Question Can I disable virtual memory ?

[ridwan123]

I am beginner on a PC and confused about virtual memory.

If i have 32GB RAM do i need virtual memory can I disable it because when gaming iI never run out of RAM and if I have 64GB RAM do I need virtual memory ?

Another thing I know is that virtual memory is memory that utilises the HDD if the installed RAM is fully being used and the app needs more RAM.

 

[SkyNetRising]

If i have 32GB RAM do i need virtual memory
can I disable it because when gaming iI never run out of RAM and if I have 64GB RAM do I need virtual memory ?

You're talking about pagefile (not virtual memory and technically they are not the same thing).

Anyway ...
No - you can not disable pagefile. This will cause memory subsystem errors.
Set pagefile to custom size, 1GB initial, 16GB max.
If your system has plenty of physical ram, then pagefile will be used minimally and will remain at initial size.

 

[BFG-9000]

It is generally a bad idea to disable paging because when a badly written program such as MS Office launches, it can reserve a huge block of addresses that will never be used anyway, so the best place to put them is in the pagefile to not waste RAM. And I can't think of any category of program that tends to be more badly written than games.

It's not like you can completely disable the pagefile anyway, as Windows will just make a temporary one in the Windows folder if you actually do run out of memory and don't have another pagefile to use. And by then your badly written program may have already crashed or failed to launch.

 

[ridwan123]

You're talking about pagefile (not virtual memory and technically they are not the same thing).

Anyway ...
No - you can not disable pagefile. This will cause memory subsystem errors.
Set pagefile to custom size, 1GB initial, 16GB max.
If your system has plenty of physical ram, then pagefile will be used minimally and will remain at initial size.

Oh, I didn't know it is different.

Edit: I just leave it on auto

 

[SkyNetRising]

Edit: I just leave it on auto

If you leave it on auto, then pagefile tends to grow to ridiculous sizes and doesn't get reset after a reboot.
Set it as described in post #2.

 

[Bob.B]

I am beginner on a PC and confused about virtual memory.

If i have 32GB RAM do i need virtual memory can I disable it because when gaming iI never run out of RAM and if I have 64GB RAM do I need virtual memory ?

Another thing I know is that virtual memory is memory that utilises the HDD if the installed RAM is fully being used and the app needs more RAM.

Yes/no/maybe.
Might depend on the pc you have and the stuff you run.
Have a complete backup and try it.

I don't use a page file.....works fine.

 

[gamerk316]

Windows *always* allocates in terms of Virtual Memory; all disabling the Page File does is force a 1:1 mapping to a physical memory address. You can turn it off, but the instant any application tries to allocate a block of memory that can't fit into physical RAM, you *will* get random crashes & BSODs.