Page file is being created even when ram is not full

Question

I get the page file in my C drive even though my RAM consumption is about 16 to 17 % so I want to know when exactly a pagefile is created, because I thought it is created only when ram is full. If that's the cause then why is that file being created when my ram is free a lot?

Answer 1

The pagefile is not just an overflow bucket for when you run out of RAM. Unless you have disabled the page file, it will be created on boot if it doesn't already exist.

The Pagefile is a component of Microsoft's Virtual Memory Management System. When a program is executed, space is allocated for it in the pagefile and in physical RAM at the same time, and is integral to how the program accesses its data in the process's virtual memory space.

That means that every program you run uses the pagefile, regardless of whether you have enough free RAM.

As for the chip frequency, make sure that it is supported by the chipset in use, but it doesn;t need to match that of the existing chip. Be sure to match the existing chips voltage however.

Answer 2

To answer your first question, It's all about speed. Reading and writing to a file is REALLY slow, compared to RAM. Consequentially, writing data from RAM to a pagefile is a slow process (remember, everything is relative here...).

Windows will continuously move stale or underutilized data to the pagefile so that it doesn't run into a problem if an application suddenly requests 95% of your RAM. If Windows waited until your RAM was full, it would take significantly longer to load that high-RAM application, since it has to write an absolute ton of data to your (very slow) pagefile. Keeping true RAM utilization low by writing to the pagefile whenever possible is the most efficient way for your computer to operate.

To your second question: technically, yes. RAM is typically compatible with clock speeds that are lower than the RAM is rated for. But it won't make a difference, except that you'll be paying more. Unless you can overclock your laptop (unlikely), the RAM will still operate at the original speed. Buying faster RAM doesn't mean that your RAM will operate faster; that's controlled by the motherboard's clock speeds.

[Note: there's a chance that the faster RAM will decrease performance, since it will not be operating at the frequency it was designed and binned for.]

Source: Computer Engineering Degree

Answer 3

Windows defaults to creating a pagefile on your C drive at installation time. It has nothing to do with how much free RAM you have. How much free RAM you have depends on what programs you're running, and at installation, Windows has no idea what that will be.

The mere existence of a pagefile doesn't imply that it's being used much, or at all. If you indeed have plenty of free RAM then it's almost certainly not being used much.