Windows ReadyBoost does it actually work?

[kspencerjr]

I'm currently using Readyboost on the laptop here (8 GB HP USB Drive), and after I reformatted it to exFAT I set it to use the whole thing (Some 7620 MB) as the RB cache - And it's quite a difference with the single core and 1 GB on here

 

[noobvious]

Quick Readyboost review on my end. I have an ASUS eeePC 1008HA (1GB ram, Windows 7 Starter). I put a 2GB 133x (Class 6 SDHC) card in and dedicated it to Readyboost. I just wanted to give it a try instead of ripping the thing apart to put a 2GB memory module upgrade.

At first I didn't think it had done anything.. but I guess it takes time to load all the prefetch and data and commonly used programs. The difference on this netbook is like night and day now. Everything is zippy. Boot time is probably 25-50% faster (subjectively as I didn't measure it). It definitely had a large impact on this machine. Of course it will never fully substitute a ram upgrade, but it was quite helpful. It may also help that I'm using one of the older SD cards that were manufactured with SLC and having faster write performance.

This is similar to what I experienced with my Asus and its 1GB RAM. I added a 4GB Class 10 SDHC and like pestul, after a few days, I really started to see a difference.(and the card was less than $10)

 

[tracker1]

ReadyBoost Does Help

Will it help for all people, in all situations? No.
Will it help if I have an SSD for my main drive? No.
Will it help if I have a lot of ram (8GB+)? Not Much

Other than that, go for it... You can get a fast 16GB USB3 flash drive (that will max out USB2) for < $30USD, and it's worth considering if you're on a spinning hdd.

At work I'm on a desktop with 4GB of ram (max for the system), but typically using all that, and extending to the pagefile (boat anchor). I got a really fast USB3 flash drive (maxes out the USB2 interface) and allocated 12GB for readyboost. It's used for development, and a lot of files are regularly accessed... I can definitively say it does help a lot.

 

[pmarceau]

This only helps computer that are low on RAM
quoted from Windows Tutorial about Readyboost.

"This will show you how to setup and use ReadyBoost in Windows 7 with USB flash drives and flash memory cards to help speed up your computer.

However, you may not notice any increase in performance if your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements of 1 GB RAM for 32-bit Windows 7 OR 2 GB RAM for 64-bit Windows 7 installed."

I was hoping it worked like linking multiple drives as RAID like striping or mirroring.
If there is any increase you won't notice.
Also if you have an SSD HD windows will disable it, as it can only slow you down.
Hope this helps.
I found this post by asking same question, and found answer so I thought I'd share it.
Have a good day all,