Swap Page File Size

from GalCiv2 Forums
A couple weeks ago, before the patch came out, Stardock listed an excellent listing of how to set up the Swap Page File Size, and what they recommended for people to use until the new patch came out. After the patch, this info seems to have disappeared, or am I just blind?? Can anyone please tell me where this information is at?

Or if it is deleted from the Website, ... Stardock, can you please repost it, or reconnect it in some way to this post??
13,202 views 12 replies
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I don't remember a specific recommendation but generally speaking, bigger is better with the only real disadvantage being that it uses some disk space. If you have the available disk space, set it for 2048 (2GB) and you should be fine.
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
You probably want the total size of ram+swap to be at least 3GB. I have 3GB of ram and a 768MB swap file.
I have seen my memory usage get up to around 2.4GB while playing GalCiv2 on the huge map with 7 or 8 races.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The page file is the combined pool of memory (physical ram + swap file) that Windows uses, and it is what you see in the Task Manager.
The swap file is a file on the hard drive, and its size is determined by what is set in the performance options. By default windows uses a dynamic swap file, meaning its size can be changed within the set minimum and maximum parameters as Windows needs it. It is a better idea, though, to set it manually so that the minimum and maximum size are the same, creating a static swap file. And it is better to do that just after a defrag so that the swap file is not fragmented. That yields higher performance and less chance of crashing.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yes, I'm trying to determine what size page file size I should be using for the inital ... and what size paging file size to use for the Maximum for my computer, as I'm adding new RAM to my CPU.

Had 512 RAM with 2 256 Dimms in the first 2 slots, and used 1024 for inital and 1536 for maximum, which made the CPU very stable for all types of games, including MMORPGs. Odd cuz that was obviously not the 1.5 times ruling-recommended. The CPU can only handle 3 512's , and I'm seeing some type of system reboot problems that I can not trace when I have a chip stuck in the 3 Dimm slot, that causes the whole CPU to reboot when I'm hooked up online... and only when I'm hooked up online. Still trying to figure that one out, but with only using the first 2 Dimm slots, it's stable when online. Go figure.
Looks like I'm looking at 1 GB of RAM max at this time for useage.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Some motherboards don't like that third bank filled. Have you checked for a BIOS update?
Also, some ram chips work better in certain motherboards than others. My own machine is a prime example. I bought some Crucial memory and the computer would not even boot (and yes, I did try a different stick of the same brand just to make sure it was not faulty), replaced it with a different brand with the same specs and it was fine.

And it is much better to use a static swap file - set both min and max to the higher size after a defrag.
The size should be determined more by the estimated max usage than simply a multiple of ram size. In GalCiv2's case, the total of ram+swap should be at least 3GB.

Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Also: on many machines you get faster swapping by putting the swap (page) file on a seperate hard drive. In other words, if Windows is on drive C, put your swap file on drive D.

If you only have one hard drive, well, what can I say
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Realy? I would have thought it would be slower, I'll try that(thinks about 20 gig page file on one of my HDs.
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Realy? I would have thought it would be slower, I'll try that(thinks about 20 gig page file on one of my HDs.


Think about it; you C drive is busy spinning or readying for what ever you are doing. Now, if you call on you C drive to read/write to itself for the pagefile it's just another task put in the C list of things to do.
If swappy is on drive "D" instead, "C" has one less thing to do.

Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
As long as it is a second physical hard drive, and not a second partition on the same drive.
Although, on mine I have the swap on the D: partition on the same physical drive because it happens to be at the front of the drive. It is HP's storage partition, which I deleted the files from. So my swap file is at least at the fastest portion of the drive.

And I wouldn't go too large on the swap file just because I have lots of hard drive space, either. Windows will tend to swap more if you do, and that will only slow it down. I keep mine as small as possible to force Windows to use mainly my ram.
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
As long as it is a second physical hard drive, and not a second partition on the same drive.
Although, on mine I have the swap on the D: partition on the same physical drive because it happens to be at the front of the drive. It is HP's storage partition, which I deleted the files from. So my swap file is at least at the fastest portion of the drive.

And I wouldn't go too large on the swap file just because I have lots of hard drive space, either. Windows will tend to swap more if you do, and that will only slow it down. I keep mine as small as possible to force Windows to use mainly my ram.


Good call, Moose. YES, put it on a REAL drive, not a Virtual or partition drive.