ReadyBoost vs additional Memory?

[Evan Platt]

My specs are a Compaq Presario S6000Z desktop, AMD 3000 Athlon, 1 GB
memory, DDR 2700

Vista runs OK.. I can hear every once in a while what sounds like
either a fan kicking on, or a hard drive spinning up for a few
seconds. It seems to be when I access 'fresh' data - ie open a file on
my hard drive. I don't think it's hard drive, as I can see the file I
opened before I hear the whir.

One peeve is swapping. I did set a 1500 meg swap file on my primary
drive, but very often, Vista will hang, and I can see the hard drive
light going crazy.

I can sometimes alt-tab, but often, once I select the app to switch
to, the drive just goes crazy.

So my question is, what's a better investment, 1 gb of memory (I now
have 1 gig in 2 512 sticks and 2 slots total on my machine, so I could
get 1.5 gigs total, the new 1 gig stick and 512 in the other slot) or
say a USB thumbdrive?

I'm looking at a 1 GB stick for about $50 or a 2 gb thumb drive (
http://www.pricewatch.com/h/info.aspx?i=226&z=3516&ro=27&aid=12003991
)

Any tips / suggestions?

Thanks.

Evan

 

[Guest]

Evan -

I am assuming that you think Ready Boost of 2GB would be like 512mb RAM?

Definitely not.

IF you are looking to spend on upgrading your computer, get RAM for the
inside. First off, its internal so you dont need to worry about it.
Readyboost is only a prefetch - its not going to help you on most
things...its a nitroboost for windows.

I highly reccomend spending to upgrade to 1-2GBs of ram. Vista needs it.

 

[Steve Lange]

The USB thumbdrives are more cost effective. However, I'm not sure about
performance. I did plan on buying a flash drive to test this feature but as
yet do not have one. If money is an issue buy the thumb drive and give it a
whirl. My guess is that actual memory will probably be faster but will cost
you about twice as much or even more at higher Gigs.

 

[Guest]

: "I highly reccomend spending to upgrade to 1-2GBs of ram.
Vista needs it."

R U "Serious"?

???

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

He's serious.

: "I highly reccomend spending to upgrade to 1-2GBs of ram.
Vista needs it."

R U "Serious"?

???

 

[Guest]

Then, I Say, Microsoft Has Got "Serious" Problems!

...."SERIOUS PROBLEMS"!!!

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Why is that? Just about everybody wants a faster OS, 3D GUI, and really
nifty searches. That takes more and more resources. Surely this is no
surprise.

Then, I Say, Microsoft Has Got "Serious" Problems!

..."SERIOUS PROBLEMS"!!!

 

[Bones]

I would go with another gig ram, you know it will work well. With the usb
drive, there are too many unknowns, will it work well, how much performance
will you gain etc etc In my area you can pick up a gig of pc2700 or pc3200
for about $100, not sure how much a 1G flash drive would cost

 

[Guest]

Technology Enthusiasts, Hobbyist, Gamers WANT "...a faster OS, 3D GUI..."!

Your Own Research Shows That, The Vast Majority of Users Just WANT To Read
Their E-Mail & SEARCH!

U DO NOT NEED a "Hot Rod"/Tricked-Out OS/System To Read Your E-Mail &
Search!!!

Re: Vista requires too much hardware say users

http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/4606/53/

 

[Guest]

Memory these days is extremely cheap (getting 1gig of ram cost less than a
100 bucks)..

Apparenly many people havn't dealt with Macs before or they wouldn't think
anything of Vista's requirements. Its not unheard of for a Mac owner to
have 2+ gig of ram in their machines.

I consider 512min and 1 Gig suggested as an extremely low memory needs
considering what we get. I mean for what its worth Windows XP 'in reality'
had the same needs once you actually started to use it for more than just
browsing the internet or using notepad.

 

[Gaoler]

: "I highly reccomend spending to upgrade to 1-2GBs of ram.
Vista needs it."

R U "Serious"?

???

Dead serious! Vista is a pig! A resource hog, esp. if you run all of
the visual effects. The public beta certainly seems better than build
5308 was, so at least it is improving and they are moving in the right
direction with it.

 

[mikeyhsd]

try setting the PAGE FILE to SYSTEM MANAGED, might help, 1500 meg is a little restrictive with your memory.



(e-mail address removed)



My specs are a Compaq Presario S6000Z desktop, AMD 3000 Athlon, 1 GB
memory, DDR 2700

Vista runs OK.. I can hear every once in a while what sounds like
either a fan kicking on, or a hard drive spinning up for a few
seconds. It seems to be when I access 'fresh' data - ie open a file on
my hard drive. I don't think it's hard drive, as I can see the file I
opened before I hear the whir.

One peeve is swapping. I did set a 1500 meg swap file on my primary
drive, but very often, Vista will hang, and I can see the hard drive
light going crazy.

I can sometimes alt-tab, but often, once I select the app to switch
to, the drive just goes crazy.

So my question is, what's a better investment, 1 gb of memory (I now
have 1 gig in 2 512 sticks and 2 slots total on my machine, so I could
get 1.5 gigs total, the new 1 gig stick and 512 in the other slot) or
say a USB thumbdrive?

I'm looking at a 1 GB stick for about $50 or a 2 gb thumb drive (
http://www.pricewatch.com/h/info.aspx?i=226&z=3516&ro=27&aid=12003991
)

Any tips / suggestions?

Thanks.

Evan

 

[Guest]

Then perhaps people should not be using a Hot Rod"/Tricked-Out OS/System" if
they do not need it. It's need versus want. I don't need a car capable of
top speeds over 150 mph, but I surely want one...

If you relly want to open it up, the average home user needs no more power
than I have in my cell phone for computing needs.

Is Microsoft (or Adobe, or Corel for that matter) to blame because people
lack common sense? Should they implement a "common sense" test before
allowing access to their respective products?

Just my humble opinion, but as mom used to say, "You can't fix stupid."

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

I don't do research for a company. I am not employed by MS. All of this is
going to be pretty moot in half a year. 95% of all installations of Vista
will ship preinstalled on new computers anyway, just like XP does today.

 

[Steve Lange]

Well, I can get 1GB of RAM for about $100 but I can get a 4GB flash drive
for $115. So it's cost vs. performance. Is a 4GB flash drive equal to or
greater than 1GB of RAM?

 

[R. McCarty]

RAM count isn't directly comparable. One is on the System bus
the other must communicate via USB. Better to add physical RAM.

Well, I can get 1GB of RAM for about $100 but I can get a 4GB flash drive
for $115. So it's cost vs. performance. Is a 4GB flash drive equal to or
greater than 1GB of RAM?

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

I bought a Sony Vaio Vault 8GB flash drive last month and it cost me about
$170. It still is no competitor to the onboard ram.

Well, I can get 1GB of RAM for about $100 but I can get a 4GB flash drive
for $115. So it's cost vs. performance. Is a 4GB flash drive equal to or
greater than 1GB of RAM?

 

[Steve Lange]

Thanks. I guess I'll buy the RAM then.

Well, I can get 1GB of RAM for about $100 but I can get a 4GB flash drive
for $115. So it's cost vs. performance. Is a 4GB flash drive equal to or
greater than 1GB of RAM?

 

[milleron]

I'm sure you're happy with Linux. Microsoft is trying to something
different with Vista Ultimate. Why would that lead you to be critical
of the effort? I imagine that the base version will run with 512MB if
that' more appealing to you, but Beta 2 is not that version. That's
not too difficult to understand.

 

[Evan Platt]

Memory these days is extremely cheap (getting 1gig of ram cost less than a
100 bucks)..

Apparenly many people havn't dealt with Macs before or they wouldn't think
anything of Vista's requirements. Its not unheard of for a Mac owner to
have 2+ gig of ram in their machines.

I consider 512min and 1 Gig suggested as an extremely low memory needs
considering what we get. I mean for what its worth Windows XP 'in reality'
had the same needs once you actually started to use it for more than just
browsing the internet or using notepad.

I have a G4 'server' sitting on my desk with 512..

Granted, it's in console mode (shell only) so no GUI.. But even in
Aqua mode, it runs fine with 512.