pagefile recommended by MS for XT.

Their "optimal" recommendation would be:
1. A dedicated disk/partition with variable-size pagefile, minimum 1.5X ram size and maximum size of 3X minimum setting (for 512MB ram: 768MB min and 2304MB max).
2. A fixed-size pagefile in the OS with min and max set to ram size (515/512).

Others on this forum with 512MB ram use only a single fixed-size, set at 512/512, and report good results.

Whatever your decision, MS strongly recommends against removing the pagefile altogether, since XT dumps diagnostic information into the pagefile in the event of a system error.

Hope this helps!

 

[sharkeeper]

Photoshop certainly does NOT like the absence of a paging file!

-DAK-

 

[RyanVM]

I have 1GB of RAM and have always had my pagefile disabled with no discernable side effects. I guess it depends on what you're running.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: MichaelHudson
Leave it alone.

What he said.

- M4H

 

[Fun Guy]

I always set my pagefile to RAM+11MB for full RAM dump capability, both min and max (i.e. for 512MB I set it for ~525MB). I have never had a problem.

Whatever you do, set min and max the same to get a contiguous file. Otherwise you will end up with swap file fragmentation, which degrades performance over time.

 

[Cadaver]

I've played with the swap size on my machine a bit, and I've never noticed any decernable difference.
It set now to a fixed 1024MB size (512MB RAM). Seems to work just fine.

 

[OverVolt]

I have no page file.

I found, when you leave ur rig on for a few days the pagefile gets filled with crap, and slows down memory performance.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Heres one thing you can theoretically but I have never tried it:

Get 1GB more RAM than you need, you can probably get away with 512mb though.

Now, make a memory disk or whatever its called so Windows recognizes that part of the memory as a standard hard drive.

Get Tweak XP, change the page file location to the Ram drive you created, and there you go! The page file is now located on the RAM, still enabled so Windows is happy, and everything is good.

Tweak XP c an also do the Ram Disk Drive feature but I forget what their size limit is.

 

[drednox]

its called ramdisk, and i am doing it, i have 2 gigs of ram.

its fereagin unbelievable. i highly recommend if you got the spare ram. someday microcrap will catch up finally and make an OS that will work without swapping, or will automatically swap to memory once they realize people might actually have enough for that i na decade or two.

for now, there are quite a few utilities out there that will let you do it, just look around.