m1530 ReadyBoost with Sandisk SD?

Has anyone used the card reader in the m1530 for the ReadyBoost feature in Vista? I'm looking at a SanDisk 2GB SD card ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J47W12/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top) but I want to make sure Vista can use this for ReadyBoost.

One more question - can Vista use a maximum of 4GB of RAM? I have configured an m1530 with 3GB RAM - would a 2GB SD card be overkill?

Thanks!

 

First, adding "memory" by means of ReadyBoost is not at all like adding additional physical RAM. It is like adding virtual memory on a different media than hard drive. You already have memory above 4GB that is virtual, ie when physical RAM runs out then windows will use disk as virtual memory. Consider that your hard disk can be accessed much faster than a sandisk SD memory card. Therefore, it makes no sense to use such media as virtual memory, just let windows use the hard drive for virtual memory instead.

Second, 32-bit windows (or any 32-bit operating system) has a maximum addressible memory space of 4GB. This does NOT include virtual memory which is handled in software. You can max out the M1530 with 4GB physical RAM but some of that max 4GB RAM space will be used for addressing peripherals like graphics adapter (256MB) and all other peripheral addressing (PCI bus etc) totalling approx 512MB to be deducted from the total 4GB possible. With 4GB RAM in two 2GB memory modules you get a benefit of dual channel memory for better performance, but you lose approx 512MB (possibly more) due to the 32-bit memory addressing limit. Some people are using 64-bit windows to allow access to the full 4GB but I don't recommend it due to driver and application flakiness. Also, 3GB is probably plenty, and even though not dual channel, there probably isn't a need to bump up to 4GB unless you want to have the max possible RAM and max possible performance.

ReadyBoost is a gimmick in my opinion. A SATA drive providing virtual memory on disk can outperform any memory card or USB flash device. Ever noticed how SLOW files transfer to and from such removable media? If there is or will be MiniCard flash devices faster than SATA drive then perhaps it would make sense, but SD card no, and I also think the same for USB flash keys, even though you will see them specifically marketed as Vista ReadyBoost ready.

 

It is very likely you would have WORSE performance if you use readyboost on your system. It is only beneficial if you have 1gb or less ram.

 

Spot on answer. Very well written. I completely agree.

 

Thanks for the info guys! I couldn't find much information specifically about SD cards on Google, and what I did find just described what Readyboost was used for. Thanks again!

 

If you have 3GB RAM in a 2/1 config, you will get dual channel on 2GB (one GB of each module). It's a feature of the chipset. Many other posts describe this.