Question about ReadyBoost..

I got a desktop and laptop both running Win XP with good hardware and both with 2GB ram. I am planning on doing a clean install of windows vista on both of these. I know 2GB is minimum recommendation for vista, so I have some questions about ReadyBoost feature.

1) If I add ReadyBoost enabled USB drive in both desktop and laptop, without adding more physical RAM, would it show visible performance boost, given that both systems already have 2GB ram... If I add 1GB USB, would it be as good as total 3GB RAM??

2) I know 32bit Vista cant use all of 4GB ram. What would happen if I add a, lets say, 4GB USB drive as ReadyBoost on top of 2GB of installed RAM. Would that act like a 6GB of RAM??

3) I have a vista running laptop with 3gb ram. If I add readyboost to it, will it increase my performance in general, or in gaming??

Thanks for help...

 

1) No, 3gb of ram is FAR better

2)Useless Readyboost is more than a joke

3) ZERO!

RAM>readyboost

Readyboost was somthing I was VERY excited for and turned out to be pathetic

 

There's no significant boost. I believe if you have a good sized page file it's enough.

 

Readyboost does not equal more RAM. It basically acts as a cache and stores information from the virtual memory. Instead of accessing the slower HDD, the flash drive will let faster access for the data. So, your 2GB RAM will remain 2GB and adding 4GB readyboost drive wont create any problems. BTW, the recomended size is around 1x - 1.5x time the amount of RAM. So, running a 1GB flash drive if you have 2GB RAM is not going to bring much benefits.

 

More RAM is always better and much faster than the USB drive.

If you have as little as 1GB of RAM, the USB drive is good, as it is faster than the memory in the HDD.

However, unless you are doing very extensive interaction with the HDD, you won't see any remarkeable improvement.