ReadyBoost & ReadyDrive on my X61s

[mcmanaman]

I have a 1 GB intel turbo memory, as I understood, 512 MB are used for ReadyBoost and 512 MB are used for ReadyDrive. I have an additional 512 MB SD Card. Can I use this additional 512 MB for increasing ReadyBoost or ReadyDrive. Can I use for example 512 MB for ReadyBoost and 1 GB for ReadyDrive??

[smvp6459]

I have a 1 GB intel turbo memory, as I understood, 512 MB are used for ReadyBoost and 512 MB are used for ReadyDrive.

That is the default setup

I have an additional 512 MB SD Card. Can I use this additional 512 MB for increasing ReadyBoost or ReadyDrive.

An SD card (or a USB flash drive) can only be used for ReadyBoost. ReadyDrive is limited to the TurboMemory card and memory that's built-in to the harddrive (i.e. hybrid harddrives).

As an aside, only one device can be used for ReadyBoost.

Can I use for example 512 MB for ReadyBoost and 1 GB for ReadyDrive??

Yes.

You will need to go to the "Intel® Turbo Memory" folder in your startup programs, run the "Intel® Turbo Memory Console", and un-check the box that says "Enable Windows ReadyBoost", which should devote all of the TurboMemory to ReadyDrive.

Restart your computer. Now insert your SD card and (if it doesn't automatically prompt you to use the SD card for ReadyBoost) right-click the SD card, select the "properties" option, go to the "ReadyBoost" tab, and you should be able to enable ReadyBoost on your SD card.

[mcmanaman]

Thank you for the information, I did as you told me, and I'm beginning to experience the difference. Boot time is decreased a bit and application startup time is decreased too. Also reads and writes to harddisk are a little bit faster and I think will increase by time.

[Ken Fox]

Thank you for the information, I did as you told me, and I'm beginning to experience the difference. Boot time is decreased a bit and application startup time is decreased too. Also reads and writes to harddisk are a little bit faster and I think will increase by time.

If this is a new system, what is MUCH more likely is that Vista has made some progress in indexing the hard drive. As a result, it will run faster after a few days of use than it will when brand new.

the ready drive and ready boost have most probably contributed nearly zero.

[mcmanaman]

No actually It is an old system, and once I install my Vista, I disabled indexing because it turns your computer into a turtle!!

[Ken Fox]

No actually It is an old system, and once I install my Vista, I disabled indexing because it turns your computer into a turtle!!

Actually, it is Vista that is the turtle. This is something I notice primarily shortly after bootup; once the system is fully booted up it is acceptably fast. The indexing may be a factor, but after the system has been running for a while (not continuously, but that you have used it over a period of days and weeks) I think the indexing is more or less unimportant, unless you are constantly changing the contents of your hard drive(s).

[sliverstorm]

this is interesting actually! I don't know how much readyboost and readydrive are worth in terms of performance, but heck- not only can you expand the hard drive cache (this turbo memory is on PCI-E, so it's no slowpoke, and I'm sure harddrives like caches!) but you can use an SD card! they sure don't stick out like a USB stick does. Only concern might be the write speeds... SD write speeds are abysmal... but maybe they are good enough, combined with being dedicated instead of multitasking (pagefile+running OS)

haha I don't know, I'm just talking now. I should try it out and see. thanks for the info!

[mcmanaman]

Actually SD cards are fast enough to be ready boost!! Try it and you'll never regret it.

[smvp6459]

but you can use an SD card! they sure don't stick out like a USB stick does. Only concern might be the write speeds... SD write speeds are abysmal... but maybe they are good enough, combined with being dedicated instead of multitasking (pagefile+running OS)

I didn't find having ReadyBoost on an SD card very helpful. It seemed to create more harddrive reading than I expected. However, I have found that for battery life (and even access times for certain situations) it's more efficient to put files that get read with a relatively high/regular frequency on the SD card (like my music).

The SD card reader doesn't approach the speed capability of fast SD cards, so that's a weak link in the SD chain.

But if you're ok wasting a little of a card's capability, you can get decent 16GB SDHC cards for a fairly reasonable price (~$70).

[Ken Fox]

I didn't find having ReadyBoost on an SD card very helpful. It seemed to create more harddrive reading than I expected. However, I have found that for battery life (and even access times for certain situations) it's more efficient to put files that get read with a relatively high/regular frequency on the SD card (like my music).

The SD card reader doesn't approach the speed capability of fast SD cards, so that's a weak link in the SD chain.

But if you're ok wasting a little of a card's capability, you can get decent 16GB SDHC cards for a fairly reasonable price (~$70).

I put an 8gb SDHC card into an X60 running Vista, with 4gb of the card dedicated to Readyboost. I used the system for a week with the SDHC/readyboost setup. If anything, the system was noticeably SLOWER, especially the bootup which takes a painfully long time in Vista even if you disable a lot of your startup programs.

I observed absolutely ZERO benefit from readyboost on that system, which has 3gb of RAM installed (the chipset on an X60 cannot recognize much more than 3gb of RAM in any event, see other threads).