ReadyBoost?

caithomas44 · 20 Oct 2007 at 18:39

Hey

does anyone know if plugging a 4gb readyboost ready flash drive in to my pc will actualy have any effect what so ever?

i like the idea of it but i don't know what the reality of it is

at the momment :

q6600 quad core
4gb pc8500
2*250 gb sata 2 drives
8800 gtx Graphics card

steve258 · 20 Oct 2007 at 18:44

Nope no difference at all, especially when you already have 4Gb system RAM.

HangTime · 20 Oct 2007 at 18:44

I've got one plugged in and haven't noticed any difference at all.

caithomas44 · 20 Oct 2007 at 18:46

fair enough that was a dead donkey by windows then

Kobrakai · 20 Oct 2007 at 18:48

You might notice a difference if you have less than 2GB of ram but if you have 4GB you won’t notice any difference.

Avalon · 20 Oct 2007 at 22:10

As I understand it the theory was that on systems where memory/upgrade options were limited (Vista was pushed as being heavy on the memory front) readyboost would compensate eg laptops. General memory prices, especially DDR2 prices dropping like a brick however combined with the limited speed of usb drives seems to have limited it's benefit. It's cheaper to buy more memory than a truely fast flash drive.

helmutcheese · 21 Oct 2007 at 01:30

Yes it will help, and tame down the HDD activity after a few days.

From my other post:

" You use a drive thats 1:1 with your System Memory ideally, so 2GB Memory + 2GB drive.

The reason it recommends a size keeping a tiny bit spare is probably to do with fragmention and error correction and the fact the solid state memory will loose space through time as it dies out.

The MAX size for Readyboost for now is 4GB and the more System Memory you have the less it actually helps speed anything up, but it still helps but less for someone running 4GB of Memory than someone running 1GB."

ChrisJSY · 22 Oct 2007 at 09:40

Hmm interesting, I used to use it but ddin't see an improvement.
Have been running 2GB of memmory on Vista 32 right now, one died last weekend, I have noticed a huuuge performance decrease, will try readyboost whilst I wait for meh new ram to come.

helmutcheese · 22 Oct 2007 at 12:42

In Vista it takes a few days (they claim 3) for the HDD activity to calm down and Prefetch etc to all Cache up, Readyboost helps this again and loads all your regularly used apps faster but its not some miracle speed bump.

stealthgeek · 22 Oct 2007 at 14:06

well, Ive seen about 3 or 4 professional reviews that have tested in all sorts of memory configurations and it doesnt seem to make a jot of difference. Just google readyboost review.

helmutcheese · 22 Oct 2007 at 17:35

I feel it helps and when you have Raptors with Acoustic Managent turned OFF you know ti works as you dont hear loud seeking as much.

Whats is a professional review ?, MS know more than them and wont make a function that has no use, again it helps but not massively, it certainly does not hurt performance or the pocket at todays prices for Flash Memory.