Do I need my paging file?

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grebgonebad

grebgonebad

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Jun 15, 2012
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Hi everyone!

I have recently upgraded my system to 32gb of memory, (Dont ask why I need that much, I do utilise it believe it or not), and I was wondering whether I really need my paging file?

I understand that a paging file is virtual memory for your PC, in case you run out of RAM. but my question is, do I still need it considering I have 32gb of dedicated memory now? If I do still need it, as I have 2 drives in my system, (SSD for C drive and HDD for Data) Does it matter which drive the paging file is taken from? (Obviously I know that a paging file on an SSD has a faster response time as well as data rates.)

Just a quick question really, any advice and/or guidance is most appreciated, thanks!

My system specs, for those who are interested:

AMD FX-8350 @ 4.4ghz
Zalman CNPS9900-NT CPU cooler (Air + Fan)
2 x EVGA FTW Nvidia GeForce GTX 670's @ +15%
32gb Kingston HyperX Beast @ 1866mhz (4 x 8gb) Dual channel
Asus Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
Intel 520 Series 180gb SSD (C drive)
1tb Seagate Barracuda 7,200rpm 32mb cache (D drive)
Corsair AX850 Professional Series Gold 850W PSU
Zalman Z11 Plus case

Windows 8
 
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grebgonebad

grebgonebad

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Hi! Thanks for your replies!

Ok, so im gona take a wild guess here and say that I do need my page file right? =P

Okay, fair enough. I'll re-enable it as soon as I get home, but can anyone please elaborate as to why?

@Pjmelect - Why would you suggest that I put the page file on my HDD? Wouldnt windows be able to access the pageing file quicker if it where on my SSD?

@Aditec - Why do you suggest that I put the page file on my SSD? Just because it is quicker, or are there any advnatages to putting it on my system drive?

How big should my Page file be? Also, lets say I set a 10gb page file, does this give me less available room on the drive I set it on, or can I still write to that space? Would it be worth setting a page file on both drives?

Thanks for your help so far!
 
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grebgonebad

grebgonebad

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Ahh, thanks very much.

Ok, so if I set a page file of 1gb to start with yes? And if Windows doesnt like this then I should be notified automatically right? But, if what you are saying is true about windows only using physical RAM once the page file is depleted, why can I not just disable the page file so it will ALWAYS use the physical RAM?
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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Problem with that is Pagefile is nothing but constant reads and writes,,,,writes in particular lead to early failure of SSDs, should have NO pagefile on and SSD, Indexing should be off, temp/cache directories should be redirected to a platter drive, etc.....that's just basic SSD setup
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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Jun 5, 2013
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With normal writes, maybe, but the pagefile can be almost constant and it's the same area of the drive, read, write, del, over and over, will erode the memory much faster, I've seen systems set up this way have the SSDs go in less than a year, properly set up they can last a very long time
 
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grebgonebad

grebgonebad

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Hi guys, sorry for the late reply!

I currently have an Intel 520 Series 180gb SSD which I have had since around November-December time. According to the Intel SSD Toolbox I still have 100% life remaining on the SSD drive, which I know wont be 100% accurate, but It's good enough for now.

@ Tradesman1 - When I installed the SSD I performed all of the necesary set up operations such as the ones you state above, as you say this is just the basic SSD setup. However, I am not too worried about how long the SSD lasts really, as I expect I shall be upgrading it after a couple of years anyway. With regards to them going within a year after constant reads/writes/etc. I think that this is a little harsh. Yes, the failure rate of SSD's is still not within acceptable limits BUT if my SSd were to fail within 2 years it covered with a 2 year RMA anyway, so this doesnt really bother me. I keep regular backups of personal files and folders, so this wont even be an issue.

@ Aditec - You mentioned a program that turns part of the RAM into a pagefile, this has interested me. I dpont suppose you have any mroe information with regards to this?

Thanks for your help guys. I would just like to point out however, that I disabled the paging file on both of my drives a little over a month ago now, and so far I have not seen any adverse effects.
 
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grebgonebad

grebgonebad

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I know where you're coming from with that list! XD

I have heard of a PCI-e x1 card that has DIMM slots in, and you can install RAM into this and have a PCI-e SSD in effect. I believe theres some special software to go with it also. Maybe this is what you are on about? I shall Google it later on and see what I can find out though.

I have had an SSD fail on me, it was actually the same as what I have now, but when I recived it through the post I managed to install Windows onto it fine but then I couldnt boot up my PC afterwards. I had to RMA it and they sent a replcement one, which is the one I curently have installed. I have had no problems with it so far! *Touches wood*
 
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