Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
Follow ZDNET:
Add us as a preferred source on Google.
ZDNET’s comprehensive overview highlights a troubling reality for technology enthusiasts and everyday consumers alike: the cost of computer hardware, particularly RAM, has risen sharply in recent months. Memory upgrades—once a relatively affordable way to breathe new life into an older computer—have become increasingly burdensome on the wallet. Virtual RAM, while not a perfect alternative, emerges as a creative and economical workaround for those trying to optimize performance without investing heavily in physical components. Yet, despite its appeal, virtual RAM remains a compromise rather than a true substitute for genuine hardware upgrades.
For roughly the past seven months, consumers have faced a difficult market, with RAM and PC prices soaring to unprecedented levels. This inflationary surge has been fueled by multiple factors—one of the most prominent being the explosive growth of generative artificial intelligence, which has dramatically increased global demand for computing resources. Broader economic fluctuations have only compounded the issue, pushing prices higher across the technology sector. Consequently, both upgrading an aging desktop and purchasing a brand-new machine have become notably more expensive undertakings. Although there has recently been a modest dip in RAM pricing, the decline has been incremental at best; memory modules and other critical components remain far above their pre-surge costs.
Nevertheless, there are still ways to stretch a computer’s performance. Among these cost-effective measures is the use of virtual memory—also referred to as virtual RAM. This software-based technique enables a computer to reserve a portion of its internal storage drive and use it as a supplemental working memory area. Lenovo succinctly describes it as a mechanism that creates the illusion of a more extensive, continuous memory pool, effectively allowing the system to handle more processes than its physical RAM alone could sustain. In essence, the operating system borrows disk space to temporarily mimic additional memory capacity. The result is an improved ability to multitask and maintain stability when physical resources run out, though this improvement comes with important limitations.
Virtual RAM serves as a clever, often convenient way to extend system performance boundaries—but the gains come with sacrifices. It cannot, under any circumstance, rival the speed or responsiveness of genuine physical memory modules. Hardware manufacturers such as Corsair emphasize this distinction, noting that even the latest and most advanced solid-state drives (SSDs) are still nearly ten times slower than system RAM, while mechanical hard drives lag behind by several orders of magnitude. Physical RAM is designed to handle high-frequency, short-duration data transactions, storing and retrieving active application data with minimal delay. By contrast, storage drives are engineered for sequential, long-term data retention, making them inherently slower for rapid memory exchange.
To illustrate this speed disparity more concretely, consider a practical comparison using my own system. My desktop features 32GB of DDR4 RAM operating at 2400 megatransfers per second (MT/s) across two 64-bit lanes—equivalent to eight bytes per transfer. The theoretical maximum throughput of this configuration can be calculated by multiplying transfer rate by bytes per cycle, which yields 19,200 megabytes per second (MB/s). When compared to the read and write speeds of my PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, the difference is dramatic: the SSD achieves approximately 6,700 MB/s in reading and around 6,200 MB/s in writing, both significantly beneath one-third of the memory module’s speed. Such figures underscore how virtual RAM, which relies on drive performance, inevitably introduces delays and higher latency, reducing system fluidity.
Beyond simple speed limitations, using virtual RAM can at times lead to another performance hazard known as memory thrashing. This occurs when the system becomes overburdened by the constant transfer of data between RAM and the designated portion of the storage drive. Instead of improving responsiveness, thrashing can cause frequent freezing, severe lag, and in extreme situations, system instability. According to Lenovo, modern memory management algorithms—especially page replacement strategies—can lessen the frequency and severity of thrashing episodes, but no solution is perfectly fail-safe.
Despite these caveats, when implemented judiciously, virtual RAM can indeed serve a valuable purpose. The key lies in restraint: it should be viewed not as a permanent hardware replacement, but as a temporary boost when working with low-end systems or performing modest workloads. Many budget-friendly laptops ship with minimal memory—often between 4GB and 8GB—and under resource-intensive conditions, they can exhaust system capabilities quickly. Activating virtual memory in such machines can prevent frequent application crashes, reduce operating system slowdowns, and stabilize multitasking operations.
Take, for instance, a cost-efficient laptop like the Acer Aspire Go 15, which retails at approximately $275. This model provides solid everyday functionality, but its 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM limits its multitasking potential. Adding virtual RAM through the operating system will not miraculously transform it into a workstation, yet it allows the computer to run more applications in tandem with fewer slowdowns, effectively compensating for its restricted hardware capacity.
Configuring virtual RAM on a Windows 11 system is relatively straightforward. Start by searching for “View advanced system settings” within the Start menu to open the System Properties panel. From there, navigate to the “Advanced” tab and click on “Settings” under the Performance section. Once the new window appears, select “Advanced” again and then click “Change” beneath the Virtual Memory subsection. Deselect the checkbox labeled “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives” to gain manual control over allocation. At this stage, choose the drive you’d like to assign as your paging file. If only one drive (commonly labeled C:) exists, that will serve as your default choice. For systems with multiple drives, opt for the fastest one available, as it will directly influence performance. By selecting “Custom size,” you can manually define the paging file’s initial and maximum capacities in megabytes. Because 1,000 MB approximates 1 GB, Windows might suggest a starting value such as 5,000 MB; users requiring additional capacity could designate around 8,000 MB (8 GB). As for the maximum limit, many experienced users recommend setting it to roughly three times that value—24,000 MB or 24 GB in this example. Once your adjustments are finalized, confirm them by clicking “Set” and then “OK” twice, followed by a system restart to apply the new configuration.
Should you later wish to revert to the system’s default behavior, simply return to the same configuration window and re-enable the option “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.” This will allow Windows to dynamically handle virtual memory sizing in response to system needs.
Although Windows permits users to disable virtual memory entirely—by selecting “No paging file” and confirming the change—experts and manufacturers generally advise against doing so. Lenovo cautions that the interaction between physical RAM and virtual memory is central to how modern operating systems maintain stability. Eliminating virtual memory altogether can cause performance degradation, application errors, and overall system instability.
Apple computers also utilize a variation of this feature, though macOS integrates it differently. Apple’s official documentation refers to its approach as “secure virtual memory.” Like its Windows counterpart, it temporarily transfers inactive data from RAM to disk space when physical memory runs short. However, macOS enhances this process with built-in encryption to ensure data confidentiality. Unlike Windows, though, secure virtual memory allocations are controlled automatically by the system—users cannot manually increase or decrease this capacity.
Ultimately, while virtual RAM cannot compete with the speed, efficiency, or seamless performance of physical memory, it remains a practical and occasionally life-saving feature for users operating on limited budgets or with modest hardware. It serves as a temporary solution—not a replacement—but when applied properly, it can help maintain system balance, prevent crashes, and extend the usability of older computing devices in an increasingly demanding technological landscape.
Sourse: https://www.zdnet.com/article/is-virtual-ram-good-alternative-rising-ram-prices/
