Page file or No Page File?

[allthatwhichis]

Had a discussion going on over in another thread... Do you have to run a page file?

 

I'd love not to run one but I have read that some programs HAVE to have one available to run correctly even if you have enough RAM for everything you'd ever run.

[CharmedLover84]

I've ran everything from FarCry to Half Life 2 (hated it but a friend insisted I try it) to FEAR to Oblivion to 3DMark06 to 3DMark01 to Prime95 to SuperPi to AOL to Photoshop to AIM to Halo to Everest. And I have no paging file.

 

I'd like someone to point out one of these supposed programs that require a paging file to work, so that I can see them, cuz... honestly, don't think it's needed.

 

Believe it was on BlackViper's website or some crap (whoever it was was an OC expert) that I read Paging File = Bad.

[CPDMF]

It's not as though Windows is so stupid that it loads everything in virtual memory.

[Praz]

Why disable it. Windows was designed to use it. With a properly configured system there is no negative impact on system operation. The same can't be said for turning it off. As long as Windows uses virtual memory the page file is a necessity from a performance and stability viewpoint.

 

When a program is allocated virtual memory space it may be many times more then the program is ever going to use. Without a page file these address spaces have to be stored in ram. Even though that amount of memory is not being used the space has been allocated to that program so no other program can use it. When actual free ram gets low Windows will swap out this unused allocation to the page file freeing the ram for actual use.

 

Saying no page file increases performance for everyday use is incorrect. That's like saying 1GB of PC4800 ram provides better performance then 2GB of PC4000. If all a person does is sit around running benchmarks all day this is true. But if the system is used for running real apps or games then not only is it false it actually hurts performance.

[GH0S1_R33P0R]

But if the system is used for running real apps or games then not only is it false it actually hurts performance.

agreed

[Guest thespin]

I say no ... because if you don't Windows allocates one anyway! So you don't have to run one BUT you can't NOT HAVE ONE!

[likewhoa]

you need a good size page file for raw data access applications lke video editing, 2d editing and audio. I always set my pagefile/swap 2x my available ram plus 15%.

[Angry_Games]

you guys already read my reasoning on why it is bad idea to disable pagefiles (AMD 3GGG thread)

[KimTjik]

There are so many things that hypothetically could go wrong with Windows, so I don't see any logic in tampering with the page file. The only thing I do - and its performance increase is questionable - is to move the page file to a partition on another drive; mainly to save the partition with the operating system neat and in order.

 

I'm not a programmer so I might be mistaken, but as I can understand matters the important decisions concerning the page file are made in the programming of software. Hence I think it's a bad idea to think there's any realistic gain in dumping the page file.

[CharmedLover84]

I say no ... because if you don't Windows allocates one anyway! So you don't have to run one BUT you can't NOT HAVE ONE!

 

No it doesn't, I don't run with one and never have, and my readout for PF Usage is only my ram, no file.

[Kingfisher]

This is just another one of those questions that does'nt have a right or wrong answer. I don't think performance is hurt by having one at least anything noticeable.

 

Some folks just like tinkering, nothing wrong with it.

[allthatwhichis]

I thought I remembered reading you had to have one for most programs to run because they were written to use one and if they couln't find one... BSOD.

 

I had a time when I was swapping from 2gigs of HZs to 4gigs, and then also playing with my 1gig kit Elites to try and get past a small hesitation in Oblivion. I was also playing with the swap file. I used 1.5*ram. If I didn't reset it when I took ram out, going from 4 to 2, or 2 to 1, and tried to play Oblivion... boom BSOD, every time. Took me a good hour to figure that one out the first time...

 

My point to the "?" in the 3G thread was, would optimizing yout page file, ie making it a certain size on a certain drive, possibly cause an instability with ram refresh rates, or something, and throw an error in Prime? If yes, then I would think turing it off would help. But it brings up CharmedLover84's argument, just backwards, if it's stable without a swap file, but no stable with one, is it really stable?