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readyBoost Vista question

D

dynamota

Member
Hi All,

I installed vista ultimate on my 2 yr old machine.

Its a AMD FX 55, 2G Ram, 250 G hardDrive with a 6800 Ultra video card. (I am hoping to upgrade my system in Dec 2007)

I think I have a score of 4.1 on my machine(vista readiness)

After using Vista for 24 hrs, I realize that(atleast for me, based on the sys I have)I dont see a difference in boot time, load time of applications. Everything works smoothly, as it did on my XP. The only game I have tried, is Guild Wars

I was reading this article about "ReadyBoost" http://anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=2917&p=5

Do you guys think, that having extra flash memory, will help performance?(Note, I already have 2g ram)

Tx in advance








 
Originally posted by: dynamota
Hi All,

I installed vista ultimate on my 2 yr old machine.

Its a AMD FX 55, 2G Ram, 250 G hardDrive with a 6800 Ultra video card. (I am hoping to upgrade my system in Dec 2007)

I think I have a score of 4.1 on my machine(vista readiness)

After using Vista for 24 hrs, I realize that(atleast for me, based on the sys I have)I dont see a difference in boot time, load time of applications. Everything works smoothly, as it did on my XP. The only game I have tried, is Guild Wars

I was reading this article about "ReadyBoost" http://anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=2917&p=5

Do you guys think, that having extra flash memory, will help performance?(Note, I already have 2g ram)

Tx in advance
Click to expand...

Vista will make use of any ReadyBoost device regardless of how much main ram you have,I have 4GB of main ram and my 4GB ReadyBoost device gets used now and then by Vista, nothing to lose as they say, so give it a try.
 
The only thing I'm worried about with Readyboost is the reads & writes to the flash memory.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't flash memory wear out fairly quickly? I would think all those Readyboost reads and writes would kill it rather quick.
 
Originally posted by: Tipsy Turtle
The only thing I'm worried about with Readyboost is the reads & writes to the flash memory.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't flash memory wear out fairly quickly? I would think all those Readyboost reads and writes would kill it rather quick.
Click to expand...

I'ts not flashing or being used all the time,only when it's needed,besides if you go with something like a Crucial ReadyBoost device they have a lifetime warranty.
 
Flash drives do have a limited number of times they can be "flashed!" Like Mem stated it is not being used over and over again while it is plugged in.
 
I have read that the flash drives will work for 5-10 yrs as a readyboost unit. I think by then you won't care about a 2gb flash drive.
 
Originally posted by: Tipsy Turtle
The only thing I'm worried about with Readyboost is the reads & writes to the flash memory. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't flash memory wear out fairly quickly? I would think all those Readyboost reads and writes would kill it rather quick.
Click to expand...

Write averaging on flash drives manages alot of this (the ReadyBoost ReadyDrive folks are aware of write decay issues). The quoted standard lifetime of a ReadyBoost drive should be around 10 years. The system will detect read failures and revert back to the backing store, so eventual failures in all or part of the flash will be handled gracefully.

 
FYI: i picked up a 2gb patriot xporter to use with vista, but i stopped using it since it does seem to get used a lot. Assuming the flashing red light on the thumb drive indicates some sort of activity, it would blink a lot when i used it as a readyboost device.

I cant say if i noticed any improvement in speed when i used it. It seemed like the system was a little faster but i didnt time it so i could be completely off.

But i suppose i am being stupid since patriot has a lifetime warrant so it doesnt really matter if it gets flashed to death.
 
Originally posted by: Frintin
Flash drives do have a limited number of times they can be "flashed!" Like Mem stated it is not being used over and over again while it is plugged in.
Click to expand...

Tthe vast majority of flash memory that die do so from poor handling and removal and insertion into and out of devices.

If not broken by handling flash memory should last for years for Readyboost purposes.


 
Lets see here, 10 year warranty and you'll upgrade to something much better before it wears out. I just added mine today however I haven't used it enough to comment on whether or not it works.
 
Yeah I'd not worry about the flash drive wearing out.

Readyboost isn't a foolproof way to increase performance. Essentially, the slower and more memory-strapped your machine is, the more of a difference Readyboost will make. If you already have a powerful machine with a lot of memory, Readyboost will still function but the improvement might not be all that noticable. A machine with just 512mb of ram will feel like a whole new computer, though.

If your machine kicks butt, don't rush out to buy a memory stick for Readyboost and expect dramatic improvements. I'd save my money and get more memory or better hardware. If you have one kicking around, though, by all means, toss it on! But memory sticks are very cheap these days and even I'm going to get one installed soon enough. But since the difference will be fairly slight for me, I'm not in a frantic rush to do so.

One neat thing to do would be to connect the flash drive directly to the motherboard header with an internal cable and hide the drive inside your case. That's my plan. Invisible is cool. 😀
 
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