Virtual memory error fix (depending on your configuration)

Recently, I’ve been having an issue where MSFS2020 would do one of two things:

  • Randomly crash

  • Performance would rapidly deteriorate until game was unplayable (slide show)

Yesterday, I ran across a post where someone added virtual memory to their secondary drive that MSFS2020 was installed on. I gave it a shot and it completely fixed my crashing and performance degradation.

My system:
I9-9900k @4.9Ghz
16GB 3000 memory
1080ti OC
NVME drives (primary and secondary)
MSFS2020 (Steam) installed on secondary drive with cache on primary drive

Previous state: Virtual memory set to auto on primary drive.

Changes: Configured static virtual memory to 24GB (1.5 x memory) on primary AND secondary drive

Results: Overall, it made a significant difference. No more crashing or deteriorating fps.

Notes: I previously tried just setting the primary drive virtual memory statically but that didn’t solve the issue. I also was getting a warning error in the event log when MSFS2020 would crash stating Windows successfully diagnosed a low virtual memory condition. I originally had 32 GB of memory and didn’t start experiencing this until I removed 16 GB to use in another computer.

This may or may not help you depending on your specific configuration. However, I wanted to post my findings in case it helps someone else.

I have 32GB of memory and I have my pagefile configured as 16GB fixed, on my primary C: NVMe SSD. I have four drives in my system with a pagefile only on the C: drive. MSFS is installed (launcher and content) on my F: drive which is a SATA SSD. 16GB rolling cache is on my primary NVMe drive. I have no problems with this configuration.

i7-9700K
32GB
2060 Super 8GB
512GB NVMe SSD C: (WD Black SN700)
2TB 7200RPM HDD D: (WD Black Performance)
1TB SATA SSD E: (WD Blue 3D NAND)
2TB SATA SSD F: (WD Blue 3D NAND)