After SU4 I’ve noticed a change in how MSFS is using memory on my system, and I’d like to request some optimization around RAM vs swapfile usage.
My specs (relevant parts):
What I’m seeing in typical flights (complex scenery + airliner):
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MSFS RAM usage: ~22 GB before SU4, now ~24 GB after SU4
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Total RAM used on the system: still leaves a large amount of free physical memory
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Swapfile (pagefile) usage: ~16 GB, even though there is plenty of unused physical RAM available
In other words, the simulator is leaning fairly heavily on the pagefile even when there is a lot of free RAM available. Since SSD access is still much slower than RAM and adds unnecessary wear, this doesn’t seem optimal—especially for users with large memory configurations like 64–128 GB.
Wishlist request:
Please adjust/optimize MSFS’s memory management so that:
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The simulator uses more available physical RAM before resorting to the swapfile.
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The reliance on the pagefile is reduced when there is clearly sufficient free RAM.
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(If possible) Provide an advanced option or slider
I’m not sure that the supposition Swapfile = Pagefile is correct. I don’t see any pagefile usage by MSFS. This graph shows pagefile usage & peak usage about 1hr into a flight in MSFS 2024.
Note that I’ve changed the scale of both pagefile counters to 100x & 1000x so that they visible. As you can see, there is no activity (in comparison, the middle line is showing obvious signs of CPU activity). Both usage and peak usage are steady and almost zero.
I monitor it via the in game show FPS layer. The number is the one at the bottom.
I got 8G on menu, 16G in on ramp. Very steady
Yes, the game has a swapfile, but I do not think it is the same as the pagefile. Your wish is fine, but I see no evidence in Perfmon of MSFS storing data in the pagefile on disk, as you wrote:
“Swapfile (pagefile) usage:”
. 
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Yes, the Windows Page file is not under the apps control. It’s an OS level thing. The WindowsPage File isn’t ‘just’ a swapfile, it’s a lot more nuanced than that, going by the MS OS devs anyway.
A swapfile and a paging file (or pagefile) are the same, in classic Computer Science theory
a dedicated area on your drive (HDD/SSD) that the OS uses as virtual memory when physical RAM runs low, moving less-used data out of RAM to disk,
current Windows uses different filename for modern apps’ swapfile (swapfile.sys),
and for traditional apps’ swapfile (pagefile.sys).
