ready boost

MadCatClaudia

New Member
I have a few questions on this..

1) how does ready boost work?
2) I have a 2 gig usb drive that im using with ready boost but I havent noticed a memor difference in my graphics applications.
3) Can I add more usb drives and use more ready boost to up my ram?

Im a noivce to Vista.. I am runing 2 gigs of ram on my laptop a dell (hell) and I have running - 3d max 7, photoshop cs3 extended and usually either IE or flock running to upload my images to the web. I have a 2 gig usb drive hooked up using ready boost - it is allways flashing.. any way to add another usb drive to use as ram? or overclock the 2gig usb stick?

Can someone educate me on this?

A MadCat Claudia
http://www.imvu.com/shop/web_search.php?manufacturers_id=14494138
 

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Taken from Windows Administration: Inside the Windows Vista Kernel: Part 2

ReadyBoost
The speed of CPUs and memory are fast outpacing that of hard disks, so disks are a common system performance bottleneck. Random disk I/O is especially expensive because disk head seek times are on the order of 10 milliseconds-an eternity for today's 3GHz processors. While RAM is ideal for caching disk data, it is relatively expensive. Flash memory, however, is generally cheaper and can service random reads up to 10 times faster than a typical hard disk. Windows Vista, therefore, includes a feature called ReadyBoost to take advantage of flash memory storage devices by creating an intermediate caching layer on them that logically sits between memory and disks.

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.) If you agree, then the service creates a caching file named ReadyBoost.sfcache in the root of the device and asks SuperFetch to prepopulate the cache in the background.

After the ReadyBoost service initializes caching, the Ecache.sys device driver intercepts all reads and writes to local hard disk volumes (C:\, for example), and copies any data being written into the caching file that the service created. Ecache.sys compresses data and typically achieves a 2:1 compression ratio so a 4GB cache file will usually contain 8GB of data. The driver encrypts each block it writes using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption with a randomly generated per-boot session key in order to guarantee the privacy of the data in the cache if the device is removed from the system.

When ReadyBoost sees random reads that can be satisfied from the cache, it services them from there, but because hard disks have better sequential read access than flash memory, it lets reads that are part of sequential access patterns go directly to the disk even if the data is in the cache.
 

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System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
    Motherboard
    XFX MB-750I-72P9 NF750i
    Memory
    4096MB Corsair XMS2 PC-5400
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS Nvidia Geforce GTX470
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xonar DX
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell 24" S2409W & Dell 20" E207WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 & 1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    750GB Western Digital Caviar Black & 500GB Samsung
    PSU
    750 watt Thermaltake Toughpower
    Case
    Coolermaster Dominator 690 Nvidia Edition
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    Zalman CNPS9700-NT Cooler, 6x 120mm Chassis Fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G11 Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G5 Laser Mouse (2007 edition)
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
    Other Info
    abit airpace 54mbps wireless PCI-E x1 card
ok i mostly understood that..

so if i put a 10 gig stick it can only go up to 4 gig memory?

can i add more than one flash drive?

why havent I really noticed a performance differnec with it on or not on?

and what works first ? the ram in your pc or the flash drive? how do they communicate with each other or dont they?

does this really work?

head swims....
 

My Computer

Hello MadCatClaudia, welcome to Vista forums!

The best thing to do with 32-bit Vista would be to add more RAM up to 4GB.
That would get you the best bang for your buck!









Later :shock: Ted
 

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System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    * BFK Customs *
    CPU
    Intel C2Q 9550 Yorkfield
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5Q Pro
    Memory
    8GB Dominator 8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX ATI 1GB 4870 XXX
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD 7-1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1x 47" LCD HDMI & 2x 26" LCD HDMI
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080P & 1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    2x 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Cache WD Caviar Black
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX
    Case
    CM Cosmos RC-1000
    Cooling
    Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
    Keyboard
    HP Enhansed Multimedia
    Mouse
    Razer Diamondback 3G
    Internet Speed
    18.6Mb/s
    Other Info
    My First Build ;)
Hello again.

Take time to have a look at the whole article Everlong18 posted at the link above.
It's not so deep that you can't get some info out of it.
I haven't 'experimented' with RB as of yet, maybe someone that has will be able to help you more.






Later ;) Ted
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    * BFK Customs *
    CPU
    Intel C2Q 9550 Yorkfield
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5Q Pro
    Memory
    8GB Dominator 8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX ATI 1GB 4870 XXX
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD 7-1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1x 47" LCD HDMI & 2x 26" LCD HDMI
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080P & 1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    2x 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Cache WD Caviar Black
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX
    Case
    CM Cosmos RC-1000
    Cooling
    Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
    Keyboard
    HP Enhansed Multimedia
    Mouse
    Razer Diamondback 3G
    Internet Speed
    18.6Mb/s
    Other Info
    My First Build ;)
it's saying you can use part of your actual Hard Drive as well. if I read that correctly. you learn something every day, I only thought Ready boost was for usb flash drives. you can use from 256mb up to 32GB fUSB Flash Ready boost drives. . and can use 4GB of ur actual Hard Drive to be used the same way. I might look into using part of my HD myself since I'm not even using half of my 500GB, plus I backup anything large to the external.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q9650 E0 4.0 GHz @1.304v
    Motherboard
    eVGA 750i FTW
    Memory
    2x2GB Corsair Dominator PC2-8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA/MSI GTX 260 SLI
    Sound Card
    X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung T240 & 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200 & 1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Seagate Cuda 500GB 32mb Cache SATA 7200.(11) + 500GB Seagate Cuda External eSATA, USB, FW400
    PSU
    PC P&C 750w Silencer PSU
    Case
    CoolerMaster HAF 932 (Water-Cooled)
    Cooling
    Plenty of Fans, and a few 230mm Fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G11
    Mouse
    Logitech MX-518
    Other Info
    ASUS 20x Optical, Bose Companion 3, ATH-AD500 Cans :), Patriot Xporter 16GB Flash Drive (Very Fast), & Sandisk Micro 8GB.

    Nikon D40 DSLR with 18-105mm VR & 55-200mm VR
Wish I could help. I bought a fancy smancy high speed OCZ Rally2 8GB flash drive thinking I could take advantage of ReadyBoost, but after a little reading found out that if you have 4GB's of RAM, ReadyBoost is pointless. At least I still have the fancy flash drive... sooner or later I'll figure out some use for it. :o
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Fumz' Flux-Capacitor
    CPU
    E8400
    Motherboard
    DFI LP DK P35-T2RS
    Memory
    4GB G.Skill PC-1066
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS
    Sound Card
    X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    500GB W.D. RE2 Primary
    1TB W.D. Caviar GP WD10EACS
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
    Case
    Lian Li Lancool K62
    Cooling
    Thermalright Ultima-90/S-Flex 120mm
    Keyboard
    MS Natural Elite 4000 Ergonomic
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Internet Speed
    2.5MB/430
    Other Info
    D-Link DGL 4500
ya I've got a 8GB one.. but I use it weekly. I love it. the Titanium from Sandisk. it's one of the best. can't be broke. I like it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q9650 E0 4.0 GHz @1.304v
    Motherboard
    eVGA 750i FTW
    Memory
    2x2GB Corsair Dominator PC2-8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA/MSI GTX 260 SLI
    Sound Card
    X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung T240 & 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200 & 1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Seagate Cuda 500GB 32mb Cache SATA 7200.(11) + 500GB Seagate Cuda External eSATA, USB, FW400
    PSU
    PC P&C 750w Silencer PSU
    Case
    CoolerMaster HAF 932 (Water-Cooled)
    Cooling
    Plenty of Fans, and a few 230mm Fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G11
    Mouse
    Logitech MX-518
    Other Info
    ASUS 20x Optical, Bose Companion 3, ATH-AD500 Cans :), Patriot Xporter 16GB Flash Drive (Very Fast), & Sandisk Micro 8GB.

    Nikon D40 DSLR with 18-105mm VR & 55-200mm VR
Hello Claudia.

Yes, please post back with your results, as we are interested to hear what you find out!








Later ;) Ted
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    * BFK Customs *
    CPU
    Intel C2Q 9550 Yorkfield
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5Q Pro
    Memory
    8GB Dominator 8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX ATI 1GB 4870 XXX
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD 7-1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1x 47" LCD HDMI & 2x 26" LCD HDMI
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080P & 1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    2x 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Cache WD Caviar Black
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX
    Case
    CM Cosmos RC-1000
    Cooling
    Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
    Keyboard
    HP Enhansed Multimedia
    Mouse
    Razer Diamondback 3G
    Internet Speed
    18.6Mb/s
    Other Info
    My First Build ;)
I have a 4gb memory card (readyboost) in my 32 bit Vista Home Premium notebook and that has made a difference to speed. I also have a 2GB max of RAM.

After reading the above info I will investigate how much i can increase it with 4GB hdd space in the 32bit and my 64bit. Will report back.
 
Last edited:

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System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5920gmi notebook
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 2.00GHz
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800 x 4294967296 colors
    Internet Speed
    crawl
After trying to allocate a partition of 4GB to be used as Readyboost and reading up some more about it I have found that my hard drive cannot be allocated as Readyboost.

I even formatted the little partition in fat32 and still no luck.

The following is a very informative Q&A about Readyboost and i think i might have misunderstood the value of your hard drive as a readyboost extra.

Tom Archer's Blog : ReadyBoost Q&A
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5920gmi notebook
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 2.00GHz
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800 x 4294967296 colors
    Internet Speed
    crawl
I'm not sure where the idea came from that you could use a hard drive in place of a flash drive for ReadyBoost? The whole point of ReadyBoost was to not use the much slower hard drive. :sarc:
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Fumz' Flux-Capacitor
    CPU
    E8400
    Motherboard
    DFI LP DK P35-T2RS
    Memory
    4GB G.Skill PC-1066
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS
    Sound Card
    X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    500GB W.D. RE2 Primary
    1TB W.D. Caviar GP WD10EACS
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
    Case
    Lian Li Lancool K62
    Cooling
    Thermalright Ultima-90/S-Flex 120mm
    Keyboard
    MS Natural Elite 4000 Ergonomic
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Internet Speed
    2.5MB/430
    Other Info
    D-Link DGL 4500
I have a few questions on this..

1) how does ready boost work?
2) I have a 2 gig usb drive that im using with ready boost but I havent noticed a memor difference in my graphics applications.
3) Can I add more usb drives and use more ready boost to up my ram?

Im a noivce to Vista.. I am runing 2 gigs of ram on my laptop a dell (hell) and I have running - 3d max 7, photoshop cs3 extended and usually either IE or flock running to upload my images to the web. I have a 2 gig usb drive hooked up using ready boost - it is allways flashing.. any way to add another usb drive to use as ram? or overclock the 2gig usb stick?

Can someone educate me on this?

A MadCat Claudia

well scence no one has answer you question by question i'll anwser then for you.

1. "how does ready boost work?".

it works by increasing the amount of ram you have by using the flash in the fash drive. RAM (Random access memory) is saving you time on thoughs little applaction the will take the Hard drive a little more time to find the info on.

2. "I have a 2 gig usb drive that im using with ready boost but I havent noticed a memor difference in my graphics applications."

readyboost only works with overall computer performace. it can not work on increasing Graphics.

3. "Can I add more usb drives and use more ready boost to up my ram?"

No. ready boost only works with one usb readyboost device per vista windows.

When windows made Vista they found it very hard to get multiple readyboosts going on at one without it slowing down the compter.



4. "Im a noivce to Vista.. I am runing 2 gigs of ram on my laptop a dell (hell) and I have running - 3d max 7, photoshop cs3 extended and usually either IE or flock running to upload my images to the web. I have a 2 gig usb drive hooked up using ready boost - it is allways flashing.. any way to add another usb drive to use as ram? or overclock the 2gig usb stick?"

Well with 4 gig's of ram in total if you are still having a slow compture then it maybe your hard drive starting to go out (had it happen to me with computer slowing down then hard drive went out. replace hard drive and computer speed was just fine after that) or it prosseser speed.

If you flash drive is flashing that normaly means it has activity going though it. (aka readyboost is using the flash drive.)

Look at question 3 for the respons i gave about adding another flash drive.

overclocking is not recomend on any computer device. yeah it may incease speed or storage but the hardware you overclocked on will go out much sooner than it should. it can easly get over heated and possibly melt. Those are reasons why companies lable the speed there at. it so that they will last.

well if you have anymore question just let me know.
 

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yeah another little info that i been coming acrossed though out the web is that the readyboost feature was mainly for computers for 1gb of ram or less. above that ram spec and most of the time you notice little to no change on the speed of the compter.
 

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