anyone using readyboost to improve performance?

hi,

is any of you using windows' readyboost with their laptop?

ever since I enabled it, I noticed an incredible gain in peformance. I mean, only loading data and especially booting up the system. once I turn on the laptop it takes nothing to load everything. very fast and i don't even have SS drives but just RPM HDs.

I don't know if it works well in win vista, but I read that the feature has been improved in win 7. it certainly seems like it has, at least in my case.

before the M17x I owned a gateway P-7805u with win vista and really never saw any benefit from having this feature on, therefore I would simply turn it off.

but I then decided to give it a shot again with the M17x and it did miracles.

I first had a 8GB "Class 6" SD sim card (those that you use with digital cameras) but then, since readyboost will only occupy 4GB of data; I went to best buy and got this awesome 4GB Sandisk EXTREME "Class 10" sim card for something like 55 bucks (I don't remember now), I didn't get the 8GB Class 10 casue it was expensive and since 4GB were going to be wasted anyway it didn't seem the right choice.

now this 4GB SD card is 100% utilized and the system just rocks.

I was wondering if any of you had this enabled as well.

thanks,

 

BTW if you format the card as EXfat you can utilize more than 4GB for ReadyBoost.

 

Care to share which card you've had success with? A brief search yields me some class 6 cards, but not a class 10... Do you remember the card specs (or manufacturer) and where you got it?

 

I haven't noticed any performance gains using it.

 

ReadyBoost is really to help with systems that have low RAM, like less than 2GB, as a temporary measure until you can buy an actual RAM upgrade. Sure you might see some instances where it helps, but for the most part it won't. Reading from a flash drive can be quicker than from your hard drive, but not from your system memory by a long shot.

 

the following is the brand of the card I bought at Best Buy, but this one "it's not" the same SD card I got: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/SanDisk...Card/8568123.p?id=1188562590834&skuId=8568123
it shows a 4GB Calss 6. I don't know why they don't have it in their web site, they didn't have it either a month ago when I first got it, but when I stopped at the store to check what they had, I saw those Class 10 cards of the same brand and I took one immediately.

which hard drives are you using? Solid State or RPM?

you might not notice any increase with a SS drive. I'm not 100% sure of this, I am just guessing...

also, have you tried formatting with FAT32? it should be the fastest one.

thanks, I didn't know that

though, FAT32 should still be the fastest option. I don't know much about ExFat, but I read somewhere (don't remember where exactly) that ExFat is basically NTFS without some of the NTFS' security characteristics. so in terms of speed it should be the same as NTFS which is slower than FAT32.

I have formatted mine with FAT32, this is probably why I notice the performance gain.

usually for the loading screen (where you enter the password) it takes long to show up, but with readyboost enabled now it comes up immediately after the black screen, and after I enter the password all the icons in my task bar load almost instantly, even AlienFX that is usually the one that takes the longest to load

 

you can't really notice a difference with readyboost unless you have less than 1GB really.. 2GB maybe.. it can actually sometimes be slower than just having your ram sometimes especially in gaming.

 

I agree. though, the whole concept behind readyboost is that it creates a cache where it allows you to load files at a much faster rate, simply cause they are somewhat already preloaded into this cache, so in the end it benefits all types of RAM sizes, not only low RAM. you could have 400GB of RAM and you'd still be loading those files from your HD (RPM hard disk) at the same speed, cause it's the HD the real speed issue, and not the amount of RAM (of course to some degree, example if you have 1GB of RAM or less).
therefore, if these files that are most commonly used in your system are already preloaded (or actually to be more precise, already stored) into a cache, the'll be accessed qucker by the RAM itself, therefore bypassing the the slower HD.

this is why who owns Solid State disks might not benefit from this (actually might even worsen), because those disks are like huge caches themeselves.

also, the benefit is seen only when loading files, applications ect, it has no effect on RAM performance for applications or games.

 

Yeah, I'm using 4GB out of my 16GB Cruzer Contour high speed flash drive for ReadyBoost. Not really sure if it makes much of a difference, but while it's plugged into my computer I might as well make use of it.

 

if you are not sure try doing this:

reformat the SD drive in FAT32 then if you are using windows 7 when you enable it, select the option "dedicate this device to readyboost. try giving it a couple of minutes before you reboot, then once you reboot, pay very well attention to how usually things load. onece you're in windows, try browsing stuff for a little bit, open itunes or stuff that usually takes long time to load (don't try games right away) then once you are done, safely unplug the device from the laptop then reboot again without the SD card inserted. and again, try to notice if the behaviour has changed. last, reinsert the SD card into the laptop and once again reboot everything for the very final check.

if you don't notice anything here are my thoughts about it:

you are using a SD card Class 2 or 4. (this can really determine the quality of your performance gain).
to really see tangible benefits I am positive that you need a SD card from Class 6 and up (I might be wrong though).
the first time I tried this I had a SD card Class 6 and I still noticed the OS' performance gain.

the drive needs to be formatted in FAT32.

you are probably using win vista, for which I am not sure this works the way it does in win 7.

other than this I am sorry if it's not working.

I am going to explain one more thing:

you probably know the feeling you get when you have a fresh install of windows, I mean, after you formatted the HD and reinstalled things on your own. little by little, then at the very end you run a defrag and the system feels very responsive, snappier, ect...

with time though, you notice that you lose that snappier feeling and things get a bit slow or not responsive as they used to.

well, the way I feel it rigth now, is the same way every day I power up the PC. boot up times are always the same, and opening up documents or applications takes always the same amount of time, considering that I try to run a defrag every one or two days.

 

this is the SD card I am using (4GB) it's a Class 10:

http://www.sandisk.com/products/imaging/sandisk-extreme-sdhc-cards-

 

ReadyBoost sounds cool. I have never tried it. I can run say firefox from the sd card it it will boot or load faster? I usually have about 80 to 110 tabs total open on 2 or 3 windows and get a lot of firefox crashing. Dam memory hog also. I think I have like 4 or 6 gigs going just to firefox alone.

Have to do some research on readyboost

 

How could you possibly need that many tabs open. That's impractical. I wouldn't complain about crashing, probably a memory allocation issue with that many tabs. No wonder its using 4 or 6GBs, depending on what sites you have loaded, it could have that much used easily. Not hard to figure out.

 

I am sure that most readyboost experience here is not with a Class 10 card. These cards are very expensive and designed for HD content.

I sure would love to try one, but I got to find one I can return if I dont like the results.

 

the way readyboost works, is that typically you have to allocate an amount of space for the system to use as a cache, without having to install anything on the SD drive, and the magic will happen automatically. it is even better if hte device is fully utilized by readyboost without having anything else on the SD drive.

SD drives are more practical than USB flash drives for this purpose, becasue they don't stick out like a USB flash drive and also cause they don't occupy a USB slot.

I think readyboost has really been improved this time. when it first came out with vista, I tried it several times with many PCs and it only gave me problems.

things are totally changed with this configuration, but I have a feeling that is windows 7 the reason.

I have an old HP that laptop that I use as a media center device and I recently installed win 7 in it. I'm gonna try readyboost on it too with a 8GB SD memory card Class 6 that I have and see what happens.

 

digging more on the subject I found this article where it says taht windows 7 might actually KILL your SD card due to a problem caused by the SD's driver.

microsoft released a hotfix for it.

I just installed it, I will reboot now and see what happens.

here is the full article. read it:

http://windows7themes.net/windows-7-might-kill-your-sd-cards-hotfix.html

 

Class 10 cards are not that expensive. You can get a 4GB for under $15, and an 8GB under $25.

Good luck. I don't think it will really matter if you have a 7200RPM hard drive.

 

I can't, unfortunately. I use it to hold a lot of work too.

Mistake number 1. I actually stated that I was using a FLASH DRIVE. A flash drive and an SD card are two different things.

Mistake number 2. If you read my sig, you'd find out that I'm on Win 7 Home Premium 64bit.

I do, seeming as I get this feeling all the time. As one obsessed with near-perfection, I keep my machine very streamlined and tuned up. It's ALWAYS defragmented-the only files ever in more than 1 fragment are those in my Firefox cache.

I also regularly clean up and defragment the registry, clean up unwanted files, and check running services to ensure my RAM footprint is as little as possible. Add a RAM defragmenter to that and Windows' average RAM usage is 30% (out of 2GB).

Basically, your computer can stay in top condition for a VERY long time, provided you keep it well maintained as I do.

 

Class 10 at those prices.....Where?

 

One more thing I consider a design flaw. The SD card should go into the PC flush.

It does not sit flush and 50% of the card sticks out. This means you must remove and insert the card with each use.

My Inspiron is 90% flush...what the hell was Alienware/Dell thinking? Not about readyboost that's for sure.

 

I did not need to install. Have you updated windows since receiving your m11x?

 

Mine sits as flush as I feel it should. Enough sticks out to easily push it in to eject it. Certainly not 50%.

 

that's good, then you system must have been up to date.

I have a M17x and although I regularly check for microsoft updates, to my surpise both my systems required the hotfix to be installed. I don't know why.

 

ReadyBoost isn't really a consideration for gamers, especially where you're almost expected to have at least 4GB of RAM.

 

Its 1/2 the card...same for you and me.