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    Virtual Memory Reduction? Good? Bad? How low should I go?

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Czaralekzander, Mar 23, 2008.

  1. Czaralekzander

    Czaralekzander Notebook Consultant

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    I just updated two things on my Dell m1710:

    Windows Vista Ultimate (x64) Edition
    4 GB of RAM (although I only really see 3.25 GB)

    What happens if I reduce the Virtual Memory for my notebook? Should I reduce it now that I have lots of RAM?

    I mainly do two things on my notebook: number crunching (via stat/math packages such as S-Plus) and games (such as WoW, SupCom:FA and Bioshock).

    Occasionally my data sets get really large (a few GB or so).

    Thoughts?
     
    Czaralekzander, Mar 23, 2008
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  2. kuncheesh

    kuncheesh Notebook Evangelist

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    i would recommend leaving them at the default settings. increasing or decreasing
    VM will not cause any performance difference in a system like yours. vista uses the pagefile only if it runs out of memory (however it uses it sometimes for very low priority items). tampering with the settings have not shown me any results in performance here
     
    kuncheesh, Mar 23, 2008
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  3. schoko

    schoko Custom User Title

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    you should test your limits.
    you can reduce it or even completely switch it off. though i would not recommend switching it off completely. since you are doing mathmatical operations, when tasks can get out of hand concerning the ram usage.

    it´s good to have the virtual mem available when your ram is full, otherwise you could end up seeing the "no memory available" message during some complex calculations. especially when you work with deadlines, you cannot effort such "mistakes".

    i mainly use my laptop for CAD, rendering, photoshopping and layout tasks. sometimes i do script geometry within rhino or maya, and it can be become a very complex calculation ( a lot of ram needed).

    for now i´m experimenting a little bit and i have completely switched off the paging file, and it´s running fine.
    since i´m running xp64 on my notebook i have the whole 4GB available.

    i did some testing with the /3GB switch(leaves 1GB for OS, apps can make use of more than 2GB per task), and my system is running good.


    i guess there is no real "rule" for the ram usage with this amount of ram. some years ago you would have been told you should size the paging file around 2 up to 2.5x the ram you have installed. with 3 or 4 GB of ram installed this rule is obsolete.
     
    schoko, Mar 23, 2008
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