Vista ReadyBoost and iPod

[Deleted member 143938]

Can I use an iPod to boost my memory in Vista, effectively having something around 31gb of RAM? That sounds crazy, that's why I'm asking. It'd be so cool if it would work that way

 

[dot_Zen]

No.

 

[calebb]

No.

QFT

Readyboost takes advantage of the fact that flash memory has very fast access times (especially on random, small reads) compared to a hard drive which can take a few milliseconds to start transfering data to your system bus, RAM, video card, etc.

However, once that transfer starts, your hard drive is probably significantly faster (depending on the speed of your flash memory).

Readyboost keeps a copy of certain parts of your system page file so that the Operating system can more quickly page to/from disk.

Personally, I notice a big difference when I play a game, and then resume my general Windows desktop use - the Readyboost drive helps repopulate your system RAM from the page file which is a much bigger deal in Vista than it was in XP - since in Vista, your system RAM stays populated with applications/code that you frequently access.

I hope my run-on sentences weren't too horrendous!

 

[Deleted member 143938]

QFT

Readyboost takes advantage of the fact that flash memory has very fast access times (especially on random, small reads) compared to a hard drive which can take a few milliseconds to start transfering data to your system bus, RAM, video card, etc.

However, once that transfer starts, your hard drive is probably significantly faster (depending on the speed of your flash memory).

Readyboost keeps a copy of certain parts of your system page file so that the Operating system can more quickly page to/from disk.

Personally, I notice a big difference when I play a game, and then resume my general Windows desktop use - the Readyboost drive helps repopulate your system RAM from the page file which is a much bigger deal in Vista than it was in XP - since in Vista, your system RAM stays populated with applications/code that you frequently access.

I hope my run-on sentences weren't too horrendous!

I still don't understand. Would plugging my iPod in for the speedboots... provide any kind of a speed boost or anything that would be used in my favor?

 

[calebb]

First of all, Readyboost requires FLASH memory - like an iPod nano, mini, etc. Since those iPods can be mounted as a drive, I believe you can use them as a Readyboost drive.

If you use an iPod with a hard drive, it will suffer the same problems every hard drive has: ~3-7 millisecond access time. Even if you did manage to trick Vista into letting you use a hard drive as a Readyboost drive, you would likely see little performance benefit since Vista would be expecting nanosecond access to random 4k blocks, yet your hard drive would be providing ms access - so Vista would end up not using your iPod at all...

In any case, how much system RAM do you have? Allocating up to 2.5x your system RAM as a Readyboost drive can be beneficial.

 

[zacdl]

First of all, Readyboost requires FLASH memory

Not true at all. I have an iRiver H10 (tons of better features and quality than any iPod), and one huge advantage to it is you don't need a program to sync it. Windows sees it as just any old hard drive- which means you can drag/drop stuff to it, and even backup non-music/photo/movie files.

That said- whenever I plug it in, I get the option of using it for ReadyBoost (it is a HARD DRIVE based model).

Just wanted to correct you on that statement, but the rest of your stuff is still valid.

Using another hard drive for readyboost isn't going to give you near as good of peformance increase compared to a flash drive. The only difference it might give you is the fact it is storing stuff on a seperate drive (even then it'll be marginal).

I personally would rather now have Vista using something I keep other data on as a ReadyBoost device anyways. I just don't trust it

 

[dot_Zen]

I'm unsure if the option being available during "Auto-Play" directly means the device is usable. I've tested a few USB drives that come up with this in "Auto-Play" but never actually create a pagefile on the device, nor can they pass the WinSAT tests for ReadyBoost.

Besides, you would want Readyboost cache on a device/drive that's not fragmented to hell and back.. And the average teenage gamer (sorry OP no offense to you if you are) will be downloading, uploading, removing, deleting, creating, etc. files onto their ipod daily without concern for fragmentation.

I said a short, sweet and simple no for one reason. I had a feeling this was going to eventually come up and want it to be nipped in the bud before every average end user gets the idea they can use their Ipod (or any music) device as a pagefiler..You talk about troubleshooting hell, that would be a nightmare..

Readyboost is not meant to increase system RAM. If you need a substantial speed boost for your games, OP, you need to buy more system memory. Readyboost is really for on the fly and expandable (quick) pagefile for systems with low system memory to begin with; but it's only a temporary solution. Sure it can boost systems with larger RAM address, but the benefits are minimal ( as in low milliseconds) if that.

Again, if you need better performance out of your rig for gaming, buy more RAM. Prices just recently dropped anywhere from 20-30%. And by the end of the summer could be down another 15-20% of that. Sounds like I hear some summer jobs a'callin'.

 

[zacdl]

I'm unsure if the option being available during "Auto-Play" directly means the device is usable. I've tested a few USB drives that come up with this in "Auto-Play" but never actually create a pagefile on the device, nor can they pass the WinSAT tests for ReadyBoost.

I've used it
And I have never been impressed with ReadyBoost, even with flash drives, I didn't think the HDD was any different.

Besides, you would want Readyboost cache on a device/drive that's not fragmented to hell and back..

Another advantage of iRiver... you can defragment the darn thing.

If you need a substantial speed boost for your games, OP, you need to buy more system memory.

Ditto, Ditto, Ditto. RB sucks, IMO, and more RAM is the only way to (still) go.

 

[Deleted member 143938]

OK, so since iPod is a HDD, it won't help. But what if I get a cheap 1GB flash drive, would that provide a speed boost? I don't quite understand how it works, does adding lets say a 1GB flash drive to act with speedboost 'trick' it into thinking I have 2GB of RAM on my computer?

I have 1GB real RAM right now

 

[LhasaCM]

OK, so since iPod is a HDD, it won't help. But what if I get a cheap 1GB flash drive, would that provide a speed boost? I don't quite understand how it works, does adding lets say a 1GB flash drive to act with speedboost 'trick' it into thinking I have 2GB of RAM on my computer?

I have 1GB real RAM right now

No - it isn't a replacaement for RAM. It is a supplement to have a pagefile cached on your hard drive. And a cheap 1GB flash drive (depending on how cheap) might not be fast enough to use ReadyBoost with - I wouldn't bother going out to buy a flash drive to use ReadyBoost with. If you happen to have one lying around, great...if not, you'd be better off buying RAM.

 

[zacdl]

If you use ReadyBoost because you think it speeds things up (I don't think it helps at all, but whatever), good for you.

But there is ZERO reason to go out and buy something for ReadyBoost. If you are going out to buy something- buy real RAM. ReadyBoost is no replacement for REAL RAM.

 

[Deleted member 143938]

If you use ReadyBoost because you think it speeds things up (I don't think it helps at all, but whatever), good for you.

But there is ZERO reason to go out and buy something for ReadyBoost. If you are going out to buy something- buy real RAM. ReadyBoost is no replacement for REAL RAM.

I never claimed it is, that's how I thought it works, and if not, it's obvious according to the description that there's some kind of a speed boost involved. Now I don't know where you buy your RAM, but another gig of my ram would be 120 dollars, quite a bit more expensive than a 1GB flashdrive that costs 20 max. If I had money, I'd buy RAM, but my question wasn't about RAM, it was about a pretty much free speed boost (or so I thought)

 

[RangerXML]

delete

 

[dot_Zen]

[snip..] another gig of my ram would be 120 dollars

[snip..] quite a bit more expensive than a

[snip..]1GB flashdrive that costs 20 max.

[snip..] free speed boost (or so I thought)

Now I know you're not really TylerDurden

In all serious though, think about it. If you continue down the line of thought you're own(or were) RAM would be useless. And I just don't see that day coming anytime soon.

 

[LhasaCM]

I never claimed it is, that's how I thought it works, and if not, it's obvious according to the description that there's some kind of a speed boost involved. Now I don't know where you buy your RAM, but another gig of my ram would be 120 dollars, quite a bit more expensive than a 1GB flashdrive that costs 20 max. If I had money, I'd buy RAM, but my question wasn't about RAM, it was about a pretty much free speed boost (or so I thought)

Based on your system specs, it looks like you'd need good ol' run of the mill DDR memory. "Cheap" but quality DDR RAM can be had for $65 for 2x512 or for 1x1 on NewEgg.com, so prices aren't as bad as you suggest. The $/performance ratio is definitely in RAM's favor, at least for the time being.

There can be a speed boost noticed depending on system usage and your hardware specs. On older machines, it might be more noticable, but a lot has to do with how your system uses the paging file, how fast the USB connection truly is, and how fast the drive is. It sounds nice, in theory, but in practice there are mixed results. That's why many people (not everyone) are of the opinion that it's worth trying if you happen to have a thumb drive lying around, but it isn't that great it's worth getting one just for that purpose.

 

[drizzt81]

Aside from the flash argument:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/03/VistaKernel/Default.aspx?loc=en

If you aren't already using a device for caching, and the new device is between 256MB and 32GB in size, has a transfer rate of 2.5MB/s or higher for random 4KB reads, and has a transfer rate of 1.75MB/s or higher for random 512KB writes, then ReadyBoost will ask if you'd like to dedicate up to 4GB of the storage for disk caching. (Although ReadyBoost can use NTFS, it limits the maximum cache size to 4GB to accommodate FAT32 limitations.)