Any reason to use Readyboost on Windows 7 X64 with 8GB?

Sure the HDD cache is faster than the USB stick. But it is only 32 MB compared to 4 GB or so. Most HDD only have 16 MB or even 8 MB cache.
wouldn't W7 be smart enough to fully use the HDD cache and only use readyboost if the HDD cache is full already?

Maybe my readyboost doesn't help much, but do you think with good HDDs it would slow me down?

7echno7im said:

I recommend turning off the Windows write-cache buffer if you want more performance from your drives, but be sure that you have a power backup in case of loss of power. Not buffering the write cache could lead to loss of data if you lose power in midst of a write.

Computer Management> Device Manager>Disk Drives>[Select one]>Properties>Policies>Enable write cache>Turn Off write-cache buffer

Depending on your drive type, you may have even more performance options.

Can anyone else verify this? Would this be a good idea to do on a laptop? Will disabling it really improve performance?

Regarding Paging, disabling it altogether is a bad idea. What about setting it to a low setting, such as 512 MB?

I tried ready-boost on a system with only 1 gig and 2 gig ready-boost and didn't see much difference. Since that system wasn't being stretched i.e. using over 750mb the ready-boost didn't do much. It's basically just a disk cache for small bits of data. Reading from disk is far quicker for bigger sequential reads.

I played around with ReadyBoost under Vista and I didn't see 1 bit of difference with it enabled. With anything more than 2GB of RAM, I wouldn't even consider it. And since RAM is really cheap...might as well just put more RAM in it if you need to. And since the OP already has 8GB...there really isn't any more need.

As far as page files go, i usually recommend hard setting the size so that Windows doesn't adjust the size on the fly and possible fragment stuff. With regards to size...since hard drives are so incredibly cheap these days, why not make a 1x or 1.5x RAM pagefile and just be done with it. Even if you don't use it....it's unlikely that it will really take up that much of your hard drive...you can always shrink it later if you really need the hard drive space back.

Whether you use a USB stick, SD card, etc, or not before you go disabling the Readyboost service you might want to read up on Readyboot.

I have been outside playing volleyball, me on one side and all of the kids on the other side. I am sore and tired. Tomorrow, I will post a number of references to address some of the archaic, mythic and just wrong information posted here. I will include source documentation links and will not include any anecdotal content. In the meantime, I am hoping that that some of you will do a little bit of homework and research the subject matter. HINT: You should not look at tweak guides.

Quoting myself is poor form. -1 on me.

Antman said:

ReadyBoost does more than emulate RAM or Page. It complements SuperFetch. It caches certain disk I/O....

Let me define "Systems" as meaning hardware + Software. Some systems will never need the page file. Some systems will never need ReadyBoost. Some systems will experience a performance degradation using either or both. Some systems will benefit from either or both.

Many of the existing processes for analysis of page file efficiency will determine degradation vs. beneficence. Only direct examination of a particular system under a range of operational modalities will reveal the answer....

pparks1 said:

...since hard drives are so incredibly cheap these days, why not make a 1x or 1.5x RAM pagefile and just be done with it. Even if you don't use it....

I seem to have great difficulties reading various posts on this board...

RAM pagefile?
If you have a pagefile in RAM, you're just subtracting that much that could be used as system memory.

Perhaps I should read more...

(C'mon Antman, start typing !!!)

ChuckR said:

RAM pagefile? If you have a pagefile in RAM, you're just subtracting that much that could be used as system memory...
(C'mon Antman, start typing !!!)

He typed: why not make a 1x or 1.5x RAM pagefile and just be done with it.
It is not unreasonable to interpret this as: Just use the archaic formula, Page File Size = Physical memory times 1 or 1.5

I really am tired.

Yes, I mean to set your pagefile = RAM x 1.0 or RAM x 1.5. For example, I have 8GB of RAM, and Windows suggested a 12GB page file. So, since I have 1TB of disk space and well over 850GB of free space, I figured why not.

Again, do I need a 12GB page file with 8GB RAM? Not likely.
Can I get the disk space back later if I need it? Yes.

pparks1 said:

Yes, I mean to set your pagefile = RAM x 1.0 or RAM x 1.5. For example, I have 8GB of RAM, and Windows suggested a 12GB page file. So, since I have 1TB of disk space and well over 850GB of free space, I figured why not.

Again, do I need a 12GB page file with 8GB RAM? Not likely.
Can I get the disk space back later if I need it? Yes.

That all depends on what applications you plan on running, I could kill that amount in a couple of mouse clicks.

I do beleive that.. this formula is one of the myth's Antman is on about. The reason being is if someone has a minimum amout of ram (say 500mb for arguments sake) and sets it to x1.5 (750mb), their still gonna run out of memory pretty sharpish depending on what they run.

Try running 3d Max and creating a sphere, then add a 'TurboSmooth' modifier to it and put the 'Iterations' up by 30 if you can.. it'll soon kill your memory and your CPU will have a head-ache for awhile.
(THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED, DO @ OWN RISK!!)


..& Yes, before anyone states the obvious.. I only have 2gb on an x64 system, but it runs perectly fine for what I need and I do beleive the virtual memory has something to do with this.