Swapfiles, CTD and performance, a warning

[SenseiLeNoir]

I have been seeing a LOT of messages here and on forums for other games suggesting to set a fixed Swap file to avoid stutters and pauses whilst windows attempts to resize a swap file automatically. I have also seen some CRAZY suggestions to disable the swap file if there exists enough RAM. I often later see the recipients of such advice then complaining about increased CTD or even a CTD where none has happened before.

So, if you do not understand how Virtual Memory works on a modern computer, nor do you understand things like “Committed memory”, “memory profiling”, sparse memory, memory io, my advise first and foremost is:

• Leave your virtual memory settings as “Let windows manage …” and …

• make sure you have enough disk space on your main drive approximately 2 - 3 times your RAM size, and if it is an SSD, an additional 10% of your total drive size also free (this is for countering performance issues caused by Write Amplification).

I strongly suggest that you do not mess with Virtual Memory and swap file settings even when suggested by someone online with a similar system as yours. setting it wrongly is extremely easy to do, even for a Computer Professional, and if set wrongly WILL increase the likelihood of a CTD (Crash to desktop)

Yes you may get a few more stutters every time the page file is resized, but that is far better than a full on crash. Also modern SSDs, espcially GOOD nvme drives reduce the impact cased by pagefile sizing.

If you are still insisting on managing the Swap file, note that understanding how much memory a process uses is very difficult to understand. You cannot just look at task manager. Sometimes apps may “commit” a large amount of memory without actually using all of it. This can be due to a process were a large dataset may be expected, and there needs to be enough memory available to store it. an application can temporarily request a large block of memory for any reason, and then clear it down afterwards.

If you manually set the swap file, and an application tries to request, even temporarily, more than the amount of free memory available (RAM + swap) the OS will cause an out of memory exception which more often than not cause a Crash to the Desktop (with a Out of Memory logged to some logfile somewhere).

Leaving the swap as auto managed, and ensuring enough free space is available is simply the best solution for these temporary large memory allocations, as the swap can increase when needed.

Also just because something works for someone else, does not mean it will work on your computer, even if there are similarities in your system, as each person uses their computer in deferent ways.
On a personal note, I Do manage my swap drive in a complex way, but that is because I have a certain set of requirements (I am a developer), and I am aware of the increased CTD risks.

[CyberPostPunker]

I agree. I suggest people who aren’t informarician to buy a gaming computer on her local specialist. Dont try to buy different componnant on internet and create your ultimate computer.
Dont try to overclock and manage a thing on the computer.
If you have problem with mfs go to your local specialist, let the pro chech the computer, pay him, and it will work fine finally.

[BubblyDruid56]

Cool. Still keeping mine manually set tho because I dont have enough space for it on my SSD and I don’t want the resizing fragmenting hard drives.

[SenseiLeNoir]

That’s fine, I mean you have your own reasons why you have it fixed as manual (just like I do) and you know what you are doing and you know the risks of sizing it too small, thats fine.

My concern is people adjusting their swap file (sometimes for another game or application) to be a fixed size, based on someone elses online suggestion. I have assisted a few people who have had unusal crashes (not just MSFS) and in nearly all cases the swapfile was set to a fixed size, and when asked why they were doing that, the reply was someone online suggested that to get more FPS

MSFS uses more memory than any other mainstream game I know of, hence the higher incidence of overall memory running out.

I am almost certain in most cases where MSFS crashes consistantly during an update (very high memory required to unpack) or shortly after startup, the reasons are either Low fixed pagefile size, or NO pagefile size, as I haev even seen some suggestions where people have suggested that if you have 32GB of ram, why do you need a swapfile, to save SSD life!

This is wrong on many levels if you understand how things work underneath the bonnet (I am a developer), but it really frightens me how often i hear a suggestion to disable the swap, and seeing novices actually doing it.