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ReadyBoost: which is better for performance?

  • Two 1 GB flash drives

OR

  • One 2 GB flash drive
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3  
How much memory does your machine have? If you have more than 2-4GB then readyboost may be more of a waste than a benefit. – Mokubai Apr 5 '11 at 21:36
Mine has 1GB memory. – RamyenHead Apr 8 '11 at 19:26

2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

Two should be faster if they are both connected to completely separate USB host channels:

          USB host 1----USB Root Hub----Memory 1
         /
PCI Bus +
         \
          USB host 2----USB Root Hub----Memory 2

If they share the same bus at all then it would actually be slower than with one memory key:

                                     Memory 1
                                    /
PCI Bus----USB Host----USB Root Hub+
                                    \
                                     Memory 2

This is because they would be sharing the bandwidth between the USB Host and the USB Root Hub.

You can see the actual connection by selecting the Device Manager in the control panel (under System settings) and choose to view the devices by connection. Explore the USB device tree - it's under ACPI Computer, then PCI Bus, somewhere if I remember aright.

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1  
(Note that this would not apply if you were using a USB hub - it only works if you're plugged directly into the USB ports on the computer.) – nhinkle♦ Apr 6 '11 at 0:34
up vote 1 down vote

Theoretically, with ample processor power, two should be faster. You should be able to pull cashed data twice as fast. This is, however, theoretically. In reality, they will probably be pretty close, you may not even notice a difference.

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