Windows Memory: Physical Memory, Pagefile, File Caching And How To Configure Pagefile
In Windows, total system memory is RAM (physical memory) + Pagefile (disk drive memory). Total system memory is called Commited. If system ever runs out of Commited (total) memory - programs will start crashing.
Windows keeps active program memory in RAM, while inactive programs are being pushed to the disk drive. The reason for this is that while RAM has average 8 GB/S read/write speed (for DDR4 3000 Mhz), disk drives average between 0.08 GB/s to 0.8 GB/s read/write speed, being between 100 to 10 times slower.
Active programs need to be stored in the fast physical memory (RAM), otherwise PC will lag a lot, specifically making games unplayable.
Nowadays, when PCs have 8 to 32 GB of RAM, most of games support caching. Caching means that games preload files into memory and keep them there for faster access. Game caching is configured in a way that game will use all of your physical memory (RAM) to keep cached files there.
Caching means two things.
First, no matter how much RAM you have - games with caching function will reserve all of it for their exclusive use.
Second, all other memory will be pushed to the pagefile, to free up memory for the active game.
How much gigabytes should Pagefile have? Answer is simple, but different for every user.
To determine your minimal pagefile size:
firstly, open all programs that you keep running daily, and check how much Commited your PC uses;
second, add there 0.1 and multiply by 1024 (in 1 gigabyte there are 1024 megabytes), this will be your initial pagefile size.
Example: (8 + 0.1) * 1024 = 8294 MB of minimal pagefile size.
Maximum pagefile size should be a few gigabytes bigger than minimal size.
Dont forget to add 0.1 to it, because system reserves 100 megabytes of RAM. Extra 0.1 will mean you will have a neat 8.0, instead of 7.9
You should NOT disable the pagefile. When pagefile is disabled, two things happen:
first, memory cannot be freed for the currently active game;
second, game will determine your total amount of RAM and try to reserve it for itself (pushing other programs into pagefile), since there is no pagefile - PC will run out of memory and game will crash.
Should you keep Pagefile on SSD or HDD?
SSD is 4 to 8 times faster than HDD, but two things must be considered:
firstly, pagefile is used for INACTIVE programs;
second, system constantly writes to the pagefile, which means it will reduce lifespan of the SSD.
Thats all, have fun!
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