XP Performance options??

[touser]

hi all i was just wondering which option i should set the memory usage to in XP on the machine in my sig? i primarily use this machine as a gaming/DV machine. thanks in advance!

[takiwa]

leave the first 2 options as they are...click the change button on the virtual memory tab, and choose "No paging file"...you have enough RAM to do without a page file, which will speed up your system greatly, plus, you said your machine was a gaming rig, so a VM setup will do you no good, except enhance the initial load time of the game (unnoticably, btw...)...this is just IMHO

[touser]

alrighty thank you takiwa i was not sure if it was a good idea for a no paging file.. didnt think 512 was enough..but i will give it a shot and see how it goes! thanks for the tip!

[xdroorsx]

as far as getting rid of the paging file, is 256 ram too little to do so? i'm always looking for ways to speed up this damned OS... doing away with all of the pretty windows and stuff they blessed us with in XP was my first step towards success :D definitely quickened things up

[Yodums]

Originally posted by xdroorsx
as far as getting rid of the paging file, is 256 ram too little to do so? i'm always looking for ways to speed up this damned OS... doing away with all of the pretty windows and stuff they blessed us with in XP was my first step towards success :D definitely quickened things up



256 is minimal or what you should have.

To run XP at its full potential should have at least 512 DDR.

Although I wouldn't upgrade the ram at the moment since the prices are sky high...

Yodums

[takiwa]

256 is minimal or what you should have.

To run XP at its full potential should have at least 512 DDR.

I wouldn't say that, Yodems...

I've been on XP since beta build 23**(can't remember exactly), using it (and all other beta releases after that) as my PRIMARY OS...I was there through the activations, lack of driver support, hardware conflicts...you name it.

One thing I do not understand is why I hear people telling others that 256Mb and 512Mb is the "minimum requirement" for XP. I've installed Corp. Edition on a Slot-1 Celly 300, IBM OEM mobo, with 96Mb RAM, and it was no faster or slower than WinME on the same computer. True, there are more RAM-eating visual effects to the OS, but at its core you are looking at a re-vamped 2K, which can run a server with 64Mb RAM...I have 256Mb RAM, and Sandra reports my Windows Memory usage at 62% True Allocated Load...on the 96Mb system I built it was at 112%, which is still acceptable (anything under 120% is considered OK)

As far as a paging file goes, it stores the access files (.dll's, .ini's, etc.) of programs you have recently used to an allocated part of your hard drive for quicker access to those programs later on. The bigger the page file, the more programs you have access to quicker. But virtual memory draws offa system memory to run, so what you gain in one place you lose in another. It's just as well to turn it off, and use your hard drive for storage. Plus, with a slower 5200RPM HD, you may not even notice an increase in your proggies loading...maybe a second or two at the most. So I generally tell people to turn it off.

[takiwa]

also, xdroorsx, you can download Powertoys for XP offa the Microsoft website, and eliminate even more of those visual RAM-eaters, like the pop-up balloons (they really are annoying), shortcut arrows, etc. Plus, if you use Windows Explorer to browse your system, it puts My Computer on top of My Documents in the tree folder pane...does anyone even use My Docs?!? Alot of neat stuff, check it out...

[xdroorsx]

thank you much, i think i'll take it for a spin :)