Should I use ReadyBoost?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ernie Lane
  • Start date Start date
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Ernie Lane

I have a laptop with Vista, 2 GB RAM. Should I expect a performance
boost if I use ReadyBoost? I have a built-in memory card slot that I
never use, and I wonder if I should buy a ReadyBoost-capable card, stick
it in there and use it to boost my computer. I use Home Premium and 2
GB was recommended, but will 2 or 4 GB available for ReadyBoost help me?
 
Ernie Lane said:
I have a laptop with Vista, 2 GB RAM. Should I expect a performance boost
if I use ReadyBoost? I have a built-in memory card slot that I never use,
and I wonder if I should buy a ReadyBoost-capable card, stick it in there
and use it to boost my computer. I use Home Premium and 2 GB was
recommended, but will 2 or 4 GB available for ReadyBoost help me?
Click to expand...

In my experience, adding ReadyBoost to a 2GB RAM machine makes little to no
difference. I believe ReadyBoost was made for computers pushed to their
limits by Vista, ie. computers with 512MB or 1GB RAM and a slow,
traditional, single core processor.

Unless you frequently run particularly resource hogging software, I doubt
you will benefit from ReadyBoost. Anyway, if you intend to use a memory card
for ReadyBoost only, why not just add more RAM? It is relatively
inexpensive.

Charlie42
 
You are not going to see any improvement using Ready Boost. Ready boost is
fine for machines hat have between 512MB and 1GB of memory (that is what it
was designed for). If you have 2GB or more any improvement would be so
slight that it would not be noticeable.

--
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John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

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I have a laptop with Vista, 2 GB RAM. Should I expect a performance
boost if I use ReadyBoost?
Click to expand...


In my experience, no. ReadyBoost helps only on computers with less
than 2GB of RAM. And since my recommendation is that any Vista
computer with less than 2GB should be upgraded to at least 2GB, I
think ReadyBoost is essentially useless.
 
Had the same thought once. Not all memory card readers are USB2 so
Readyboost might not be available on the reader. See about testing it before
spending money on a high speed memory card.
 
.Joe said:
Not to take anything away from the previous posters, but I've
experienced something different with readyboost.

My boot up time has been cut in 1/2 and my shut down time is also at
least 33% faster. Some applications are appearing to open and run
faster.

My system has 1 X 4 GB DDR2 800 installed with a 4 GB readyboot USB
drive.

I've seen a measurable improvement by using readyboost. My .02
Click to expand...

That's incredibly unlikely with 4GB of RAM. RAM is much faster than flash
memory, and with 4GB, there is always going to be a lot for caching, unless
you have a few large applications and files open. I think your perceived
speed increases might be due to SuperFetch tuning up or maybe ongoing
defragmentation.

ss.
 
It may also be due to the installation of SP1. I can't say I've noticed any
increase in speed when starting up or shutting down the machine but
independent benchmark tests suggest that there is a 5 second gain on tart up
and 2 second gain on shutdown (source: Windows Vista The Official Magazine
(Future Publishing) issue 16: Page 41

--
--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
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