T60 and Ramdrive Results (*PICS*)

[fefrie]

I just upgraded my T60's ram to "4gb" which made for more room for a ramdrive. I upgraded the ram to t61 compatible ram which is pc6400. I wish I tested the ramdrive when I had the pc5300 in it, but i'm too lazy to put back in the old memory, even though the memory reinstallation is much easier than on the t42

Here are my results



This is what it was with the t42:

[Johan]

... very interesting - thanks for sharing!

By the way, I believe that you are making (implicit) reference to the thread Ramdrive and T42 and Youtube & better than SSD performance where it is explained what a "RAMdrive" is, and how it can be installed.

Question: Have you had a chance (yet?) to get an impression of how much faster the T60 appear for various applications, after you'vre installed a RAMdrive in the T60?

Additional questions: a) Are you running Win7 on the T60, and b) do you have a SSD in the T60, and c) How large is the RAMdrive in the T60?

Thanks!

Johan

[GACrabill]

Question: Have you had a chance (yet?) to get an impression of how much faster the T60 appear for various applications, after you'vre installed a RAMdrive in the T60?

Additional questions: a) Are you running Win7 on the T60, and b) do you have a SSD in the T60, and c) How large is the RAMdrive in the T60?

Good questions for the OP.
Here's question d) what files are you placing on the RAMdrive ?

Here's my experience with a 256mb RAMdrive on a T60 with 4GB of Crucial PC2-5300 :
- only placed the Temporary Internet Files folder on it (Win7, IE10)
- had to turn off the RAMdrive after a few weeks ... way too many internet pages displaying incorrectly ... problem solved with RAMdrive turned off and the Temporary Internet Files folder moved back to the Intel 320 Series SSD

Would my problem be fixed by only having 3GB of RAM? ... I will probably never know.
I did not notice a performance difference with temp files on RAMdrive vs. on SSD.

[fefrie]

Yes it's the same thread, I just wanted to post it here since I no longer use the t42.

I use portable apps for opera, ripping out all the language packs, so that it only takes 40mb and install it on the ramdrive so the cache and the program is all on the ramdrive.

It runs pretty quick as can be and it clears out the cache on exit. Starts really fast and the webpages render pretty quick.

The cache will fill when using youtube, but I have a hotkey that clears out the cache when it is near full, and I run a program that tells me how much space is left on the drive.

Untill I get an SSD, this is my best option.

I tried putting the temp files onto the ramdrive only, and it didn't like it either.

I run xp, and the ramdrive is only 400mb.

Surfing can be a clunky experience, but I'd say it runs faster than the work computer which is new and running w7.

It definitely hangs a lot less.

[fefrie]

For those of you who are wondering if there is any improvement in speed for whatever application they wish to run and you have enough memory to sustain it, I would recommend going to portableapps.com and finding your program and installing it completely onto your ramdrive.

Since the program doesn't need to be 'installed' per se, you can see if there is any difference in your application without messing up your system settings.

[farmall]

Portable apps are superior to conventional installs in another key way. They allow for backups you can run or transplant without any reinstallation.

When on Windows I use Thunderbird Portable and Firefox Portable. Using Thunderbird to manage multiple webmail accounts while avoiding the feculent webmail interfaces works very well. I leave all messages on the servers so
my local copies can be backed up simply by copying the entire Thunderbird program folder. I burn it to DVD so any future sync can't delete my backups.

Beats hassling with Outlook and exporting/importing .psts.

Firefox is set up with the add-ons I prefer, and likewise can be copied (to USB key, other PCs) much more conveniently than doing a conventional install.

If you use a ramdrive, you could store Portable apps on your spinner drive then copy them back and forth to find what suits your needs.

Surfing can be a clunky experience, but I'd say it runs faster than the work computer which is new and running w7.

Are there any other bottlenecks like the wireless card? Moving to an Intel 6300 on my T61 sped things up noticeably.

[fefrie]

I have the stock wireless card, but I only have 6mbs internet connection.

Would upgrading the card make any difference?

[fefrie]

Here's my experience with a 256mb RAMdrive on a T60 with 4GB of Crucial PC2-5300 :
- only placed the Temporary Internet Files folder on it (Win7, IE10)
- had to turn off the RAMdrive after a few weeks ... way too many internet pages displaying incorrectly ... problem solved with RAMdrive turned off and the Temporary Internet Files folder moved back to the Intel 320 Series SSD

Would my problem be fixed by only having 3GB of RAM? ... I will probably never know.
I did not notice a performance difference with temp files on RAMdrive vs. on SSD.

Using opera portable, the ramdrive would fill up and plug the cache up so that the laptop would not surf anymore.

That was solved by using a drive space monitor, and a hotkey that would clear the cache manually, setting the max cache size to 200mb (since my ramdrive was only 400mb).

I could also set the cache to clear on exit, but that would slow some of the benefits of having a cache on initial start up.

It saves two or three seconds on restarting the browser, and it works pretty quick so I am happy with the results.