Help finding limits for page file

[lucasbuck]

I have a HTPC running Win 7, 64 bit with 8GB ram. The pagefile on my SSD is sitting at 8GB and I really don't want to give up that much space since I figure it's not needed. I was reading articles about setting the pagefile according to the peak commit charge. I can't seem to find it under task manager \ performance as the articles suggest. Am I reading a Vista article and the suggestion doesn't apply to Win 7?
If not, any suggestions on what I should look for to find min\max levels for the page file? Thanks for any help.

 

[LMiller7]

Windows Task Manager does not show peak commit charge. Obtaining this value with Windows 7 isn't particularly easy with system tools. I would just set the pagefile to 1 GB minimum (or more if you can spare the disk space), and 8 GB max. 1 GB should be enough but the 8 GB max is just in case. The pagefile will never grow unless the lower value is insufficient.

 

[lucasbuck]

Thanks for the reply. So should it always be sitting at 8gb? When I look at the file, it always says 8gb and doesn't seem to change.

 

[LMiller7]

As long as the initial size of the pagefile is sufficient to for the commit charge it will never be resized. That will be true even if the pagefile is system managed. Only if the commit charge is to high for the present size of the pagefile will it be resized.

The commit limit is approximately the size of the pagefile plus most of RAM. If the commit size is reached and the pagefile cannot be resized then bad things happen. Such as an application or even a system failure. A 1 or 2 GB pagefile is almost certainly going to be enough but the expansion to 8 GB is nice to have , just in case.

There is no performance penalty in having a larger than necessary pagefile.

 

[lucasbuck]

Thanks for the replies!

 

[sharon38d]

I know this sounds wrong but I get best performance with no page file at all - zero on all drives. I've got one computer with 4GB and one with 16GB and I run all kinds of graphic and rendering apps and it really does better without a pagefile.

 

[4wd]

Try with Initial size 200 MB, Maximum whatever you want, chances are you'll never see it go above the initial.

You can monitor the actual size (c:\pagefile.sys) using a good file manager (FreeCommander), or tick 'Show hidden files...' and untick 'Hide protected operating...' in Windows Explorer.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

When I tried to reduce the maximum size of my page file (which I don't need since, with 32GB of RAM, it is highly unlikely I will ever need virtual memory) to only 200MB (a number I just pulled out of the air), Windows advised me I needed at least 800MB to ensure receiving notifications so I just set it at 800MB.

 

[4wd]

Windows advised me I needed at least 800MB

On the particular pc I'm using now the recommended min. is 200MB. I guess the size changes according to how much ram is fitted ?

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Windows advised me I needed at least 800MB

On the particular pc I'm using now the recommended min. is 200MB. I guess the size changes according to how much ram is fitted ?

Could be. I have a measly 32GB of RAM. I know the hyberfil.sys file is huge (24GB) because of the amount of RAM I have. I can't reduce it (I may even need to increase it someday) or disable hibernate because my UPS uses hibernate to safely shut my machine without losing any work in progress and not saved yet down in if there is a power outage for more than five minutes (a conservative setting to protect against multiple outages occurring within a short period of time; it has happened).

 

[4wd]

my UPS uses hibernate to safely shut my machine

Seems like a very good setup.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

my UPS uses hibernate to safely shut my machine

Seems like a very good setup.

Thanks! The little (actually, not so little) beast is also capable of boosting low voltage and bucking high voltage (the latter has never been a problem where I live; the former is). In the past month, it's been in boost mode a total of six hours. If I'm actually sitting at the computer working on something when the power goes out, I have five minutes to go into the settings to change them to manual shutdown so I can finish what I'm doing (on average, I can run 116 minutes, give or take, depending on what I'm doing, before the battery runs out).

It doesn't look very big but it weighs over 70 pounds (75 lb. shipping weight)! I had to have help getting from my mail service to my truck and from my truck into the house.

 

[LMiller7]

I know this sounds wrong but I get best performance with no page file at all - zero on all drives. I've got one computer with 4GB and one with 16GB and I run all kinds of graphic and rendering apps and it really does better without a pagefile.

Disabling the pagefile will improve some aspects of performance but cost you elsewhere. There is also the placebo effect which can be very powerful.