Windows PowerBoost
Iain Smith
Windows 7 called PowerBoost. You put a blank memory stick or memory card
in and when the Windows box pops up asking what you want to do with this
device you select from the list of options "Assign to Windows Power
Boost" or something similar.
Well I have a blank 2GB SD card sitting on my desk doing nothing (it
came with a Philips Digital photo frame but I don't use it and my camera
takes XD cards) so I thought that I might as well try it.
There was no dramatic difference and I didn't expect any but it did seem
that Open Office and its documents opened quicker as did one or two
other applications. The card was being used as the LED alongside the
card reader was flickering amd flashing.
Then I tried my usual flightsim FS9. Previously in a flight of, say, 2
hours duration I would experience at least two instances of stuttering
for about 10 secs, which from looking at the tower, seemed to be HD
activity. Using PowerBoost this did not happen to anywhere near the same
extent. I'd get one instance of just a couple of seconds in the same flight.
After running it for a week I wanted to be certain I wasn't imagining
it. So I removed the card, getting the ok from Windows to do so, to see
if I'd notice things being worse and yes - whereas with PowerBoost the
stutters were so slight as to be hardly noticeable, now I'm back to
where I was.
So, I'm going to run PowerBoost again, probably for keeps.
Just wondered if anyone else had any experience of this. It may be that
some systems benefit more than others and, as I said, it is FS9 that
really benefits. With FSX or other apps it may not be noticeable.
Iain
Rugby, UK
Carl
"Iain Smith" wrote in message
news:66qdnQ4kH4YU0b_Q...@bt.com...
Iain
Rugby, UK
Readyboost, I've used it on my W7 64 PC since I built it. I was thinking
that you might get even more performance with one of those Seagate Hybrid
disk drives:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-233-SE&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=1894
Ian D
"Iain Smith" <iaindotsmithdotrugby@btinternetdotcom> wrote in message
news:66qdnQ4kH4YU0b_Q...@bt.com...
Powerboost is really only useful for computers with 1GB, or less,
of memory. If you have more than 2GB you probably won't see any
tangible benefit, and zero benefit with 4GB. What Powerboost does
is use the USB drive, instead of the hard drive for paging. Also, for
maximum benefit you need a high speed USB flash drive. If you
only have 1 or 2 GB, adding more RAM is a better option.
Iain Smith
> Powerboost is really only useful for computers with 1GB, or less,
> of memory. If you have more than 2GB you probably won't see any
> tangible benefit, and zero benefit with 4GB. What Powerboost does
> is use the USB drive, instead of the hard drive for paging. Also, for
> maximum benefit you need a high speed USB flash drive. If you
> only have 1 or 2 GB, adding more RAM is a better option.
Well Ian, I have 4GB of RAM but the improvement in FS9 stutters has
definitely occurred, as I said.
Iain
Rugby, UK
Vic Baron
"Iain Smith" <iaindotsmithdotrugby@btinternetdotcom> wrote in message
news:aKidnegdOcw3zL_Q...@bt.com...
yes, that could happen if your SATA or IDE drive is slowing down your
system. Same effect could be had but optimizing your HDD, etc BUT if the
Powerboost works for you - what the heck!
On my system which is highly optimized - absolutely no discernable benefit -
no harm neither.
Ian D
"Iain Smith" <iaindotsmithdotrugby@btinternetdotcom> wrote in message
I have found that stutters are usually related to hard drive
activity, probably paging, so it may be, that in your case,
the USB flash drive is paging faster than your hard drive.
TOCA
"Iain Smith" <iaindotsmithdotrugby@btinternetdotcom> wrote in message
>
> Just wondered if anyone else had any experience of this. It may be that
> some systems benefit more than others and, as I said, it is FS9 that
> really benefits. With FSX or other apps it may not be noticeable.
>
> Iain
> Rugby, UK
I'm using it on a 2GB USB flash gizmo thingie, but I see no difference at
all, but since I have no other use for the memory stick, it stays.
What Ready Boost does is what we were looking for back when RAM and hard
drives had prize tags the size of houses, a cheap and easy way to add memory
without having to open up the box, it replaces some of the page file usage
thus making your hard drive last longer and saves battery time on laptops.
Tommy C, Denmark