Vista's ReadyBoost? WTF?

[TBSN]

I know what ReadyBoost does, I just have questions about it's purpose. Here's what I read about the technology:

READYBOOST
Windows ReadyBoost? makes PCs running genuine Windows Vista more responsive by caching key system information on a USB flash drive or other flash memory form factor. This speeds performance because the flash memory can often be accessed more quickly than the hard disk.


?Add-in?:
Adding system memory (RAM) is often the best way to improve your PC's performance. More memory means applications can run without needing to access the hard drive. However, upgrading memory is not always easy. You need to know what type of memory you need, purchase the memory, and open your computer to install the memory?which sometimes can invalidate your support agreement. Also, some machines have limited memory expansion capabilities, preventing you from adding RAM even if you are willing to do so.


So, was this essentially a feature that was put in so that more people could make the jump to Vista without adding more memory to their systems, or does it do something that RAM doesn't? I don't really see the point of adding system memory in this way if that's the only point; I can just imagine people with low-end machines and USB dongles hanging out of every USB port...

I'm actually very interested in Vista and have been considering it for the system I'm going to build, so don't take this as an attack against the new operating system.

 

[Mem]

In my experience with Vista x64 and 4GB of system ram,my 4GB ReadyBoost flash drive still gets used regardless of how much ram you have.

How useful it is,well only you can answer that on your own PC.

 

[Tegeril]

It's not a system memory boost. It's similar to... a prefetch cache, I think. Data that can be read faster from flash memory as a result of random reads and smaller files sizes is stored on the flash drive so that the OS need not hit the hard drive, potentially wait for a spin up, and then send that data to ram.

 

[cessation]

What Tegeril said.

Typical drives people use have 9-12ms seek/read/write time. I believe some flash memory sticks are around 3ms unless I'm mistaken. So small amounts of data can be retrieved faster from flash than most HDDs.

 

[TBSN]

Originally posted by: cessation
What Tegeril said.

Typical drives people use have 9-12ms seek/read/write time. I believe some flash memory sticks are around 3ms unless I'm mistaken. So small amounts of data can be retrieved faster from flash than most HDDs.

Ok, flash memory is faster. But that's why we have RAM, right? I just think that using removable flash-drives is a clumsy fix... Why not just use part of the RAM for prefetching?

I don't know, I guess I just don't like the idea of having a potentially permanent piece of hardware sticking out of a USB port.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Originally posted by: TBSN

Originally posted by: cessation
What Tegeril said.

Typical drives people use have 9-12ms seek/read/write time. I believe some flash memory sticks are around 3ms unless I'm mistaken. So small amounts of data can be retrieved faster from flash than most HDDs.

Ok, flash memory is faster. But that's why we have RAM, right? I just think that using removable flash-drives is a clumsy fix... Why not just use part of the RAM for prefetching?

I don't know, I guess I just don't like the idea of having a potentially permanent piece of hardware sticking out of a USB port.

It's another layer between ram and HDD. Obviously more system ram is better, but flash drives are becoming more and more common.

 

[mechBgon]

I don't know, I guess I just don't like the idea of having a potentially permanent piece of hardware sticking out of a USB port.

Some motherboards now have internal USB ports specifically for ReadyBoost. Asus has some which actually have a ReadyBoost-specific flash drive built right into the motherboard, in fact: http://event.asus.com/vista_ready/asap.htm

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: BlameCanada

Originally posted by: TBSN

Originally posted by: cessation
What Tegeril said.

Typical drives people use have 9-12ms seek/read/write time. I believe some flash memory sticks are around 3ms unless I'm mistaken. So small amounts of data can be retrieved faster from flash than most HDDs.

Ok, flash memory is faster. But that's why we have RAM, right? I just think that using removable flash-drives is a clumsy fix... Why not just use part of the RAM for prefetching?

I don't know, I guess I just don't like the idea of having a potentially permanent piece of hardware sticking out of a USB port.

It's another layer between ram and HDD. Obviously more system ram is better, but flash drives are becoming more and more common.

...and flash is a lot cheaper than DDR/DDR2. 4GB CF cards can be had for under $50. DDR SDRAM is in the $75-125/GB range.

Obviously, adding more 'real' RAM is going to be better. But if you don't want to shell out as much cash, or you've maxed out your system's memory configuration (which is 4x1GB for most desktops, maybe 4x2GB for newer ones) and you're still hitting the swapfile, this may make it hurt less. Also, Windows can use ReadyBoost as prefetch for data while keeping SuperFetch data (like other program executables you frequently use) in RAM, so it may benefit overall performance even if you aren't completely exhausting your RAM.

 

[TBSN]

Thanks for clearing this all up for me...

Those new Asus boards look really nice, but a little over the top for my needs I think. Depending on the price when I order the parts, I may just swing it 🙂 I mean, who doesn't need a screen and a remote for their motherboard.

As I think about it, I'm all for innovation in the OS that requires hardware changes. I could see systems in the future with two "layers" of flash-memory, like RAM, for the OS to use. But then again, I'm not well-versed in exactly how that kind of thing works (prefetching, etc.) so I wouldn't really know.