paging file size

[malzpayne]

hey, sorry to bother for stupid things but I just installed 8 more GB of DDR3 1600 into my system so now i have 16GB, also installed and reformatted with a 500GB SSD with 1TB HDD for my main storage. my question is would it be recommended to change my paging file size on my SSD from its defaulted 2432 MB due to it looking a little too low? if so, what do you recommended my initial and maximum size be for each drive? sorry if i sound dumb new to the whole paging thing and need help getting my system to run optimally. Thanks ahead of time. For some reason if you need more details on the specifications of my rig, just let me know and I will post it

 

[USAFRet]

I have 16GB RAM on my main system, and a pagefile of 1GB min/max.
Has been that way for several years,with zero performance issues.

 

[malzpayne]

I have 16GB RAM on my main system, and a pagefile of 1GB min/max.
Has been that way for several years,with zero performance issues.

sure, but is that just a good foreground or can we up the anti? maybe I'm just delusional due to my lack of knowledge and how efficient different memory sizes are for specific drives but i feel like for 16gb 1 is just hella low and can use more but if you believe that is good enough i don't see why i'd lower it more than its defaulted so I might just stick with the automatic default. (UPDATE: just realized it says recommended is 2936 MB which is odd because when put to automatic it chooses 2432 on the SSD, but the HDD is just blank i assume because its not my windows drive?)

 

[USAFRet]

I have 16GB RAM on my main system, and a pagefile of 1GB min/max.
Has been that way for several years,with zero performance issues.

sure, but is that just a good foreground or can we up the anti? maybe I'm just delusional due to my lack of knowledge and how efficient different memory sizes are for specific drives but i feel like for 16gb 1 is just hella low and can use more but if you believe that is good enough i don't see why i'd lower it more than its defaulted so I might just stick with the automatic default.

With more physical RAM, less pagefile is needed.

The pagefile only comes into play(mostly) when you actually run out of physical RAM, and has to swap out between RAM and drive space.
You can up it if you want, or leave it for Windows to manage.
It will almost certainly make zero difference.


If you had a low amount of actual RAM (2-4GB), the system would need a larger pagefile, because it would have to reserve more of that to use when the system ran out.

 

[malzpayne]

I have 16GB RAM on my main system, and a pagefile of 1GB min/max.
Has been that way for several years,with zero performance issues.

sure, but is that just a good foreground or can we up the anti? maybe I'm just delusional due to my lack of knowledge and how efficient different memory sizes are for specific drives but i feel like for 16gb 1 is just hella low and can use more but if you believe that is good enough i don't see why i'd lower it more than its defaulted so I might just stick with the automatic default.

With more physical RAM, less pagefile is needed.

The pagefile only comes into play(mostly) when you actually run out of physical RAM, and has to swap out between RAM and drive space.
You can up it if you want, or leave it for Windows to manage.
It will almost certainly make zero difference.


If you had a low amount of actual RAM (2-4GB), the system would need a larger pagefile, because it would have to reserve more of that to use when the system ran out.

exactly what i needed to know. Thanks a ton.

 

[Solandri]

My recommendations are:

• 
  ■ If you have a HDD with lots of free space, set the pagefile to a fixed size equal to your RAM. You'll probably never use that much, but on a HDD it's important that the pagefile be one continuous file for fastest speed. If you allow it to grow dynamically (min and max are different sizes), the pagefile will become fragmented, and drastically slow down. So setting it to the max conceivable size at the start insures it'll always be a continuous file.
  ■ If you have a SSD + HDD, resist the urge to put the pagefile on the HDD to save space on the SSD. The SSD is so much faster and much more responsive than the HDD that pagefile accesses are almost indistinguishable from RAM. You'll also avoid system microfreezes as the OS waits for the HDD to respond to a pagefile request (these are especially noticeable in games).
  ■ On a SSD
  • 
    ■ set the minimum size of the pagefile to 1GB. Honestly you could probably get away with 512MB or even 256MB. But 1GB works for me and USAFRet, and I haven't bothered testing it with smaller sizes. Windows will insist it wants a bigger pagefile, but there's a chance it will probably never use it. No sense giving it more space than it will ever use on a SSD.
    ■ set the maximum size to whatever you feel comfortable with. If you have less RAM or use all of your RAM a lot (virtual machines, photo/video editing of large files, etc), then you can set the maximum pagefile size to a larger amount. The rule of thumb is equal to your RAM, but I think that's overkill once you go above 4GB, and you should just buy more RAM if you actually need a pagefile that large. 50% of your RAM is probably a good amount after you've hit 4GB.
    ■ The minimum pagefile size should remain 1GB however. Unlike a HDD, it doesn't matter if your pagefile is fragmented on a SSD. So just set the min to 1 GB, and the max to whatever you're comfortable with to allow it to grow if the OS decides it needs it. That way you'll only have a 1 GB pagefile, unless the OS decides it needs more in which it has room to enlarge it (and shrink it back to 1GB when it's done). SSDs function best with lots of free space, and keeping the minimum pagefile size low insures you're not wasting SSD space on pagefile allocation that's never used.