do i bother with readyboost?

[T2urtle]

My main rig is a old dell vostro 220. Machine is dated but i dont need much power or speed.

Specs are E2200, win 7 32bit, 4GB of ram (but 3 useable.), 8600GT, 250gb normal HD 7200rpm.

I have a large amount of flash drives about 4gb-8gb that aren't doing much. I figure i can put it to use for readyboost.

Is this worth my time?

Stuff i do is mainly MS office (excel mainly) and now i've been bluestacking my android games. Bluestack bogs down my PC a lot, i think its heavy both on the ram and CPU. System is maxed at 4gb, which i already installed so without spending much money is there any way to get bluestacks to run smoother.

 

[Ketchup]

The problem with a typical flash drive is that it isn't near the speed you'd think (or at least I think they should be), so IMO you are probably better off with system memory and a little swap now and then. The other problem is that ReadyBoost was designed for computers that are WAY short on RAM. 4 GB is actually a good number (even if the IGPU is using some of it).

See here:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...f/cd859975-ef04-4535-86a5-b50efec6af0f?auth=1
and here:
http://www.howtogeek.com/123780/htg-explains-is-readyboost-worth-using/

TBH, my work laptop has 8 GB of RAM, but the main OS only has about 4 GB available with my VMs running. And it does pretty well with FF, Word, Outlook, Excel, and Skype for Business running on the 4 GB that are available.

The BEST way to get your system running better is going to be shelling out a little money here and buying an SSD.

I don't know how much space you need, but right now you can get a nice 250 GB Crucial for $85.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148945&ignorebbr=1

Also, keep the emulator in mind. Not all are created equal. The next time you play an Android game, look at the Performance Tab on task manager and see what your CPU and memory usage is like.

 

[Cerb]

I'd get drivers, and re-install w/ 64-bit. Then, wait and upgrade. Used Sandy Bridge systems are finally starting to come down in price, so sometime in the next several months, it might be worth upgrading on the cheap. Get a full-width tower ATX Optiplex, and you'd have a pretty flexible system (some Lenovos have an ATX sized PSU, but proprietary connectors and mobo, so relative value would depend on model). Add in an SSD, and you'd be good for another few years.