Optimizing performance with 1GB ram in winxp vs 512mg ram

[nealh]

I upgraded to 1GB ram on my system that is running winxp service pack 1....

if change swap file to 0 will I only use ram...will this help or hurt perfomance

any other suggestions

My system:
P4 2.4B@2.9 1.625v
IT7 Max2 Rev2 mobo..845PE chipset
1GB PC2700@PC3200 cas 2.5/3/3/6 at 2.6v
4:5 divider 160 fsb cpu/200bus ram
2x160gb 8mg cache HDD Maxtor on HPT 372 controller Master on IDE 3 &4
16x LTD 163 DVD rom master ide1
Liteon 811S DVDrw master ide 2
Liteon 52246S cdrw slave to ide 2
Radeon 9700 Pro 351 core/331 memory
Audigy2 soundcard
480w Antec True Power

thanks

 

[Sectoid]

I think you should not change it to 0. For what I know, swap is only used when your system is out of memory, or to create a memory dump. You would probably have trouble when you needed it tough, as it would not be available. Also, I think you wouldn't have any gains in performance, just trouble when your memory becomes not enough.

A good value would be the amount of RAM + 1, or leave it at "system managed size". This way you would always be able to create memory dumps.

I am no expert in this tough; if any other user disagrees, please do so!

 

[NEVERwinter]

i know that some ppl with 1gb of ram (or more) set their swapfile to around 50-100megs, just to make windows see that it's there. Beside, some programs won't run without swapfile.

 

[nealh]

thanks

 

[Megatomic]

I have had 1GB of RAM for over 2 years now and I've continued to follow the 1.5x physical rule. As a matter of fact, I just round it up to 2GB. I have plenty of drive space, I don't quibble over a gig or two.

 

[CQuinn]

It is possible to make a swap file too big as well. The system is probably having to do extra work
validating the entire swap space available.

 

[nealh]

so does making smaller ...help speed things up or slow them down

 

[MrChad]

Pagefile size != "swap size". There have been many threads on this topic before. You are better off just letting Windows manage the pagefile size. The benefits you gain from manually adjusting it are minimal, and you run the risk of causing unnecessary problems.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: MrChad
Pagefile size != "swap size". There have been many threads on this topic before. You are better off just letting Windows manage the pagefile size. The benefits you gain from manually adjusting it are minimal, and you run the risk of causing unnecessary problems.

Absolutely.

 

[Nothinman]

It is possible to make a swap file too big as well. The system is probably having to do extra work
validating the entire swap space available.

Not at all, once the pagefile is allocated on disk there's no extra work needed to 'validate' it in any fashion.

so does making smaller ...help speed things up or slow them down

Making the pagefile smaller will just increase the chances of you running out of pagefile space and having problems. Let the system manage it.

 

[ShawnD1]

If you let Windows manage the pagefile, your drive will become fragmented when Windows tries to increase pagefile size.
Just set it to a respectable size and leave it. 1gb pagefile is more than enough.

 

[nealh]

thanks

 

[Nothinman]

If you let Windows manage the pagefile, your drive will become fragmented when Windows tries to increase pagefile size.

Pagefile fragmentation has little to no affect on performance. The pagefile is named that way because it's a repository for memory pages and most access to it are in page sized chunks which is 4K on a 32-bit system. If you have enough pagefile access going on that fragmentation makes a noticable difference you're already too far gone performance-wise because you're using the pagefile way too much and need more memory.

Just set it to a respectable size and leave it. 1gb pagefile is more than enough.

No, leave it system managed and don't worry about it. Unless of course you have more experience with designing and turning Virtual Memory subsystems than Microsoft's developers.

 

[chsh1ca]

Originally posted by: NothinmanPagefile fragmentation has little to no affect on performance.

It has little to no affect on the performance on the pagefile because it is almost always writing small amounts of data to the pagefile. It can however fragment the hell out of the rest of your drive, which causes a lot of problems for other apps.

The pagefile is named that way because it's a repository for memory pages and most access to it are in page sized chunks which is 4K on a 32-bit system. If you have enough pagefile access going on that fragmentation makes a noticable difference you're already too far gone performance-wise because you're using the pagefile way too much and need more memory.

There are circumstances (especially on a development box) where this is not true, but by and large it's true for home users.

No, leave it system managed and don't worry about it. Unless of course you have more experience with designing and turning Virtual Memory subsystems than Microsoft's developers.

Agreed.