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Astaroth · 14/02/2009 03:56 PM

Lets Say i have 4.5 Gb Ram and running vista64 edition. What would be if turn off the swap file and let windows to use only Physical memory. I guess with almost 5 gigs of
RAM there will be enough space for everything , and maybe it will be faster ?

I need your opinion ,right now im using it without the swap file ,also a saw many comments on the web wich points that its better to use HDD to cache memory.

What you guys think. Hiding_something

S7* · 14/02/2009 05:36 PM

It is in every way better to use Physical Memory (RAM) than Swap File since the Read/Write Access is much quicker.

With THAT much RAM, I say don't hesitate and go right for the maximum benefit.

Plus, mind you, it'll leave the HDD to do other tasks so you'd expect it to be more efficient rather than it having at it for Memory (Page).

Astaroth · 14/02/2009 07:47 PM

Thanks senseito , i also consider its way better to disable the swap file.
I saw a comments on the net saying that some games need this file to run that they won't start even , i don't have many games but i tested UT2004 and no problems at all.

ZiNgA BuRgA · 14/02/2009 07:48 PM

4.5GB of RAM?  4GB + 512MB sticks?

As for disabling the swap file, I'd go either way.  It's harmless to have the swap file enabled - if you have the RAM, Windows won't really use the swap file, so there's little advantage of getting rid of it unless you need the disk space.  Leaving it enabled also does give you a bit more memory if you do happen to manage to use all of it, and does leave some more room for the system to organise things (ie Superfetch).  On the other hand, you could argue that you don't want some badly coded app which has a big memory leak to force your system to bite into swap.

EDIT: can't really think of a reason why games won't like having the swap disabled.  Chances are, those users don't have enough free physical memory.

Astaroth · 14/02/2009 07:54 PM

ZiNgA BuRgA Wrote:4.5GB of RAM? 4GB + 512MB sticks?

As for disabling the swap file, I'd go either way. It's harmless to have the swap file enabled - if you have the RAM, Windows won't really use the swap file, so there's little advantage of getting rid of it unless you need the disk space. Leaving it enabled also does give you a bit more memory if you do happen to manage to use all of it. On the other hand, you could argue that you don't want some badly coded app which has a big memory leak to force your system to bite into swap.

Thanks for the answer, i have 3 x 1gb plus 512 Mb , and zinga you got me , i don't have enough space on my local disk wich is 40 gb , and running vista with some minimal aplications installed and i have 17 gb free. Also my primary HDD is 5400 RPM sata drive so i consider maybe the RAM itslef might be faster.

Edit : correction i have 3.5 gb

ZiNgA BuRgA · 14/02/2009 08:25 PM

You've got a 40GB 5400RPM drive, or do you have two drives?
If the former, well then, that's an interesting combination (4GB+ RAM + 40GB HDD). If the latter, you've probably got a "green" drive, which isn't exactly 5400RPM, and chances are it has a higher density than the 40GB drive, so it may even be faster than your 40GB drive. (higher density = drive spins over more data in one cycle)

Astaroth · 14/02/2009 08:32 PM

ZiNgA BuRgA Wrote:You've got a 40GB 5400RPM drive, or do you have two drives?
If the former, well then, that's an interesting combination (4GB+ RAM + 40GB HDD). If the latter, you've probably got a "green" drive, which isn't exactly 5400RPM, and chances are it has a higher density than the 40GB drive, so it may even be faster than your 40GB drive. (higher density = drive spins over more data in one cycle)

I have 2 drives one 40 gb and other 160 gb , but the second one is broken.
I mean , the biggest HDD have some problem , its making an odd scratchy noise
when working , i had many problems before (bad sectors) after a few formats and scandisk the drive is working but i don't want to install the system there ,cause it might be quite unstable. And what you mean by Green drive , lol sorry i don't understand.

ZiNgA BuRgA · 14/02/2009 08:58 PM

There's been a general push towards energy efficiency in computer components these days. "Green" drives (labeled by the manufacturers) generally run slower, but are a bit more efficient in terms of energy.
If you don't have one, then don't worry about it.

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