virtual memory, page file, and alienware

[Pez D Spencer]

in the new issue of play, there's a section called "ask alienware." in
this section, they're suggesting that you're going to get tip-top
quality advice from an alienware rep concerning all your pc performance
related questions.

one particular question concerns how to set up the page file for
optimal performance.

the answer was that you should always let the system decide how big or
how small the page file should be (system managed size). the rationale
was that allocating too much or too little hdd space to virtual memory
would slow the computer and that it was best to just let windows decide
for you.

and, yeah, that would make sense to me if windows would dynamically
increase the page file size when needed. but, in practice, windows --
unless it's lying to me -- will only allocate between 2 MB and 1.5 x
RAM no matter what the demands. it won't dynamically increase the
vitual memory to, let's just arbitrarily say, 2000 MB if it's needed if
you only have 256 MB RAM.

i set my lower limit as roughly 2X RAM with the high limit being 4X
RAM.

so, to all you windows geniuses out there, who's correct: me or mr.
alienware? and, why?

thanks.

 

[Plato]

so, to all you windows geniuses out there, who's correct: me or mr.
alienware? and, why?

I would always trust a third party vendor of computer systems over
whatever MS says. You can never trust MS, but you can always trust a
builder of way expensive PCs, that's how I see it.

 

[Guest]

1st off,whats the big deal with virtual memory,you should set the pc
to use ram memory instead,ram is hundreds of a sec. faster than virtual.
2nd,if you want the straight facts,always look at microsoft 1st,they dont BS,
and thier advice is normally where everyone else has gotten it in the 1st
place,
you may have to seek out the info.As for virtual memory,let the system manage
is correct,if you operated more than 1 hd,youd see more performance,for the
facts go to microsoft,kb555223

 

[Pez D Spencer]

you may have to seek out the info.As for virtual memory,let the system manage
is correct,if you operated more than 1 hd,youd see more performance,for the
facts go to microsoft,kb555223

here's the extended article that the knowledge base article is written
from:

http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/WindowsGeneralWeb/RAMVirtualMemoryPageFileEtc.htm

he suggests, in a system with 256 megs of ram:

"If the computer has 256 MB or less of RAM
Minimum - 384 MB
Maximum - 1 GB (or less if disk space is in short supply)"

what do you guys think?