Paging File Size?

[Sage]

It seems i cant get a straight answer wherever i turn on this..

I know recommended size is 1.5 times your ram or thereabouts..

However in my thoughts if you have 1GB or more RAM then shouldnt you make your paging file smaller in order for this great investment to be used more frequently?

I have searched around all over the web for answers and many have arguments fore and against..

So i figured why not ask the most switched on overclockers in the known world what they think?

:)

I have 1GB of RAM.. so my beliefs are a paging file of 512/512 (min/max)

I am considering even smaller..

What do you think?

[harpyboy]

im using 1024MB... fyi....

[Sephious]

I'm also using a 1024MB page file.

[alexio]

A larger pagefile for systems with more RAM is generally recommend because in 90% of the cases a system with much RAM is a fast system. Faster systems run heavier programs so need a larger pagefile.

1.5* works great on my 1GB RAM system. I don't think anything over 1GB pagefile really helps thought, but I have enough space at my hd so I just use 1.5GB to be sure.

[bfx]

Also Windows tends to use up ram it's available so it's not uncommon for it to use 500-650 mb on a 1 gig system.

I use min/max 2 gig pagefile but 1 gig is probably enough in most cases.

bfx

[KoolDrew]

Leave it System Managed.

[bfx]

Works for some - not for me.

When working with files in the 1 to 2 gb size range there's a noticeable slowdown as Windows constantly readjusts the pagefule size.

bfx

[deltarealm]

Fixed size, partitioned on the start of a second harddrive if possible.

[freak22]

Alexio and deltarealm are both correct. i work as a field engineer and when i set up a new system (ours have anything from 1 to 3 gigs in them). we make the page file 1.5 times the size of ram and do it on another hard drive. is some cases it may be overkill but i would rather it be overkill. If the system suffers from lack of ram/pagefile then why have all that ram in it in the first palce.

[KoolDrew]

Fixed size, partitioned on the start of a second harddrive if possible.

There is absolutely no reason to make the pagefile a fixed size. All this will do is remove the "safety net" if the pagefile does need to expand.

For the majority of users it is best to leave the pagefile System Managed. For others run your most intensive applications such as a game or something. After this measure your PF usage through perfmon. Through perfmon is the only way to measure actual PF usage through windows built in utilities.

After you have figured the pagefile usage set the initial size 4x this amount and the max at least 2x that number. You could even set the max the full size of that partition. This will basically give you the same effect that a fixed pagefile will give you because with a high enough initial it will most likely never resize. If it needs to though it can.

You should never disable the pagefile, set it fixed, put it on a different partition, but same physical drive etc.

Also putting any file to the out cylinders of the drive only helps if you are transferring very long buffers. Pagefile IO is never in buffers of more than 64 Kbytes at a time, and the seek time dominates the IO time.