How to tell if Ready Boost is making a difference...and should I even go for it?

[traxxxton]

Im thinking about upgrading my RAM from 16gb to 32gb while same model ram is for sale. I was thinking about using the extra 16gb for a ram drive with ASRock Tuning Utility. Im thinking about an 8gb Ready Boost option and the other 8gb for pagefile and temp files.

One question is, is there any way to test performance gains from using Ready Boost?

Another, is this a good idea or am I better off with just having 32gb RAM? I use a smaller SSD for my main "daily usage" stuff on one install and an older HDD for games on another install, both with 7 64bit.

 

[KillerBee]

I installed it on an Asrock X58 Extreme but kept getting BSODs after configuring and rebooting - so removed it .
Just noticed they put out a newer version last month - XFast RAM Utility ver:2.0.28 - so it may have fixed any issues.

Would still highly recommend creating a new Restore Point before installing it

Edit: well tried the latest version and same instant BSOD (IRQ less than equal)
so rebooted to Last Known Good Configuration and removed it

It sounds like a great program according to the video and wish it worked on mine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLibusBEr_g
-he tests it with some large Photoshop files and a stopwatch

Unfortunately it just doesn't like my system - probably my shitty memory

 

[Elixer]

Readyboost isn't really worth the hassle, nor will you notice any speed improvement.
Heck, 16GB RAM is overkill, unless you are doing photo / video work.

 

[masteryoda34]

Im thinking about upgrading my RAM from 16gb to 32gb while same model ram is for sale. I was thinking about using the extra 16gb for a ram drive with ASRock Tuning Utility. Im thinking about an 8gb Ready Boost option and the other 8gb for pagefile and temp files.

You mean to allot a portion of your RAM to a file system and then use that file system for ReadyBoost?? That is a terrible idea. Just let Windows use the RAM and don't bother with readyboost.

 

[Ferzerp]

You mean to allot a portion of your RAM to a file system and then use that file system for ReadyBoost?? That is a terrible idea. Just let Windows use the RAM and don't bother with readyboost.

Correct. This is just silly.

We had someone ask that a while back too. They want to take memory that the OS would naturally use for disk cache if it were available, forcibly allocate it as a ram drive, them use *that* for disk cache.....

This one is even worse though, because he asks about the pagefile here too (wtf?)

 

[KillerBee]

yea - putting the pagefile on a Ramdisk - that is pretty funny
Apololgies to OP if you were serious - but you will probably laugh once you do some research on the subject

Otherwise this program would mainly be great if running 32-bit version of Windows and had a bunch of extra memory beyond 4GB

 

[BFG10K]

Im thinking about upgrading my RAM from 16gb to 32gb while same model ram is for sale. I was thinking about using the extra 16gb for a ram drive with ASRock Tuning Utility. Im thinking about an 8gb Ready Boost option and the other 8gb for pagefile and temp files.

Huh? Ready-boost uses portable flash (e.g. thumb drives) to cache data. It has nothing to do with RAM.

You need a pretty specific niche reason to get 32GB RAM so if you have to ask, you probably don’t need it.

 

[JellyRoll]

ReadyBoost performance 'gains' are dubious at best imo. Get an SSD and you will be great

 

[KentState]

ReadyBoost was a band-aid for a problem that really isn't a big deal. Go with an SSD and it's pointless.

 

[wpcoe]

Im thinking about an 8gb Ready Boost option and the other 8gb for pagefile and temp files.

yea - putting the pagefile on a Ramdisk - that is pretty funny
Apololgies to OP if you were serious - but you will probably laugh once you do some research on the subject

Windows will only use a pagefile if it runs out of available RAM. You could in fact be causing Windows to use the pagefile on your RAM drive by limiting the RAM available to Windows.

As mentioned Ready Boost is for removeable/portable flash memory.

So, for your two expressed uses of a RAM drive, think you'd be better off just letting Windows have full access to your installed RAM. Windows does do a pretty good job of managing memory.

If, however, you have other applications you want to run at light speed, then a RAM disk might be the cat's meow.