Intel 311 Larsen Creek vs. Ramdisk

[996GT2]

Since the two are about the same in terms of cost per GB, I figured it would be fun to do a little test.

Intel 311 20GB SLC:

RAMDisk (QD32 test omitted because CDM is unstable when running that test with RAMdisk):

 

[XLNC]

Which app are you using for the Ramdisk? I use Dataram RAMdisk, and I tested mine using AS SSD benchmark utility, and got slightly slower results.

 

[ksec]

That is actually a good point. And it is very possible that RAM will be dropping faster, or 8GB RAM comes out sooner that makes RAM Drive a much better option. ( Not to mention upto 100x performance from SSD )

With that in mind, i wonder with the advance of RAM and HDD speed, would there still be a place for SSD as cache?

And would it be possible to "fake" the Z68 into thinking RAM Drive as a SSD Cache?

 

[groberts101]

only question I would ponder is the ability to use the Z68 with a ramdisk. If the ramdisk was set to automatically run on the next boot, would the Intel software pick it up and reuse it each time or would it need to be manually cinfigured on each boot?

I'm guessing the 20GB SLC drive would be more plug and play friendly.

Then there's the added cost of a ramdisk app that uses larger than 4 gigs of space, right?

 

[razel]

I'm sure it won't matter, since RAM is so fast the result will be the same, but you try rerunning it using the same dataset size? The Intel is tested with 1000MB vs RAMdisk 100MB. Though with RAMDisk I'm pretty sure it'll be the same, but I'm curious.

 

[groberts101]

yeah results are the same but if IIRC, you just need at least 3 gigs of space to run the benchmark at that size.

 

[ksec]

So in the Context of Caching, we would need a Media ( HDD / SDD ) that has very high speed Seq Read to RAM. HDD actually isn't that bad at all. We would have to wait until SSD are cheap enough for 500GB or 1TB with High Seq Read. 4K or the rest doesn't matter.

Then we just need a software that works like Intel SRT to feed the frequently used data into RAM.

 

[groberts101]

Fancycache by Romex has been doing the same thing for a C-drive for some time now. You can even make a hybrid HDD with another portion of an available SSD.

 

[ksec]

Fancycache by Romex has been doing the same thing for a C-drive for some time now. You can even make a hybrid HDD with another portion of an available SSD.

So basically Fancycache is Intel SRT, except done with RAM?

 

[groberts101]

No. Intel SRT is basically a less configurable Fancycache. lol
http://www.romexsoftware.com/en-us/fancy-cache/

Don't be too put off by the beta version. It's been out for nearly a year and they have listened to testers and many new features have been implemented as a result. Back up your data of course but it does work. People running VM's REALLY love it.