Virtual RAM and readyboost - Enhancing your computer's RAM with a USB drive

Hi,

Don't shoot me now but I heard about this today. I'm excited as you can tell droppin it off instantly here on the forum.

You can enhance your computer's virtual RAM or RAM-memory with a USB-drive

Do you believe that you can speed up your computer with a USB flash drive? Just come and read this post. MiniTool software will show you how to use USB as RAM to achieve this purpose.

How to set readyboost

For those I shared something new, good luck with it.

I figure it could better your PC performance for let's say games or just overall.

a reply to: Untun

"As a rule of thumb, if you have a recent PC that has at least 4 GB of RAM, ReadyBoost probably won’t make enough of a difference to even make it worth your while. But if your system has 2 GB of RAM or less, you could potentially enjoy a speed increase ranging anywhere from barely noticeable to moderate."

Couldn't you do the same by allocating more space to your pagefile?

a reply to: quietspectator

Limitations

Since flash drives wear out after a finite (though very large) number of writes, ReadyBoost will eventually wear out the drive it uses. According to the Microsoft Windows Client Performance group, the drive should be able to operate for at least ten years.

Wikipedia - Readyboost

a reply to: Flatcoat

This article explains how to increase virtual memory in Windows 10 by adjusting the page file.

Adjusting the Page File in Windows 10
Are you seeing warning messages like, "Your system is low on virtual memory"?

This is because your Windows 10 PC doesn't have enough RAM and is trying to write to virtual memory, but the page file that serves as virtual memory has a file size limit that's too low.

How to increase Virtual RAM by adjusting the page file

originally posted by: quietspectator
a reply to: Untun

"As a rule of thumb, if you have a recent PC that has at least 4 GB of RAM, ReadyBoost probably won’t make enough of a difference to even make it worth your while. But if your system has 2 GB of RAM or less, you could potentially enjoy a speed increase ranging anywhere from barely noticeable to moderate."

Yearh but if you are watching twitch vods or doing any animation work, any ram boost is welcome in my book.

Virtual RAM and readyboost - Enhancing your computer's RAM with a USB drive

Only if you have a pre 2015 PC .
On anything newer , it will only slow it down .

originally posted by: Flatcoat
Couldn't you do the same by allocating more space to your pagefile?

No. A pagefile and Reasyboost are 2 separate deals .

I will say , if you have 32gb RAM , you can use a true RAM Drive , but not for Readyboost or a pagefile .

i don't see the usb keeping up with bus speed requests from a first person shooter
might be helpful for loading *huge* files

originally posted by: quietspectator
a reply to: Untun

"As a rule of thumb, if you have a recent PC that has at least 4 GB of RAM, ReadyBoost probably won’t make enough of a difference to even make it worth your while. But if your system has 2 GB of RAM or less, you could potentially enjoy a speed increase ranging anywhere from barely noticeable to moderate."

It's not in the size of the RAM , it's in the size and speed . With speed being the key .
DDR4 will most likely show no improvement .

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: Flatcoat
Couldn't you do the same by allocating more space to your pagefile?

No. A pagefile and Reasyboost are 2 separate deals .

If it's using a USB drive to cache ram, it's a page file.
And it's a terrible idea.
Ready boost came out a good long while ago, and anyone with tech experience wrote it off immediately because it's just another page file.... on another disk.

I don't own a computer built in the last six years because I work in the field and have cobblers shoes... no way I'd use ready boost

a reply to: Untun

For the money you spent on the USB drive. You could of put that towards adding more RAM on the pc. Using that method you limit yourself to the transfer rate of the USB hub. Which is much slower than if you just added more RAM.

If you don't have at least 16gb of RAM on your pc. You should be looking to upgrade. If you could buy 32gb of RAM. Do so. It's worth it.

originally posted by: lordcomac

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: Flatcoat
Couldn't you do the same by allocating more space to your pagefile?

No. A pagefile and Reasyboost are 2 separate deals .

If it's using a USB drive to cache ram, it's a page file.
And it's a terrible idea.
Ready boost came out a good long while ago, and anyone with tech experience wrote it off immediately because it's just another page file.... on another disk.

I don't own a computer built in the last six years because I work in the field and have cobblers shoes... no way I'd use ready boost

If it's using a USB drive to cache ram, it's a page file.

Readyboost is not a pagefile .
And it works good under certain conditions .
It's about 1/2 pagefile and 1/2 RAM drive . (at least that's semi the way it works)

The system has I am on now has 32gb DDR 4 3200 with memory profile enabled .
I actually tried Readyboost with a 32GB USB 3.0 drive.
Windows 11 tests the drive 1st before it will let you set up a Readyboost drive.
I overrode that via registry , just for grins and giggles .
(as i have the size and speed , I do not use a regular pagefile. It's set to 0)
Benched the system . Didn't show an increase or a decrease at all .
As it should have been .

a reply to: Untun
If you don't mind , either post your PC specs here or send me a PM . Including OS .
I will see if I can give you any hints on performance

a reply to: grey580

I need some, I have 4GB. I figure when one is 4Gb I can only add more 4Gb's. I figure it wouldn't be bad using a 32Gb USB for readyboost. There should be a slight benefit, don't you think?

a reply to: Gothmog

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2320 CPU @ 3.00GHz 3.00 GHz
4Gb RAM
Windows 10 HOME
NVIDEA GeForce GT 710 1Gb
500Gb HD (not SSD)

a reply to: Untun

Just get an SSD. That will give you a massive increase in performance and you can get a terabyte for like $40 these days.

a reply to: Untun
Ok , the CPU does 3.30 on boost .
Problem there : 4 cores and 4 threads.

Is this a laptop ?

a reply to: Gothmog

What seems to be the problem?

It's a desktop.