Swap file question

I'm doing a new build and will have 2 WD Caviar black 750 GB HDDs installed. I'll be setting up the swap files on the second drive and I had a couple of questions. I'll be installing 8 gigs of RAM, so should I set the swap file partition as 1.5 times the RAM (12 gigs) or would it hurt to make it a bit bigger to accommodate more RAM in the future? Or do I even need to have that much? And I read that you should provide at least a gig of swap file space on the OS partition as well. I've also read that only having the swap file on the other drive is fine. Which route allows for better performance and system stability? Thanks.

I would personally just let windows manage the page file, unless you really want to fool around with it. It should be adjusted to your current computer settings though, never futuristic changes, you change it when you need to change it to suit newer specs if that's what you want to do when you add more RAM

I've set up my page file as you are going to do, on my second drive. I've allowed 2 times my 4gb of Ram (8Gb) for the page files partition size. And I leave Windows to manage the actual page file size. Currently (and usually) stays around the 3.8Gb - 4.0Gb in size.

Yeah, I was just saying that I'm going to set up a small partition at the beginning of the second drive for the swap file, and I was wondering if I ought to make a bit bigger than I need right now for future use. Windows could still use what it needs anyway, right? It would just be on a slightly larger partition, say 20 gigs instead of 10 or 12, for example.

I was planning on letting Windows control the file size. I was just going to move it for the performance boost, however much it is. Did you leave a small swap file on your OS drive as well?

No, I moved the lot over, the fiddly (read pain in the butt!) part was making sure the page file partition was at the beginning of the second disc. Just took a bit of juggling with files / partitions to get it there.

Me? If I had 8Gb of RAM and working on the 1.5 factor (but as you say let Windows physically control its size) I'd set my partition at 16, maybe 20Gb for a round number, depending on space, which, on paper, will not be a problem for you!

**For page file read Swap file!! Its been a long day

Cool...that's what I thought, but wanted to be sure before I dive into it. I'm going to set a small partition at the beginning of the second drive for the page file and use the rest for storage. I'll probably make an 80 or 100 gig partition on the first drive for the OS and the rest for backup. Ought to work fine. I can't wait to get this build going!

I have 6 GB of RAM and use only a 1GB swap file with no issues at all.

The more RAM one has the smaller the swap or paging file can be.

Let's say theoretically that you use a 12 GB swap file size, lock it to that size permanently because believe me it won't ever get bigger than that at all. Make your 1st partition on the 2nd hard drive at 16 GB max and you'll be fine.

Personally, you could get by with a 2 GB Page File with no issues at all. Then I would make the partition no bigger than say 3 or 4 GB max.

????

Is there a 12GB file size limit?

No Cliff, it is just when one sets the parameters in the swap file box. It gives several ways to do it.