Doubt on prescribed amount of Virtual Memory/Page File

I have a 64bit Windows XP installed o my system. I have 8GB ram. Two sticks for 4GB. Now my ram size is quiet large. I use my system mostly for graphic edition job and play lost of games. So I just want to know that does I need a large page file or virtual memory. The current one is managed by system itself. And I think that would be around 2 to 4GB maximum. I had not checked that. Before there was only 4GB ram in my system and it was working quiet better. But after adding a new 4GB stick I feel that my games are not fully utilizing it. It looks to be slower. Does increasing the page file and do the job. Thanks.

Let it be. Do not touch the page file thing. It is not your page file which makes the system better, it is your ram because that is the only physical memory that your system has. Now if your games are designed to use only 4GB of ram then the other 4GB are wasted. You had not mentioned that how much video memory do you have. I am taking about GPU here. A video memory plays a vital role in game performance. Even on low ram like 2GB a 1GB GPU gives powerful gaming experience.

You can modify the same and set it to 16GB. Page file is only used when needed. Means when the RAM is fully occupied. And in 8GB RAM I think there is hardly any application in graphic edition work, which occupy the full 8GB RAM Sticks. If you add more page file to your system, your hard drive might work slower. For better gaming only page file is not the one which is responsible. You need a faster hard drive, better processor and video memory as mentioned above. Alongwith that just check that any antivirus or security scanner which is installed is not scanning the system or blocking the game files.

That is quiet nice system you have. The game performance can be hampered by other things. I have 4GB ram. On it the game works flawless. I will not recommend you to modify the default settings of page file. It is simply not recommended. Better use the default one.

There are many things which depends on your system performance. I am sure your applications or games are able to utilize that much amount of RAM. Run tools like System Activity Monitor, or Task Manager. They can tell which application is using what amount of RAM. If talking about the performance then there ample of things which are needed. 8GB RAM is quiet high. It will give you a much better performance compared to other. Page file is used when the ram is not available. A part of hard drive is utilized but it is not as faster as compared to the RAM stick.

It can be the limitation of OS also. Due to which you are not getting that much amount of performance you need. Somehow to utilize all the ram in powerful way you need a motherboard which is capable of running them altogether. Some motherboard gives you 16GB ram support but they do not help you to utilize the power of internal hardware which makes them weaker. Update your bios if possible. It will give you drastic improvement in the system ouptut.