Virtual Memory

i kept getting a message saying that the computer is running low on virtual memory. My brother asked one of his half computer friends and he said its because i dont have enough ram and the computer is taking over part of the cpu or harddrive and using it as ram.

so i thought i should increase the amount of the virtual memory by increaseing the paging file and before i do this i thought that i beeter just ask around to see if there are any negative from in creasing the paging file size from 750mb to 2000-3000mb. i have 94000mb free.

will doing this affect anything on my computer? is it worth doing? does virtual memory work as good as ram?

 

when you are low on ram your computer uses part of your harddrive in place of ram.. it's quite slow and innefficient.


in reality you need to have atleast half a gig of memory ina modern computer for just general use, 265MB doesn't cut it.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820221005

 

i have 512mb pc3200 ddr

 

1 gig will open alot of doors. I remember when i upgraded to 1gb.. total sweetness..

 

so will increasing the virtual memory actually improve the running of the computer. will it stop me getting the messages saying im runny out of VM and does it have any negative affects.

 

The max size you should ever need your VM to be is 1GB. (Really depends on how much strain you put on your computer) When I used to run 256MB ram I set my VM to that and never saw that error again. It is worth doing it because when you do call upon it it no longer takes time to increase and then let you use.

However, as xelink said, you really should upgrade your physical memory because VM doesn't compare in performance at all. It might be worth it, until you upgrade, to try a program like MemTurbo.

-bLiNd

EDIT:

Code:

http://www.memturbo.com/

 

essentially your "fast ram" will be mixed with yoru harddrive... so you're dilluting ram performance the more you increase the virtual memory.

 

yeah im going to buy some ram soon. just looking around for some cheap ram in some shops. i think i will put the virtual memory up abit till i get some more ram.

also ive just made a new profile on my computer cause i was thinking i could change the new profile without affecting the admin profile, is this true? can i change the virtual memory in the new profile and the admin profile will remain unchanged. im sort of new to the profile stuff.

have you got any suggestion that i could do to the new profile that will make it so it run better. is there any way to stop un nessary programs from running in the background with out xtrl alt deleting and ending processes. cause i have so many thing running that im sure if i got rid of them it would help my computer run much better.

 

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod...asterid=2462892

I have 2GB of that in my computer right now and I play every new game and run tons of applications all the time just fine.

Very cheap too. Unless you are into overclocking your ram (I'm not) then it is an excellent buy.

-bLiNd

 

also can anyone suggest some ram brand names. for 1 gig ram.

Merged Post:

like i said above i have 512mb pc3200 ddr. what is the best type of ram. im guessing here but id say ddr2 is better than ddr. should i just buy 1 gig of ddr or would it be better to go for ddr2 or a better type of ram.

 

I was wondering, once you've set some of your HD to be VM, is there a way to revert that process?

 

yes, its hard drive data... you can raise it, lower it, delete it, create it, etc.

 

chances are if you are using DDR ram your motherboards chipse/memory contoller won't support DDR2 ram. Furthermore DDR2 ram has reltively high latencies so despite DDR2s higher clock speed it doesn't perform much better than DDR2... also look above... I recomended some stuff... there had been some cheaper but..

 

yeah i posted the "also can anyone suggest some ram brand names. for 1 gig ram." at the same time as you did.

well i was looking around the net and have a few more questions.

i read something about matching ram speed to motherboard speed. where can i find the speeds?

also i asked this before and i just want to ask again so i can make sure. if i buy a gig and add it to my 512 will it become 1.5gig or will they not combine?

what are all the numbers i need to know to match up ram and mother boards and cpu? like speeds,clocks and anything else i need to know. and where can i find this info?

thanks for all of your help. i might (i do) sound like a noob and thats because i am, ive never upgraded anything like this on a computer and just dont want to make a mistake when buying things for over $100.

thanks again.

 

you can match ram speed or go higher, it doesn't matter... standards for DDR1 speed is 400mhz... just runs CPUz(google it) and tell us that ou are runnning DDR1... if not we'll didg up DDR2.