PCBUILD Archives

Personal Computer Hardware discussion List

PCBUILD@LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Dave Gillett <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
PCBUILD - Personal Computer Hardware discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 25 Oct 2000 03:41:19 -0800
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (34 lines)
On 21 Oct 00, at 15:06, Russell Smith wrote:

> >Does the system run faster/smoother is I specify a fixed size Swap File in
> >Win ME? I have 96MB ram and 14.6GB HDD. I am thinking about 400MB of swap
> file
>
>    Personally I see little need in a fixed swap file unless you have two
> hard drives of the same speed and one is little used. My advice is to set up
> and run System Monitor. Watch it for excessive swapping while in dynamic
> allocation. If you see it constantly up above 40 MB for minimum swap file
> then it's time to buy more physical RAM for your system. Just my opinion and
> I'm sure you will hear from many opposite views.

  "Excessive swapping" is fixed by installing more real RAM.

  Windows will allocate swap file space whenever it allocates
swappable RAM -- even if it never actually gets swapped.  So a non-
fixed swap file is contantly gorwing and shrinking and getting
fragmented, none of which is good for performance -- and worse if it
*also* gets heavily used.
  A fixed swap file on its own partition will never grow, shrink, or
become fragmented.  There's no reason the size of this partition
needs tohave any relation to the size of any other partition,
although  you might get slightly better performance if it's on a
different drive -- better yet, a different controller! -- from your
system, application, and data files.  Most people can't justify that
much effort....

David G

                  Visit our website regularly for FAQs,
               articles, how-to's, tech tips and much more
                  http://nospin.com - http://nospin.org

ATOM RSS1 RSS2