can I have a virtual memory smaller than physical memory like for example 2GB of virtual memory and 4GB of Physical Memory(not with respect to usage)?

Question

Like I have virtual Memory size = 2 GB ,Physical Memory Size=4 GB.......... Is this case possible?

Please Explain

Answer 1

It is possible.

One scenario that I can think of is when you have large amounts of memory (e.g. 16GB) and not much need for virtual memory (e.g. Hyper-V - since you tend to use only physical memory for running virtual machines). You still want some for core dumps and unexpected situations but total of 4GB is quite enough for that.

If you are sure that you will not need more than 2GB of virtual memory just leave it at this. However, disk space is cheap and, personally, I would give it at least 4GB - just in case.

There is great (and long) explanation at Mark Russinovich's blog.

Answer 2

Yes, you can have that. Having 0 virtual memory is just a special case of "less than physical memory".

Answer 3

yes it is possible ;) (virtual memory placed on hdd so 2 gb is good) (but if you asking which one is recomended by winodws OS's is - 1,5 x of your ram - i mean if you have a 4 gb you should use 6 gb virtual ram on hdd but i don't use virtual ram or i use if a game recommend virtual memory (strategy games sometimes want virtual memory) ... virtual memory also stays on hdd so you can't use that space on hdd for example if you select 2 gb virtual memory it placed on your hdd at uses 2gb of your hdd ... but this virtual memory not recomended for fast systems :)