[expert][tip] Using a RAMdisk to speed up your HDD - and/or reduce SSD trashing

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

http://techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1709678#post1709678

 

[Solaris17]

was doing some system mantinence today and gave this a go made a 1gb ramdisk and made it my pagefile

 

[LifeOnMars]

Anyone tried this with a game like oblivion or fallout 3, could be very nice.

 

[Fatal]

I finally gave this a try I am pleased with the results

 

[Ainvar]

I do love the Ramdisk. Yes I cam from the Old dos days. Where you put the whole game on to the ram and play them.

I found a program that had a 2 week trail. I made a ramdisk of 4.5ghz and installed lotro flashboost. Then sent the files to the ramdisk. What I notice with my setup. The game ran smoother. I would like to be able to tweak flashboost not to install the Texture files but the Map files and speed up going from Point a to point b. Like this Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJzXm_4j8E4
Lord of the rings ramdisk. Point a to Point B Normaly would gake 5 to 15 seconds unless the game is not defraged and it would take longer.

 

[hat]

Would it be worth it to buy a 2GB set of memory so I could make a 2GB ramdisk to use as my pagefile?

 

[Ainvar]

I ask about that on scottmuller forums http://forum.scottmueller.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1359

My Post

Ok I dont know why they have not found a way to do this on a 64bit OS with 8gb or more ram.

Software and Games (Mostly games) tend to have a limited use of 1 to 3gb of ram while running the software due to 32 bit OS limit. Now we been slowly entering the 64 bit age with systems with 6 to 8gb of ram. But software tend to stay in the 32 OS and 3gb limit. I been reading some people have tried disabling page file and Virtual ram Just so they use more ram for software. When I read this It sound right but if you keep reading the same thread and you find they have more issues. So people with large amout of ram dont disable pagefiles or Virtual ram.

Now I understand the games tend to use Pagefiles and Virtual ram as well as up to 3gb of ram. Like Lord of the Rings use it alot 13gb of sofware and best useing on a SSD drive. Now if system has large amout of ram why can we not have a option to use part of our Ram for pagefile and Virtual ram on the ram it self? Would it act faster then a SSD drive.

8gb of ram split into 4gb of ram and 4gb Pagefile and Virtual ram.

Could this be done?


Scott post

Unfortunately most of these questions are predicated on a misunderstanding of how Windows allocates and uses memory. In addition to reading my book Upgrading and Repairing Windows, I recommend you read the following articles, which will help explain how both physical and virtual memory is allocated and used under Windows:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2008/07/21/3092070.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2008/11/17/3155406.aspx

Bottom line: In nearly all cases, I recommend making *no* manual adjustments in Windows memory use. Windows manages memory properly all by itself, most of the manual changes a user can make will only cause trouble. The only change I do recommend is in XP, where the default virtual memory paging file (pagefile.sys) is fixed at 1.5 times the amount of RAM on the system during *installation*. If you add or remove memory later on, the pagefile size will not automatically change accordingly. On the systems that I install and maintain, I set the Virtual Memory paging file (pagefile.sys) to "System managed size", which allows Windows to change the size dynamically as necessary. Note that is now the default setting in Windows 7/Vista. Scott.

 

[WAR10CK]

thanks man this information was really helpful

 

[Completely Bonkers]

IE, firefox, and other browsers let you change the location of their cache files... perfect for moving to a ramdrive. However, Chrome doesnt have an option to do this. But I have just found a command line hack!

For people wanting to move their Chrome cache folder to a ramdrive, here are the instructions (borrowed from a thread at http://www.google.co.uk/support/forum/p/Chrome/thread?tid=098d42a41aacdc6d&hl=en).

Instructions:
1./ Right click on your chrome shortcut
2./ Properties
3./ Edit Target, as follows: "C:\Documents and Settings\...\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --disk-cache-dir=z:\

Change the last part, z:\, to your ramdrive if not on Z:

 

[Ozpa]

Is anyone using RAMDisk effectively and with what programs? (apart for browser cache)

I use Opera and I have Disk Cache turned off and Memory Cache on so this is probably the same as having RAMDisk on?

I want to try it but I don't see any practical use for it.

 

[Velvet Wafer]

was doing some system mantinence today and gave this a go made a 1gb ramdisk and made it my pagefile

http://img.techpowerup.org/100316/ramdisk.png

any recognizable benefits? or does the system behaves much like before?

 

[v12dock]

My computer seems much snappier after redirecting all my Temp files to this, Thanks ALOT!

 

[GSquadron]

Wow!
The results are simply great

 

[DRDNA]

Just a thoughtful question here: Would having fraps store to a Ram Drive relieve the dropping of frames and the lagg it creates with in the game its self...I have always thought that the in-game slow downs were from not being able to transfer the data fast enough...We all know how huge a file fraps creates with in just seconds.. Help me with the the calling for enlightenment on this.

 

[Solaris17]

any recognizable benefits? or does the system behaves much like before?

it is a little faster then before but the most recognizable thing is browsers or loading large programs like photoshop or 3dsmax. things that rely on the pagefile.

 

[Velvet Wafer]

it is a little faster then before but the most recognizable thing is browsers or loading large programs like photoshop or 3dsmax. things that rely on the pagefile.

sounds logical... what happens when you run out of pagefile?

 

[OneMoar]

deleted .. no idea why I said that ...

 

[Solaris17]

sounds logical... what happens when you run out of pagefile?

honestly i dont know. I only used it for a short time.

 

[HalfAHertz]

Some people will say it's pointless to allocate RAM for use as page file, because after all it is supposed to be used only when you run out of ram, but there are some programs, which are specifically coded to use the page file prior to the ram running out (like autocad).
So in some limited cases, it does make sense to allocate some of the ram as page file.

 

[Mussels]

idiots ....

would you care to explain your comment, in detail?

your answer is what will determine if you get an infraction or not.

 

[Completely Bonkers]

Some people will say it's pointless to allocate RAM for use as page file, because after all it is supposed to be used only when you run out of ram, but there are some programs, which are specifically coded to use the page file prior to the ram running out (like autocad).
So in some limited cases, it does make sense to allocate some of the ram as page file.

Just to add to HAH's comment: moving a pagefile to RAM will also help save writes to your precious SSD. So IF your pagefile is being used, moving it to RAM will speed it up and save you writes. With modern workstations with 8GB and more memory, you might as well fix the pagefile to 1GB and stick it in a ramdrive.
Windows is supposed to have a good memory manager and you shouldnt need to play with it. However, may people DO fix their pagefile to a fixed size after a defrag to stop the pagefile from fragmenting. So YES there are reasons to "manage it yourself".

 

[OneMoar]

wow guss I was drunker then I thought I was
sorry about that ..

 

[Hayder_Master]

im really impressed with this thread, you got my grateful thanx and 5 star rating

 

[AddSub]

Great thread. I got 24GB of RAM on the way. Going to make some "tweaks" to my primary workstation. I'm having some great results using Dataram's RAMdisk application. Throughput rates are simply ridiculous. I'm getting around 25 to 30 times faster overall performance compared to stuff you can find in retail, SSD-wise.

RAMdisk setups seem pretty rare. Anyone got info to share on best ways to utilize such setups aside from obvious ways? I plan to run a tweaked and modified version of Windows straight off of it. With some symlink trickery I should be able to utilize such a small amount to a farthest degree.

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[Mussels]

Great thread. I got 24GB of RAM on the way. Going to make some "tweaks" to my primary workstation. I'm having some great results using Dataram's RAMdisk application. Throughput rates are simply ridiculous. I'm getting around 25 to 30 times faster overall performance compared to stuff you can find in retail, SSD-wise.

RAMdisk setups seem pretty rare. Anyone got info to share on best ways to utilize such setups aside from obvious ways? I plan to run a tweaked and modified version of Windows straight off of it. With some symlink trickery I should be able to utilize such a small amount to a farthest degree.

...
..
.

i'd like to know how you go with the symbolic links and what trickery you have in mind