Read and write speeds....question

[carl606]

Hello everyone

Can anybody define this a little bit better for me..

On average, a RANDOM 4K read from flash is about 10x faster than from HDD.

I take it "a random 4K read from a flash drive, is a file stored on the flash drive, that the computer reads from..

I am just learning a bit about readyboost, and i have just set it up.
i have noticed a difference, but i am trying to understand about "reads and writes"

And how can you tell how fast your HDD reads

[whs]

They are talking about files (e.g. page file) that comes in 4Kbytes chunks (that is just an example definition). When accessing such a block on an HDD, it is considerably slower (e.g. 10 times) than accessing it on a flash drive - and an SSD would be even a lot faster than that.
In the context of Ready Boost it means that your paging activities will be swifter and therefore the system will run faster. That is true for systems with a small RAM (512MB or 1GB). But don't expect any wonders from Ready Boost - more RAM will do a lot better.

[carl606]

OK, Whs

Thanks for the reply, i will leave it at that, really i don't see much point in trying to find out to much about it read/write that is.

I,ll just go on user experience, and find out a little more on readyboost

[whs]

Here is some reading material ( Ask the Performance Team : Windows Vista - SuperFetch & ReadyBoost ).

[carl606]

Originally Posted by whs

Here is some reading material ( Ask the Performance Team : Windows Vista - SuperFetch & ReadyBoost ).

Great thanks for the link whs, .
Picked up quite a few things i diden't know,

EDIT

My computer at the moment has 2gb ram, DDR2 i think.
With a maximum of 4gb are these normally in 1gb sticks, so if i wanted to i could just add another 1gb ram and have 3gb.

This is a laptop and the manual gives you instructions for adding more ram, which doesen't look that hard to do, if i where to take it to the local shop to do, they would charge me £40 and thats with me buying the extra ram.

[seti]

Originally Posted by carl606

Great thanks for the link whs, .
Picked up quite a few things i diden't know,

EDIT

My computer at the moment has 2gb ram, DDR2 i think.
With a maximum of 4gb are these normally in 1gb sticks, so if i wanted to i could just add another 1gb ram and have 3gb.

This is a laptop and the manual gives you instructions for adding more ram, which doesen't look that hard to do, if i where to take it to the local shop to do, they would charge me £40 and thats with me buying the extra ram.

Save yourself the money and do it yourself. It is not hard to do if you follow the instructions carefully. If you also regularly defrag and clean your pc of unwanted file/folders you will also find it keeps tip top condition

[whs]

Originally Posted by carl606

Great thanks for the link whs, .
Picked up quite a few things i diden't know,

EDIT

My computer at the moment has 2gb ram, DDR2 i think.
With a maximum of 4gb are these normally in 1gb sticks, so if i wanted to i could just add another 1gb ram and have 3gb.

This is a laptop and the manual gives you instructions for adding more ram, which doesen't look that hard to do, if i where to take it to the local shop to do, they would charge me £40 and thats with me buying the extra ram.

Adding more RAM is the easiest intervention possible. Just make sure to get sticks (Dimms) that are compatible with what you have. For that, have your system scanned here: ( RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, flash cards, SSD at Crucial.com ). Even if you cannot buy it from there because you are not in the US, it will at least give you the exact specs to look for. If you have a dual core CPU, you should always install sticks in pairs (e.g. 2 times 1GB and 2 times 512MB but not 3 times 1GB) - for a single core it does not matter.