To much ram?

[SmittySr]

I recently upgraded my computer with faster ram(667 PC5300 to 800 PC6400). I then took my old RAM, which is actually only 4 or 5 months old, and put in one of my other computers. The computer I put it in is not one that I built, it is completely factory other than the RAM that I just installed. The RAM matches identically other than the manufacturer(same speed, same voltage, same everything identical). The computer that I put the new ram in already had 4GB installed, I added another 4GB for a total of 8. The computer is not used for gaming, just a basic media center. I know that 8GB of ram is overkill but it was a perfect match so I installed it.

I ran test from everest, and siSandra, and crucial, they all agree that the max RAM the board can Handle is 8GB.

The computer runs OK, but if anything it has a little more lag when opening up web pages. Actually it seems to have slowed it down a little.  Does anyone know how this could be?  The other question  I have is how much virtual memory should I use, The rule id RAm x 1.5 right. That puts me at 12288MB  paging file. Do I really need virtual memory with 8GB of RAM?

[2x3i5x]

Well you knew 8GB of physical memory was overkill, ... if you have 32 bit windows, you can't use more than 4GB of ram (dual channel would still work if configured that way but windows wouldn't see and utilize more than 4GB of ram) so ... yeah .... that would be a waste to insert more than 4gb worth of memory sticks.

[Quantos]

Absolutely you need a paging file.
What OS are you running?

[SmittySr]

I have Vista 64bit on this particular machine. The OS and the BIOS both recognize the upgrade.

[Quantos]

You're laughing then

But seriously, if you disable the page file and load a program that is a memory hog, it could literally bring your machine to a stand still.

Hard disk space is dirt cheap right now, and if you're worried about a fragmented pagefile just set it to a constant size, this will help prevent fragmentation.

[SmittySr]

IT does have a 500GB hard disk that has barely been touch so I'm not worried about the space, I have just never used a paging file that large and wasn't sure the consequences if any.

[2x3i5x]

there's really no need for a paging file that large anyway, if your computer has sufficient memory.

[killerb255]

A general rule of thumb is typically to have a paging file equal to 1.5 x your physical memory...

...however, the rules change when you have more than 4 GB of RAM.  After all, if you had 24 GB of RAM, a 36 GB page file will only slow you down.

I think that, after 4 GB of RAM, your page file should only be half the amount of your physical RAM, if even that.  Don't go without a page file, though.  Certain programs don't like it (and Vista itself doesn't like it much, either)...

[SmittySr]

Normally computers run with paging files 1/4 the size of my physical memory, thats how I came to the conclusion that I really dont need it. There is an option for no paging file.

[SmittySr]

I am going to set the virtual memory to about half the size of my physical memory, that sounds like a good idea to me. Thanks

[Quantos]

I would set the page file at 4Gb, but definately don't disable it.

I don't see how a page file being a bit too big would slow the machine down, but there is a lot that I don't know

[SmittySr]

Exactly that is why we are all here, to learn and explore new things.

[Quantos]

Exactly that is why we are all here, to learn and explore new things.

And avoid the housework.

[SmittySr]

Most of all to avoid housework!

[BC_Programmer]

Actually, the main reason it isn't recommended to disable the paging file, is that it essentially disables a fair amount of memory management functions- the overall effect is that Windows must deal with memory in 64K increments, rather then the far smaller amounts it can usually. This doesn't sound like a bad deal- but where, for example, the text of a menu took a few bytes- it now takes 64K. That becomes the minimum that windows can deal with.

I'm not 100% of the accuracy here, but I do know that it has a negative effect on the memory manager and it's ability to manage your memory.

On the other hand- I've successfully run with no paging file in a variety of situations, on my desktop with "only" 1GB of ram. With 4GB on a 32-bit system, however, it would literally be impossible for a single program to consume the entire amount of physical RAM, since the process address space in 32-bit windows is 2GB- by that time chances are GDI and user objects on that processes heap are already too low anyway so programs generally crash when they start consuming that much RAM (unless it is by design, of course- I am referring to the instance wear a memory leak is causing excess memory usage). Either way, once it reaches 2GB memory allocations fail and depending on how the program handles it it either crashes... or it crashes gracefully.