Virtual Memory

Hi i have a question abuot the virtual memory (paging file).

I am runnging on a dell 8250. P4 2.4 no HT. it has a 533 fsb.
I have 512 RD ram and a 128 DDr radeon 9700 tx graphics card. And a 120 gig hard dirive.

Now the question came to me when i was running a bunch of programs. I was playing counter-strike (a online computer game), had aol instant messenger open, had winamp open, had mirc open, and had ventrilo open.

I was playing my game i minimized to check an im and on the bottom right it said virtual memory running low.

My current setting is 1000-1000mb.

Now i want to no what setting to have it for the best proformance.
**** this doesnt mean the most programs at once*** i want to no the best setting for running counterstrike and ventrilo by themsleves. I no that the message came up because i was running short on ram and memory and that didnt concern me because i was running more things than my current computer can effectivelyy handle.

So basically it comes down to I want to no what to set the virtual memory to have the fastest speed while running a computer game.

If i could have a intellegente response it would help me alot. And any other tips to increase the speed and proformance of my 1and a half old comp would help.

Is it better to have it set consant or a range?

 

I have found in my various readings and in tweaking my machine, that the most effective method is what you are already doing. That is setting your VM to a specific size. That takes out any slowdown from having to actually manage the VM space. The real trick to it is the size. Since you are only concerned with counterstrike and ventrilo i would say that you are at an optimum point you might even be able to decrease it some. The only real issue with size that i am aware of is how much of your HD your willing to give up. With 120 gb i'd say this isn't much of any issue for you.

The next best thing that you can do to optimize the performance of your machine is to trim down the additional programs and services that are running in the background. The next step is to start really tweaking XP.

I found a lot of good advice on background services from www.blackviper.com and also from snakefoots site snakefoot.fateback.com.

I found several good tweaks from www.tweakxp.com, I have applied too many of them to recount and i haven't really kept up with all that i have done.

 

I've always used the rule of thumb for virtual memory (aka page file), the amount of physical memory, plus 12Mb, give or take. The MAX should never be more than twice the amount of physical memory.
Some have this idea that the more virtual memory you have, the better. The problem is if you make your page file too big, your system will then spend too much of it's resources paging. You'll notice this by excessive disk thrashing (hard disk is constantly working). Your apps will then slow way down cause they are now competing with the page process. Only go up to X2 physical mem if you have to.
You can improve the performance of you PC by:

1) Disabling all unecessary services
2) Using a very small screen saver (no aquariums or 3D, etc. ...)
3) Right click on My Computer --> Properties --> Advanced tab --> Performance settings. Under Visual Effects, select the button for "best performance." This will disable all of those touchy feely effects on your system (disables animation of menus and stuff).
4) Under MSCONFIG, disable any startups that you don't need. Be careful here though, and take notes of what you disable, if your not sure what they are.

And of course, keeping your system defragged helps to.

Another thing that I recommend, is to reformat your HDD and reinstall your OS at least once every two years. If you are a heavy user, then once every year. This will make your system run faster than even when it was out of the box new! PC mfg install a bunch of junk on systems, that most people don't use. That's personal opinion though. Up to you.

Scott
http://www.AAApcMechanic.com

 

Here's a good read if you have the time.http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=3&var1=143&var2=0

 

I know that you said that was personal preference, but that is a pretty drastic way to try and optimize your computer performance. I agree that a computer can accumulate a lot of junk after a couple years of program installs and uninstalls, etc, which can adversly effect the computers operation. But a format and reinstall (plus re-installing apps, backing up and reloading personal files, redoing tweaks) is very time consuming when the benefits can be achieved with far less work using existing free tools to clear that crap out, clean up the registry, defrag the disk, defrag the mft, clean up start-up programs, the list goes on and on.

Take a look at this thread http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=45199

 

Yes, if your just trying to tweak your system to get more perk out of it.That's why I say every two years. It's like spring cleaning, but only every couple of years.

If prepared and done right, a system can be wiped clean, and reinstalled in several hours. It's not as bad as most people think. However, most don't have backups or documentation, therefore, it ends up being a tedious task. Again though, personal preference.

The tools and utilities are great, if they are used, properly, and regularly.

By the way, I love reg cleaners! They keep me in business!

Scott

http://www.AAApcMechanic.com

 

That is the definition of tedious. Anyone who does this should be slipstreaming.

 

thanks for the advice.

Yesterday i was playing warcraft 3 with nothing open and my computer said my virtual memory was running to low on the bottom right. (that yellow caution sign) I dont no what to do its already at 1000 and i only have 512 ram should i make it 800-1200?

Or what should i make it.

 

I would make your virtual memory twice that of the amount of RAM you have.

So if you have 512, make virtual memory 1024.

 

ok thanks i will bump it up to 1024. any other advice on this matter would be appreciated