Should I use a swap file?

[Traxan]

Here's my setup:

Core i7-2600
16GB of 1333 memory
240GB SSD C: drive

By default, Windows sets up a swap that is 2x the physical memory. That's 32GB being sucked up on my SSD drive and I can't remember seeing the memory go below 8GB on Rainmeter meters. So should I just turn off the swap file?

 

[Anteaus]

You shouldn't need one with that much ram, however I recommend you maintain one for compatibility reasons. Some software require that a swap file exist, even if it never actually needs it. That being said, you can just set it fixed at 2GB and just forget about it. Better yet, if you have a second harddrive, just stick it on there.

 

[brandonb]

People say yes, but over the last 2 years I've had mine off and have never encountered a problem.

I'd say set it for a fixed (and small) size, or turn it off completely.

 

[Traxan]

Thanks guys.

 

[Phynaz]

People that turn off their swap file think they know more about Windows memory management than Microsoft.

Think about it.

 

[corkyg]

For over 20 years I have used a fixed page file, and never have had a problem. In Win 7 I fix it at 2 GB.

 

[elkinm]

You should try it.

I love running without a pagefile if I have enough ram. As a result my system never slows down as long as ram is available. The huge difference is when I start an application and don't use it for a while and then come back to it. With a pagefile that application would take a while to come up as it loaded from disk, but with no pagefile everything is always fast.

Now since everything is in ram, everything including virtual memory and cache is in the ram and it is amazing how quickly it can go through ram, even 16 GB.

If you ram is sufficient the only downside with not having a pagefile is that you cannot do a dump of any kind in the event of a BSOD. Hopefully it will never happen, but if it does that info can be very useful.

Personally I mostly use a fixed page file (1-2GB) and I noticed that regardless of the configured size or drive, the system period slows down as some unused apps are always cached.
Running no page file is the best option, if you run into issues I would recommend a small 1-2 GB page file and slowly increase if it is not enough but that is not likely.

Also, make sure you disable as much paging, pre-fetching or caching as it would only eat ram and wear on your SSD.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

Setting it to a fixed small size negates half of the reason for leaving it on. Either turn it off completely or allow it room to do what it needs to do. On my SSD systems I set it to a min size of 1024MB and a max size of the RAM. It rarely grows beyond that 1GB, but when it needs to it can. The next time I reboot, it's back down at 1GB.

Also, ignore the SSD "optimization" stuff mentioned above. It's hogwash and it's continually debunked on the forums here. It's like swatting mosquitoes. You don't need to disable anything to try to protect your SSD, or even maximize its performance. And anybody that suggests you can wear out your SSD has no idea what they're talking about at this point.

 

[cheez]

I use to run with no page file on Windows 98 back in the days. It was fun. Ran real fast for a little while and eventually crapped out and gave me memory resource error lol. I was running 128 MB of RAM.

 

[Nothinman]

There is absolutely no reason not to have one. All running without one does is remove a safety net and potentially hurt performance.

 

[Blintok]

Good that this was asked. had same question and similar system.
Few weeks ago put together new system that contains the i7-2600k with
16g ram but with a 120g SSD for os drive (windows 7 - 64bit) and 1T programs/data spinner.

I moved the swap file to the spinner but was wondering if i even need it. Does windows even use all of the 16g before using swap file or does it just default to swap no matter how much ram you have?
I ask because i notice on my other computer (i5-750, 8g ram, win7-64, 120g ssd os, 2x spinners (640g + 1T) swap on spinner. I always seem to have 6g free ram.

I could try turning it off on the 16g machine to see what happens, but i guess its not hurting anything being on the spinner. I did have to turn off the power saving features in windows. Even tho i turn all that off i still had to drill down deep in the settings as windows was still turning off the drives.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

You should move the page file back to your SSD, set it to min size of 1024MB and max size of 16384MB, reboot and forget about it.