ReadyBoost?

[Psi*]

Is this a technology introduced with Vista & still available in Windows 7 that could benefit from high speed USB 3.0 flash drives?

Take this Mushkin with r/w of 120/70 MB/s in a USB 3 port, for instance. I didn't spend a lot of time looking. Just on 'egg & browsing USB flash drive thumbnails for mas r/w speeds AND $70 shipped is a bit more than is probably necessary ... BUT would this be beneficial to a desktop? Even a notebook given the cautions about the initialization of the technology ... the HDD has a lot of activity initially as the tech figures out your usage.

If this tech is still good, then I wonder what the minimum flash drive would be to yield a really good result... how cheap can I go in other words?

 

[Kougar]

It still can be beneficial for systems with 2GB of RAM or less (or especially a laptop with a slow 5400RPM hard drive), and USB 3 would certainly enable even better performance if the flash drives are capable of it. But simply using an SSD is a better option.

ReadyBoost is basically a poor-man's SSD. With RAM prices being what they are and SSDs available for $70, I can't recommend buying anything to make use of ReadyBoost. An SSD will provide all the same benefits, but significantly more as well. For older machines, just slap an old USB drive in and give it a try, but for a modern high-end system the benefits will probably be pretty small.