Super Talent 2GB Exelerator Ready Boost Review

[Apoptosis]

Super Talent has recently launched the Exelerator family of ReadyBoost drives that use an internal 9-pin USB header on the motherboard to help improve system performance for those that have already made the leap to Windows Vista. These innovative new Flash drives plug into a standard 9-pin USB header inside the chassis and Legit Reviews has been able to take one for a test spin on a Compaq Presario with Windows Vista Basic.



Article Title: Super Talent 2GB Exelerator Ready Boost Review
Article URL: http://legitreviews.com/article/543/1/

[pastorjay]

Well, that was fairly disappointing! Not on Super Talents part, but on Vistas. I look forward to seeing what SP1 for Vista will bring to the table to boost performance with ReadyBoost!

[DMB2000uk]

Before I even read the article, I had the same conclusion ^_^

Slow USB flash speeds just can't make up for straight adding more RAM.

Dan

[Tech_Greek]

I don't think the point of ReadyBoost was for Futuremark Bench Marks...I believe it was meant for everyday use and in such grabbing files that are used a lot, etc and sticking them on the Flash RAM.

I've personally noticed a difference on my Alienware with it's 512MB DDR and my Desktop machine running 4GB of ram, Photoshop DEFINTLEY opens MUCH faster (CS3).

[Apoptosis]

I don't think the point of ReadyBoost was for Futuremark Bench Marks...I believe it was meant for everyday use and in such grabbing files that are used a lot, etc and sticking them on the Flash RAM.

I've personally noticed a difference on my Alienware with it's 512MB DDR and my Desktop machine running 4GB of ram, Photoshop DEFINTLEY opens MUCH faster (CS3).

As i mentioned in the article I used games, sandra, everest, futuremark and more and couldn't notice or see a performance improvement. And resuming from a low power state took minutes thanks to the vista bug. If I can't play games or have more files open what's the point of ReadyBoost? Vista already has SuperFetch and the sort, so is ReadyBoost even a needed feature (if you call it a feature).

Some sites have gone into great depth on how ReadyBoost works reported improved launch application launch times...

ReadyBoost, on the other hand, puts seeks to help out the slow hard drive by caching some data into USB 2.0 flash. By using a ReadyBoost-capable memory stick, you can take advantage of the near-instantaneous seek times on flash drives to get you your data quicker.

With $199 computers already coming with 7200RPM hard drives the question I have to ask is ReadyBoost already missed it's use? When Vista began on the drawing boards back in 2001/2002 this was a wise move, but now in 2007 with dual-core processors, memory reaching 10GB/Sec throughput on high end systems and 7200 RPM hard drives as a standard feature -- ReadyBoost doesn't sounds as good as it did back a few years ago. Just my thoughts...

[Dragon_Cooler]

I just find it funny that they are coming out with all these addons "make vista faster" dont ya think its pretty sad that they are doing that.

"We know vista is a hog, so add this thing to make it the way it should be" LOL Sorry, great review BTW. Its looks like it certainly does what it is intended to do.

[Zertz]

it certainly does what it is intended to do.

Nothing?

[Major_A]

Legit Bottom Line: With ReadyBoost not performing up to par and with fixes coming from Microsoft in SP1 it makes it impossible to suggest ReadyBoost to any of our readers regaurdless of the brand name. Stick to tried and true memory modules for improving system performance

Regardless.

One test? How about pulling out the stop watch and seeing how fast Windows Starts/Shuts down? Load a game level, recode a movie, do something more.

[Apoptosis]

as I mentioned in the review I did other tests and they showed no differences... I have put this ReadyBoost drive on the shelf and when vista SP1 comes out I will revisit this product and update it if things change.

[leexgx]

vista runs poorly on 512MB ram like useing XP with 128mb with running program (anti virus)

soon as i read the review and seen that spec was not much point in reading it and As you have to open your pc any way getting ram be better

allso you got to rember as well Superfetch/ readyboost Hammers your hard disk as its got to fill your ram up and the USB stick up
i recommend setting USB readyboost to the Min setting 230MB as its about 2x compresson any way, its ment for small files not big files ready boost, as it drag your hard disk performace down untill it has read all the data into flash

for putting more ram in it, Ignore the 512mb stick of ram get an an 1gb stick as its only $2-$4 more (£2-£4 here uk) Dual chan mode is overrated any way 512mb is unusable on vista (try and run that with norton or Any active program in the back ground)
1gb ram is Min for vista
2gb recommended
gameing better with 3-4gb (to prevent stuttering or Longer game load times, allso give superfetch big cache as well) but alot seem happy with 2gb