System Cache or Programs

[cpnraisnuts]

Do I need to have XP set to system cache or programs in the advanced performance settings? Also what should I have my pagefile set to? I am running 1gig of ddr2 533 dual channel interleaved.
Thanks in advance
Steve

[Cliffy_Boy]

1- system Cache
2- Min 1024/ max 1024

[macr0w]

This friend of mine came over and set my virtual memory to the maximum of 4096 in both fields. Now I'm not a windows guru by any means. But how does this effect performance? Doesn't windows use this sort of like ram but from your hard disk? Is there an advantage or disadvantage in the settings here? Or should I say is there an optimal setting for performance? I have 1 gb of ddr400 ram.

[Sacred Spirit]

This friend of mine came over and set my virtual memory to the maximum of 4096 in both fields. Now I'm not a windows guru by any means. But how does this effect performance? Doesn't windows use this sort of like ram but from your hard disk? Is there an advantage or disadvantage in the settings here? Or should I say is there an optimal setting for performance? I have 1 gb of ddr400 ram.

Page files are for ram overflow, yes. Only required if an app tries to write more to memeory than what you have. The system will also store some background stuff that normally doesn't run in there for quick access. For PT, you don't need it, and certainly don't want the system using the page file. 1Gig is plenty for most applications. If you set it to zero, you take the risk of having the 'memory almost used up' message in the middle of a session. If you're running video apps and creating hi-rez conversions, you might want to get up to that 4Gig range in a page file.

[Sacred Spirit]

1- system Cache
2- Min 1024/ max 1024

Cliffy, where did you find confirmation of #1 there? That is normally reserved for servers.

[Cliffy_Boy]

From the answerbase. Read between the lines a bit.

I've installed Pro Tools, and I optimized Windows XP as instructed in the manual (Processor Scheduling = Background Services and Memory Usage = System Cache). After rebooting, I get the error messages during the Windows Login screen, "system can't write preference files".

This has been seen on a system with a Matrox Parhelia graphics card. The drivers for this video card will crash when you set Processor Scheduling to Background Services and Memory Usage to System Cache.

These optimizations improve performance for Pro Tools on Windows XP but they will cause Matrox video card drivers to crash and show error messages or blue screens during login.

NVidia/Ati AGP Video cards do not suffer from this issue.

Platform: XP Pro, XP Home ID: 28672 Created: 08/10/2004

[Sacred Spirit]

Aha Thanks Cliffy. Always wondered about that one too.

[Cliffy_Boy]

This Site has some good tips. FWIW, I never noticed a difference between Programs and System Cache.

[cpnraisnuts]

Thanks guys your help is much appreciated. Thanks for explaining what pagefiles do also. I didn't know that.