ReadyBoost with 2GB of RAM?

I just got a new laptop and I LOOVEE it, and it has Vista. Vista is a huge resource hog and though it's not really running slow, it's not exactly blazing fast. I have a 2ghz C2D t7200 and 2GB of 533mhz RAM. I also have a Geforce 7400 and GMA 950 which shouldn't make aero a problem. I am always using the 7400 anyway. I was wondering if maybe getting a Memorystick Pro Duo that is 1 or 2GB in size and putting it in the card reader for readyboost would help any? I've heard differing opinions on the actual affect it'll have so I thought maybe you could help. Thanks in advance!

--Jonathan

 

Well, if you really want to see a real performance with Readyboost, then you have to get double what your RAM is. So for me I have 2gigs now, so I got a Patriot Xporter XT 4gb USB drive and its SUPER FAST/Durable. The other ones are ok like Sandisk Cruzer but performance wise nothing compares to the Xporter XT, the regular Xporter is not Readyboost compatible.

READ This article about it. Shows all of them and even the Xporter XT which got best review and all.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2017819,00.asp

 

ReadyBoost is basically a compensation for a lack of RAM. It was created so older machines with limited amounts of RAM could run Vista. Some computers are limited to 1GB of RAM which is not really sufficient to run Vista - ReadyBoost allows the user to bypass that limit by using flash memory. It is not nearly as fast as RAM but still better than the hard drive for reading small amounts of data. Seeing that you have 2GB of RAM though, you aren't going to get much of a boost from ReadyBoost. If you have a flash memory stick lying around, use that but I wouldn't go out and buy one specifically for ReadyBoost use.

Vista is probably as fast as it is going to get on your system to be honest. I've used a lot of Vista machines and I wouldn't classify any of them as 'blazing fast'.

The one upgrade that would help you, probably substantially, is a faster 7200RPM hard drive.

 

Thanks to the both of you for responding. The link definitely helped if I plan on buying a USB drive. I think I can just deal with this speed for now, until I get the 7200 RPM hard drive as Chaz explained. Thank you both very much.

 

that theory is somewhat wrong as vista wont accept anything higher than 4gb of storage

i have 4gb of memory and have a extreme 3 2gb sd card for ready-boost and that does me fine tho no performance gains are noticable but i tried your theory and had a spare 8gb hi-speed usb stick which vista said speed wise was good but it wouldnt take more than half its total which was 4gb so the double your memory is incorrect past 2gb

just my 2 cents of info