Win XP RAM question:
1. I've been reading that there's not much point in investing in more than 2GB RAM in an XP system, but some sites I've seen say that the /3GB and/or /PAE switch can allow Windows to access the entire 4GB. What's the score [for audio, at least], really?
Gerard seems to be the master at this lately but here's the skiiny... Since XP is only 32-bit, it can only address a maximum of 4 Gb ram. From the MS Support site, they mention this:
Operating systems based on Microsoft® Windows NT® technologies have always provided applications with a flat 32-bit virtual address space that describes 4 gigabytes (GB) of virtual memory. The address space is usually split so that 2 GB of address space is directly accessible to the application and the other 2 GB is only accessible to the Windows executive software.
The /3Gb switch tells XP to let applications use more than 2 Gb, approx 3.2 Gb, leaving the rest for Windows.
For audio, having a lot of ram isn't that important for tracking. It only means you can have a lot of applications open simultaneously without windows having to access the swap file every now and then. This also means faster program access and switching since ram is faster than reading from disk. Ram does become important when you use a lot of virtual instruments - samplers are especially sensitive to ram and with libraries being several gigabytes in size, having sizable ram is a must (disk streaming is sometimes not fast enough if you need lots of polyphony).
If track count is a concern, however, faster hard disk access is more important, that's why it's often recommended that you defrag before every session.
Page file question:
2. Should I put the page file on a separate drive, or put it in the fastest parts of a drive? I read some of your replies and you mentioned that it can be done using the right software. I'd appreciate guidance on this.
Some people partition a small space on the system drive just to serve the swap file - something like 4 gigs will do since the swap file is often 1.5 times the size of your installed ram. At and above 2 gigs ram, however, the swap file becomes moot since your available ram is more than capable of handling most applictions (except for samplers as explained above). There are special partitioning software that can assign a specific space on the drive for the partition location; can't recall if it was Partition Magic or Paragon's partitioning soft.
Going back to our physics, the tangential speed of a disk is fastest at the outside edge of the platter. This means that data access should be fastest at the outer edge. By location a partition there and assigning it to the swap file, you can theoretically speed up hard disk access - this is only pertinent with the data in the swap file, though. Special defragmenting software (like Ultimate Defrag) locate your directories and the MFT (master file table) in the outer edge of the platter making data access faster. Bear in mind. also, that the rotation speeds also have a bearing on HD data throughput; a 7200 rpm disk will spew out data faster than a 5400 or 4200 rpm drive - that's why 10,000 rpm Raptors are so expensive.