[Solved] Turn Virtual Memory off with 8gb ram?

Is it ever recommended to turn virtual memory off (for faster system performance)?
• With 8gb ddr2 ram, running XP64
What about:
• With 8gb ddr2 ram, running Vista64 with a fast 4gb ReadyBoost device?

[Usage includes gaming]
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Current setup (URL-linked for fast part look-up):
• MSI P6N Diamond mainboard
-----• Chipset: NVIDIA® nForce 680i SLI SPP (C55XE), NVIDIA® nForce 570i SLI MCP (MCP55P)
-----• Slots: Four v1.0a PCI Express x16, One v1.0a PCI Express x1
-----• RAM: 8GB Dual-channel DDR2 800
• CPU: Intel Core2 6600@2.40GHz, overclocked to 3.37ghz
-----• Thermaltake Ultimate v1 CPU Cooler
• Hard disk: Four SATA II drives in RAID0 (nForce 590i SLI MCP)
• Graphics: One MSI 640mb GeForce 8800 gts (factory overclocked) --> upgrading this week to (GeForce 260/280/295)
• Monitors: Two 28" WUXGA LCD 1920x1200 (default resolution)
• Multimedia: SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
• Networking: Dual (Realtek RTL8211B) 1/2Gbps Fast Ethernet ports using LACP (IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation)
• Power supply: SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W Active PFC
• OS: 64bit XP SP3

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While thinking about this question I also am wondering about this scenario:
• Using a small-capacity SLC SSD exclusively for holding the windows swap file/virtual memory?

Reply to rkaye

You cannot turn off virtual memory. You could disable the page file, but that is a waste of time.

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theAnimal wrote :

You cannot turn off virtual memory. You could disable the page file, but that is a waste of time.

In layman's terms, virtual memory is the pagefile. The settings tab in Windows also calls it virtual memory.

Reply to mikrev007

nah leave it on - iv seen some games love a ~12gb page file with my 8gb of ram (stops crashes etc)

------------------------------ Q6600@3510/1560 + TT BigTyphoon+Mod
8gb Kingston 800mhz
Gigabyte EP35-DS3P
XFX 8800GT/512
Reply to apache_lives

rkaye wrote :

Is it ever recommended to turn virtual memory off (for faster system performance)?
• With 8gb ddr2 ram, running XP64
What about:
• With 8gb ddr2 ram, running Vista64 with a fast 4gb ReadyBoost device?

[Usage includes gaming]
------------------ ------------------ ------------------ ------------------ ------------------ ------------------
Current setup (URL-linked for fast part look-up):
• MSI P6N Diamond mainboard
-----• Chipset: NVIDIA® nForce 680i SLI SPP (C55XE), NVIDIA® nForce 570i SLI MCP (MCP55P)
-----• Slots: Four v1.0a PCI Express x16, One v1.0a PCI Express x1
-----• RAM: 8GB Dual-channel DDR2 800
• CPU: Intel Core2 6600@2.40GHz, overclocked to 3.37ghz
-----• Thermaltake Ultimate v1 CPU Cooler
• Hard disk: Four SATA II drives in RAID0 (nForce 590i SLI MCP)
• Graphics: One MSI 640mb GeForce 8800 gts (factory overclocked) --> upgrading this week to (GeForce 260/280/295)
• Monitors: Two 28" WUXGA LCD 1920x1200 (default resolution)
• Multimedia: SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
• Networking: Dual (Realtek RTL8211B) 1/2Gbps Fast Ethernet ports using LACP (IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation)
• Power supply: SilverStone Strider ST56F 560W Active PFC
• OS: 64bit XP SP3

Yor question was answered in your other thread. How many times to you got to ask before you listen to someone who knows from experience.
Pagefile is only required on 2G or less ram, anything over 2G turn it off.

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Reply to daship

daship wrote :

Yor question was answered in your other thread. How many times to you got to ask before you listen to someone who knows from experience.
Pagefile is only required on 2G or less ram, anything over 2G turn it off.

There are applications which require a page file, so one may be created even if disabled. There is no performance benefit to disabling it.

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you turn pagefile off with 4gb and your gonna have problems, if your hurting for hard drive space, just buy a bigger new one.

------------------------------ Did I hit you with a Mack Truck?

Reply to kg4icg

theAnimal wrote :

There are applications which require a page file, so one may be created even if disabled. There is no performance benefit to disabling it.

Can you name one?

Applications cannot talk to the pagefile, so as long as there is enough free ram ...

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Reply to mikrev007

Sorry none come to my mind right now but I have run aross some games that will no start w/o a page file. I suspect it because many games are still not 64 bit. I wanna say it was company or heroes or F.E.A.R

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Reply to PsyKhiqZero

Even if you want to use a page file you dont need some fast disk. A 4G thumb drive would work perfect, I use a 4G SD card in my netbook for pagefile and a ssd for os and apps

Reply to daship

PsyKhiqZero wrote :

but I have run aross some games that will no start w/o a page file. I suspect it because many games are still not 64 bit. I wanna say it was company or heroes or F.E.A.R

That must have been because you were low on ram. They can run fine without a pagefile.

An application just allocates a chunk of memory. The application doesn't know whether a chunk of memory is mapped to physical ram or the pagefile (it can request it to always be in physical ram, though). The pagefile is internal to the memory manager.

Message edited by mikrev007 on 04-27-2009 at 08:28:39 AM

Reply to mikrev007

Best answer

Leave your page file alone.
Changing it or turning it off does nothing to improve performance. This was an old trick way back in the Win 95/98 days when it would have cost you thousands of dollars to buy a couple gig of memory. If you could afford it, then turning it off was supposed to help some, as Windows didn't manage memory, processor usage, or the pagefile as well as it does now. It was also a fact that hard drives were mud slogging slow compared to todays drives. All this no longer pertains or makes any sense if you are running Windows XP or later, and halfway modern hardware.

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Reply to jitpublisher

mikrev007 wrote :

Can you name one?

Applications cannot talk to the pagefile, so as long as there is enough free ram ...

Photoshop.

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theAnimal wrote :

Photoshop.

Well, I can tell you that photoshop works just fine without a pagefile.

Reply to mikrev007

jitpublisher wrote :

Leave your page file alone.
Changing it or turning it off does nothing to improve performance. This was an old trick way back in the Win 95/98 days when it would have cost you thousands of dollars to buy a couple gig of memory. If you could afford it, then turning it off was supposed to help some, as Windows didn't manage memory, processor usage, or the pagefile as well as it does now. It was also a fact that hard drives were mud slogging slow compared to todays drives. All this no longer pertains or makes any sense if you are running Windows XP or later, and halfway modern hardware.

Ah, this is exactly the answer I was looking for, thanks.

Reply to rkaye

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