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usb readyboost

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Deadstar   10-26-2008 at 04:29:37 PM

hi

i want to use a USB drive to take advantage of vista's readyboost function

i have a 2gb drive which i bought sometime ago but apparently its not compatible with ReadyBoost. is there something i can do instead of buying a diferent one? like formating it to a different file format or something?

i know they're cheap but i'd prefer to save that money for more ram and stuff.

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4ryan6   10-26-2008 at 04:42:24 PM
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Heres a good article to help you.

http://www.extremetech.com/article [...] 818,00.asp

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speedbird   10-26-2008 at 04:57:18 PM
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Readyboost generally helps the most with PC's running 512MB of Ram, but with 1GB or more Ram, Readyboost may no longer be that beneficial.

ReadyBoost Capable Memory Flash Cards, like SD can also be used, which is great especially for laptops with Memory card readers since it saves having a flash pen sticking out.

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4ryan6   10-26-2008 at 06:02:50 PM
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Well I'm running 4G of system memory with a 1G USB PNY Flash Disk and it has increased my memory cache by 850mb and benchmark performance in 3DMark06 increased by apprx 400 points, which is just 1 benchmark comparison, but its a definite increase.

Not all usb flashdrives will work, either Vista can use it or not.

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badge   10-26-2008 at 08:02:38 PM
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Format your USB drive to NTFS for 'faster' performance. Interesting 4ryan6. Yes, Readyboost allows for more and faster cache (storage) for memory purposes. RAM can read from the faster flash drive and stay away from the slower HD. I'm a street talkin' man don't you know. :lol:

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Deadstar   10-26-2008 at 08:29:19 PM
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formated to NTFS, still doesn't work. i guess it's just too slow then -.-

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badge   10-26-2008 at 08:49:32 PM
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You might look up the product page of your drive and see if Vista Readyboost capable is stated there. Most drives I have work as a Readyboost drive.

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4ryan6   10-28-2008 at 02:24:09 PM
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Initial performance boosts were a fluke, I've formated the USB drive as FAT, FAT32, and NTFS, and reran performance tests using it as Ready Boost, so far FAT32 has performed the best, over NTFS???[That was puzzling!, since the HDD File System is NTFS?, but this is a memory aide not HDD]

 

However the first initial performance gains have not as yet been reduplicated VS using the Ready Boost or not using it, so IMO if you're running large amounts of system memory, Ready Boost isn't going to help much, and if the USB drive is formatted to FAT, it will actually hurt your performance.


Message edited by 4ryan6 on 10-28-2008 at 02:25:55 PM
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badge   10-28-2008 at 03:22:35 PM
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Using a USB drive for Readyboost on your system does not necessarily make your system 'faster'. Readyboost allows for more cache or data 'storage' waiting to be processed where system RAM is concerned, not so much for raw 'speed'. Of course a Readyboost enabled drive would best for a system starved for actual physical RAM. Adding physical RAM would be a better solution. Anyway, the USB drive should be faster formatted as NTFS. Doesn't NTFS perform faster than FAT 32 by defination? I'm just saying...

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