Windows ReadyBoost does it actually work?

I've used this option in vista and set it to use 1gb of the device and didn't see major speed improvement :l does readyboost work better on windows 7?

ReadyBoost's effect is most evident when used on systems with limited resources. On systems with ample system memory, fast hard drives and large page files, ReadyBoost has little effect with most applications.

smarteyeball said:

On a machine with only 512mb RAM + readyboost, it's very noticeable.

However with 1GB it's a lot less noticeable and as weh mentioned, systems with ample resources - it's basically pointless.

True...

I tried it with 2GB and then with 4GB Readyboost. There was really no noticable difference. On low spec systems you will notice that probably... im quiet sure about that.

^^^, i agree with that, tried it with my 4gB RAM system, didnt notice any difference.

Have it on my netbook (1GB Ram and small SSD). I use 4GB Readyboost on a High-End 16GB HDSC Card, and I saw a huge difference while using Office 2007 or other Apps. But I don't know if 4GB are useful ; maybe I could only use like 2GB with the same results...

I work with large files in photoshop quite often. I've got 4Gb ram(only 3.2Gb seen by 64bit Windows 7).

When I open a photoshop file of say 800mb it creates a temporary page file of up to and over 15Gb on my hard drive, and sometimes I run into error messages saying 'not enough memory - increase page file size' or something similar. I sometimes set my pagefile to use both my secondary internal hard drive and my external hard drive - would redyboost be a better for using my external drive than just letting my pagefile use it?

The number 1 best thing to throw at PhotoShop (assuming an x64 operating system and the current version of PS) is more main memory. This reduces PS's need to cache to disk as often.

PhotoShop manages its own temporary scratch files to which it writes image data that it cannot hold in memory. These are best directed to a drive other than that which contains the operating system, applications, and your primary working data storage. It does no good to direct them to a different partition on the same drive: That just makes the OS and hard drive work more to retrieve the data.

A page file stores blocks of data from active memory which have been forced out because of more pressing need for that memory space. Increasing active memory reduces this need. Placing the page file on a drive not containing the operating system and applications often improves efficiency. Page file size is best set to a fixed size based on total system memory installed. (see: setting page file info)

ReadyBoost stores snippets of data that are repeatedly requested from the hard drives on the premise that the media used for the ReadyBoost storage can respond much more quickly than the slower, mechanical hard drive. This is very different from the purpose of the page file (although both are aimed at increasing the overall efficiency of the whole system). ReadyBoost is most effective in system with minimal system memory and/or in situations where a finite number of file segments are needed repeatedly by the operating system and/or applications.

Thanx weh, niceley explained. Unfortunately I'm limited to 4gig RAM in my laptop - and can't even access all of that - as far as I know my bios does not allow it, think I should get myself one of those 16Gig flashdrives for readyboost, can't do any harm :)