How-To Geek Forums Topic: is readyboost really worth it?

How-To Geek Forums Topic: is readyboost really worth it? http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ How-To Geek Forums Topic: is readyboost really worth it? en Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:47:19 +0000 supermansghost on "is readyboost really worth it?" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/is-readyboost-really-worth-it#post-967 Thu, 16 Aug 2007 05:34:37 +0000 supermansghost 967@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ I've found little benefit to readyboost, except in boot speed, which seems a little quicker. Otherwise it's a complete waste. Skye on "is readyboost really worth it?" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/is-readyboost-really-worth-it#post-962 Thu, 16 Aug 2007 03:21:00 +0000 Skye 962@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ My thought is that the system specs on the seller's page are suspiciously poor. If I am correct, ReadyBoost is only available on Windows Vista, and Windows Vista is relatively new. There is just no way that the test computer used could be up to snuff for those tests. My uninformed conclusion is that it benefits computers with small amounts of memory, but it may be possible that the computer would choose to put the information on the flash drive instead of the RAM, which would obviously slow things down. That said, I have not tested it myself, and others on this site have. Maybe one of gurus can figure out a way to run a benchmark on a system with more than 256MB RAM. Barron on "is readyboost really worth it?" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/is-readyboost-really-worth-it#post-913 Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:34:40 +0000 Barron 913@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ Those test are interesting, especially because the Hardware Secrets test you linked to seem to show the exact opposite - a drop in performance. I wonder if ReadyBoost was implemented differently in RC1 (used for those first tests) than in the RTM? And if so, I wonder if this is something to be fixed in the rumored SP1... Skye on "is readyboost really worth it?" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/is-readyboost-really-worth-it#post-906 Wed, 15 Aug 2007 04:08:45 +0000 Skye 906@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ Also check out Gabriel Torres' blog at Hardware Secrets: <a rel=nofollow href='http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/blog/64'>http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/blog/64</a> Skye on "is readyboost really worth it?" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/is-readyboost-really-worth-it#post-905 Wed, 15 Aug 2007 04:04:11 +0000 Skye 905@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ Found on an Apacer seller page: "Via Windows ReadyBoost, Windows Vista can increase performances in correlation with a USB key. Vista will use the USB Drive to compensate for memory shortage or to simply boost speed, by creating a copy of the virtual memory on 230 MB free space on the flash drive. Vista does not increase the system RAM on the machine, but through ReadyBoost, it stores information that is repeatedly accessed by the memory manager. In this context, the operating system accesses the data stored on the flash drive instead of randomly accessing the disk. Vista features like data indexing, the Aero graphical user interface and the desktop window manager tend to take up extra memory. ReadyBoost balances functionality and memory management. HT203 ReadyBoost testing: Test Criteria: - Calculate system response time (seconds) with/without ReadyBoost enabled while first execute each program from the beginning to ready for working. - The difference between the tests smaller or equal than 2 seconds were treated as reasonable, such values were neglected. - The numbers in brackets are the performance improved rate. Test Environment: CPU: AMD Sempron 2500+, 1.4GHz RAM: DDR400 256MB HDD: Segate 20GB 7200rpm (Ultra ATA 100) Graphic: nVidia GeForce 6100 (max. 64MB) O/S: Windows Vista RC1 5600 Application RAM only With HA202 Acrobat 6.0 ............ 31.1 sec. ..... 17.3 sec.(44.4% improved) Office Word 2003 ....... 5.6 sec. ...... 3.6 sec. (35.7% improved) Office Excel 2003 ...... 8.5 sec. ...... 6.4 sec. (24.7% improved) Office PowerPoint 2003 . 4.1 sec. ...... 3 sec. (26.8% improved) Office Outlook 2003 ... 13.4 sec. ..... 11.6 sec. (13.4% improved) Internet Explorer 7 ... 18.2 sec. ..... 13.7 sec. (24.7% improved) Photoshop CS 8 ........ 46.5 sec. ..... 37.8 sec. (18.7% improved)" Scott on "is readyboost really worth it?" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/is-readyboost-really-worth-it#post-870 Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:40:24 +0000 Scott 870@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ $29 bucks for a 2GB compact SD card: <a rel=nofollow href='http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10354778'>http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10354778</a> ansi92 on "is readyboost really worth it?" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/is-readyboost-really-worth-it#post-791 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 23:38:27 +0000 ansi92 791@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ It seems like readyboost helps bootup speed a bit, but nothing else. mysticgeek on "is readyboost really worth it?" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/is-readyboost-really-worth-it#post-415 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 23:39:34 +0000 mysticgeek 415@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ I have not noticed much of a difference with readyboost. I have a 1GB flash drive set to use it... but of course... my Vista machine has 4GB of DDRII SDRAM so I doubt I would notice anything. ansi92 on "is readyboost really worth it?" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/is-readyboost-really-worth-it#post-414 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:41:08 +0000 ansi92 414@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ Thanks for the info, I guess i'll check it out and see if it helps any The Geek on "is readyboost really worth it?" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/is-readyboost-really-worth-it#post-404 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 13:46:35 +0000 The Geek 404@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ I'm not certain that readyboost really helps all that much... I've been considering getting a 2gb sd card since my laptop has a built-in sd reader... I'm using readyboost with a 256mb card that I have that's not exactly new. Seems to work. Scott on "is readyboost really worth it?" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/is-readyboost-really-worth-it#post-402 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 13:07:38 +0000 Scott 402@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ True, the SD card has to meet the speed requirements AND be formatted in NTFS or FAT32, not all ship that way. Barron on "is readyboost really worth it?" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/is-readyboost-really-worth-it#post-401 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 13:03:57 +0000 Barron 401@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ It will depend on the speed of the SD card. I'm sure there are plenty that will work, but I tried one I had on hand that didn't meet the requirements. I'm pretty sure Vista will let you use an SD card for ReadyBoost (it let me test it for that purpose anyway) so give it a shot. As to whether or not it works: I haven't done any formal testing, but I think my computer feels a bit snappier when I'm running several apps simultaneously. Could be total placebo effect, but that's my impression. ansi92 on "is readyboost really worth it?" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/is-readyboost-really-worth-it#post-400 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 12:51:20 +0000 ansi92 400@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ I'm not really worried about startup or shutdown times, because I usually leave my machine running all the time, but that's good to know at least. I have an SD card, is it possible to use the SD card instead of a USB flash drive? Seems like it should be, since I think SD cards are faster. Scott on "is readyboost really worth it?" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/is-readyboost-really-worth-it#post-399 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 12:39:57 +0000 Scott 399@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ ansi92, ReadyBoost does really work. On our 2, 2GB Vistas, we noticed boot time reduced by nearly half. The same can be said for shutdown. We bought Kingston GTMs because they're stubby and hard to damage (about $20 for 2GB though you may need only 1GB) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-H-Corporation-DTM-2GB/dp/B000NK99Q8/ref=sr_1_20/104-2597950-1185569?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1185971820&sr=1-20" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-H-Corporation-DTM-2GB/dp/B000NK99Q8/ref=sr_1_20/104-2597950-1185569?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1185971820&sr=1-20</a> That being said, all I've read clearly states that ReadyBoost is not as good as a replacement for additional RAM if you an afford it. ansi92 on "is readyboost really worth it?" http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/is-readyboost-really-worth-it#post-395 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 12:32:21 +0000 ansi92 395@http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/ I'm curious to know if readyboost is really worth it. I'm running a machine with 1gb of memory, which ran well in XP but isn't that great since I upgraded to Vista. I'm wondering if readyboost is really worth it or if I should upgrade the memory in this machine instead. Thanks!