2GB Flash Cache Module Inspiron 1520, Is It Worth It?

I was looking through the manual, first time ever, yes, I know, I've owned this laptop for years and this was the first time I went through the Owners Manual. I came across this, Flash Cache Module, I'm not sure what it does, but when I looked up Intel Turbo Memory on E-Bay, I found this card, relatively cheap ($21.95), unused and I am thinking about purchasing it, now I wanted to ask you guys if it's worth the purchase or not.

Edit: I don't know much about this kind of stuff but from the research I did on wikipedia and the intel website (really good research, yeah, I know), it seems that earlier versions of it was just not enough space to speed up the system? I guess, but anyways, I spent my bloody money on the damn thing already, so if I made a mistake, let me know so I can start feeling bad already....

 

Found a review, you can find it here: Investigating Intel's Turbo Memory: Does it really work? - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

I have never tried it personally so i cant say for sure if you will have a performance boost or not.

 

I have the 1GB version of this in my 3+ year old laptop. It doesn't seem to do anything. I was having some driver issues so I disabled it at one point and there was no perceptible difference in performance. It might perform better on some benchmark, but I couldn't tell. I suspect the 2GB version is no different -- it's not the amount of space, it's how the system deals with having a small amount of fast storage. The storage makers eventually figured it out (e.g. the Momentus XT), but it needs integration with the hard drive. Intel's standalone version is not very useful.

 

I'd recommend you getting a mSATA Intel 40GB (you should check if it is supported) for your computer. It is simply a mini SSD, read this.

 

Well, I'll let you guys know how mine works, I shy'd away from buying the Momentus XT simply because it wasn't offering enough cache, perhaps, I'll buy a hybrid when they offer 8GB or 12GB, flash space, but probably nothing more. I'm just waiting for the breakthrough, probably next year or sometime this summer, if we are lucky. I don't really need a traditional SSD, while the speeds are orgasmic, I just need my laptop to boot up faster because that's where it really lacks.

Edit: You posted when I was replying, but I'll go ahead and give it a shot, can you send me a link to where I can find it? Wait, got it, I'm cursing my self for wasting $20 and now probably should have put that towards that.

 

a m-pci SSD will NOT work in your notebook (only the latest notebooks support them correctly, and even then, not all of them do)

The 2GB thing you ordered should be fine, but it will basically function as additional ram/ page filing space so you probably won't notice [much of] a difference

 

Review of Intel 310 mPCI Express SSD.
Intel 310 Series SSD - 80GB Mini-PCIe Review - Introduction

 

readyboost doesn't have noticeable effect on performance(unless you are severely short of RAM) but does have a positive effect on heat which I assume would me battery life as well.

 

Ahh, I see, well, it makes sense. My laptop is over 3 years old now which is like centuries in the tech world, so I wouldn't see them making it work for something so old. Are you sure? Because I have like 3 PCI-e slots at the bottom of my laptop 2 of which are used (Verizon 3G & WiFi Card). If there isn't a single possible method to get this to work with my system, I'll let you guys know how the 2GB turns out for me.

I'm not sure, is this one supposed to work for me then? Agent 9 said that my laptop is outdated for the 40GB one to work, so unless you did this yourself and got it to work?

Well, extra battery life would be an excellent asset, especially since I've been using this 7800mah one, I would like to use as much of it as I could.

 

You don't need to pay that much for readyboost though. I used a 4GB SDHC class 10 purchased for 6 bucks which serve the same purpose.

 

also if your running a ssd those will not work as the services it uses are turn off when you have an ssd

 

You're missing out, if you don't get the Hybrid SSD. Boot times are halved and login or resume is significantly faster.

 

Honestly, I intended to but I've heard so many problems and issues with the bloody drive and I don't have the time/energy to be dealing with sending drives back and etc. I'm just hoping their second generation product is far superior and irons out the issues that is plaguing the first one. I don't mind waiting.