Do I really need a pagefile with 32GB of ram?

[Double Deez Nuts]

Safe to disable?

[Omega]

You don't need one, but it's best to have one.

If you think it takes too much space on the drive set it to 4GB static.

[Aliquis Freedom & Ethnopluralism]

No.

[xSOSxHawkens]

Originally posted by Omega:

You don't need one, but it's best to have one.

If you think it takes too much space on the drive set it to 4GB static.

Originally posted by Aliquis Freedom & Ethnopluralism:

No.

Uhg...

Yes. Despite what the two above said you DO need one.

Dont disable it.

Anyone who says otherwise is flat out wrong. This has been tested time and time again and the simple fact is that even *if* you can get away with disableing it without issues (as some people say they do) that you *should not* do so in actual practice according to those who *actually* make both the software used (any windows app) and OS used (windows).


IF you doubt this look for yourself. Download and run MSI-Afterburner or Riva-Runer Statistics Server, both will show you your live time page file usage.

Even with 32GB RAM as I have, I know that when running a memory intensive game or app windos will shunt about 19GB into the page file...

When I was on 16GB I could see as much as 24-30GB page file usage under memory loads.

Windows uses this space to put data it needs, but doesnt need as fast as whats in ram.

Dont take my word for it though, like I said, *go check yourself* and see.

If you have a windows auto-managed PF you will see probably about 2/3 of your RAM in usage, if you have a manually set one it will vary on real world loads.

Idealy you want to have the page file set to another dirve besides your main one as well, and in real world use this will help you allot as the system will page to an unused drive before a used drive.



PROOFS to show I am not the one who is wrong here:

https://www.howtogeek.com/199990/should-i-disable-the-page-file-if-my-computer-has-a-lot-of-ram/

https://fossbytes.com/windows-page-file-disable-pc-lots-ram/

https://lifehacker.com/understanding-the-windows-pagefile-and-why-you-shouldnt-5426041

https://www.howtogeek.com/126430/htg-explains-what-is-the-windows-page-file-and-should-you-disable-it/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VDP5TCAK2c


Also see here (or the end of vid above) for proof that contrary to poular myth you WANT to have it on another drive besides the boot drive...

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/clinth/2013/06/07/should-the-paging-file-be-moved-from-c-drive/

[xSOSxHawkens]

best case is to split it among drives. With 16GB or less I have always used a 2:1 ratio unless 4GB or under then 4:1 (16GB page). I have found that letting windows manage or doing 1.5:1 would ocasionally cause issues with exceptionally high RAM usage, where the bigger pageshad just enough room to keep things chugging.

At the *very* least stick to a solid 8-16GB total page regardless of SSD/HDD size, if needed set it as a range space so that its only used if needed.

[Double Deez Nuts]

Originally posted by xSOSxHawkens:

Originally posted by Omega:

when running a memory intensive game or app windos will shunt about 19GB into the page file...

Consistantly doing this amount of read/write cant be good for lifespan, this is my main concern

[TehSpoopyKitteh]

It is best to leave page filing on "Automatic". It is a nightmare to mess with unless you are absolutely sure you know exactly what you are doing with it.

[xSOSxHawkens]

Originally posted by Torch:

Consistantly doing this amount of read/write cant be good for lifespan, this is my main concern

Its not nearly as big a deal as people make it out to be.

Figure its writing most of that data once (when offloaded from RAM so that it can be used by the current program), then using a smaller portion of the pgae for active swaps for stuff that is *suposed* to live there most of the time (yes, the page serves more than one purpose lol).

SO thats what, 16gb written, with a few gigis active, and the rest waiting to be pulled back into RAM when the frontline app (game, etc) is closed and frees the RAM back up to OS/Background use.




Now... If we look at the current Intel 660P series, which is taking allot of FLAK for having QLC tech, low lifespan projections, and a waranty that only covers *half* the writes for half the years of their mainline drives...

And what does that coverage get you?...

100+GB active writes *daily* every single day (without exception) for 5 years...

Does it sound like a pagefile is going to be near that?... nah...

Plus, you can split the page across multiple drives, reducing the load on the SSD when possible. :)

[upcoast]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1658190543

This game ^ is using 10+GB system ram and 18+GB pagefile.

So I'm thinking ya sure you may need it.

Ps, I also run with 32GB ram because it was dirt cheap at the time.

[Double Deez Nuts]

Originally posted by upcoast:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1658190543
and 18+GB pagefile.

for a game, i think thats just bad optimization

[[☥] - CJ -]

There are some older games that wont run with the pagefile disabled, majority of new games dont care though.

All in all its best to just leave it enabled, set min/max to 4GB or 8GB, 8GB is what i have mine set to, and you'll be good to go.

[_I_]

keep it enabled, 8-16g on the fastest drive
some programs still look for pagefile enabled

[xSOSxHawkens]

Originally posted by Torch:

Originally posted by upcoast:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1658190543
and 18+GB pagefile.

for a game, i think thats just bad optimization

Nope, actually pretty normal...

GTA
R6S
FC5


Even smaller titles like Subnautica and the likes will still hit the page and ram both pretty hard.

[Double Deez Nuts]

Originally posted by xSOSxHawkens:

Originally posted by Torch:

for a game, i think thats just bad optimization

Nope, actually pretty normal...

GTA
R6S
FC5

hit the page pretty hard

whats the point of upgrading ram if nothing is going to utilize it? might as well get an optane

[xSOSxHawkens]

Originally posted by Torch:

Originally posted by xSOSxHawkens:

Nope, actually pretty normal...

GTA
R6S
FC5


Even smaller titles like Subnautica and the likes will still hit the page and ram both pretty hard.

whats the point of upgrading ram if nothing is going to utilize it?

Things do use it, but I agree with your point. I also feel that games and Windows often leave too much of my 32GB on the table to spare...

The solution to that is PrimoCache, its basically software level Optane, lets you use RAM as a read cache for your storage.

I keep about 16GB dedicated to cache use and let the rest go to system use.

Has a free trial, and is decently priced.

[_I_]

Originally posted by xSOSxHawkens:

Originally posted by Torch:

for a game, i think thats just bad optimization

Nope, actually pretty normal...

GTA
R6S
FC5


Even smaller titles like Subnautica and the likes will still hit the page and ram both pretty hard.

just because many game devs dont know how to effectively use ram does not make it good
its still bad optimization