7 year old PC ReadyBoosted like a boss (BUT, will my flash drive degrade soon?)

nmakes · Jun 25, 2013

So I have this desktop config:

Intel Pentium 4 (2.8 GHz)
1 x 1GB + 1x512MB DDR RAM
integrated ATI xpress 200 series chipset graphics (256 MB dedicated)
Intel D101GGC mobo
80 GB HDD
430 Watt PSU

+

2 x 8GB READY BOOST (using 2 pendrives, one is hp 8gb v220w and the other is http://www.chipak.com/imageCache.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cromaretail.com%2FImages%2FCatalogue%2FProduct%2FLarge%2F153994.jpg )

+

16 GB Page file (Dedicated one whole 16 GB partition to it)
---------------------------

So, this old guy runs windows 7 smoothly at 1024 x 768 with the ready boost and paging. What I want to ask is, will my flash drives degrade with time due to excessive use by readyboost, or will they run normally? (I use my desktop about 8 hours a day, and the temperature outside the case is approximately 26*c - 34*c). For this Pc, I'll run only old games (released before 2007) and do some programming stuff.

So how will it be for the next 1 year? Can I rely on readyboost? Because I dont want to lose my flash drive.

PS: AND YES, AFTER 20 minutes of usage, the HP drive gets heated up to about 45*c and the other one to about 35*c (it has a wooden cover, so i can't feel the exact temp.)

luckiest charm · Jun 25, 2013

Constant writing and erasing data from any usb drive can degrade it over time. I guess that is what ready boost does. Kind of using Pen Drive for RAM is not a good idea. It would help you out in short term usage but totally relying on it for next 1 year with 8 hour of usage daily might kill it off.

Anyone professional here in this field shall correct me if I am wrong. ^^

guanyu210379 · Jun 25, 2013

yup..it will degrade.
All flash devices including SSD have limitation on how many times it can be written and rewritten (there are many factors to it).
How long it can live will depend fully on the quality of the flash drive.
No one really knows, it could last for more than 1 years...or perhaps also not...

[edit]
removed the part where I wrote...10 bucks for a USB stick, since I do not know how much does it cost there where you live...
But it is still relatively very cheap..simply use it as boost and get another one if it is broken.
Do not worry...use it!

guanyu210379 · Jun 25, 2013

Off topic..isn't it already time to plan to build a new rig?
Your rig has already passed quite a few generations.

furlow · Jun 25, 2013

Every time you read/write a flash drive, you degrade it. So even with normal use you shorten the life of a flash drive. All current flash technology works this way. Most off the shelf flash drives are expected to to last 100,000 P/E cycles ( + or - ), after which degradation is likely to occur.

With that said, I have an old rig where I test software and such before deploying it company wide. I have for several years now, used a handful of older flash drives for ready boost. I started with 4 but had one give it up recently. I cannot say for certain that it quit from too many read/writes, it may have died for other reasons. I have had other flash drives that I used for daily tech stuff die for no reason as well. Any tech will tell you the same.

Nobody can guarantee that your drive will last 1 year, much less 1 month. Is using it for ready boost going to use up the life of your flash drive? Yes. Flash drives are cheap and considered disposable. Even the company's with the best quality have a failures. At current prices, I would not hesitate to run the hell out of the one you have until it breaks and then buy another.

Best of luck to you.

nmakes · Jun 25, 2013

guanyu210379 :

two months ago, i was desperately planning to do. but, then .. now im waiting for the AMD FX based on steamroller architecture.. I'll do the thing next year. Until then ill tweak in this pc...

BTW.. thanks for that! I'll see if I can remove that hp 8 gb quality drive.... That would still help me. Also, my friend told me that since it is just cache mem. it helps when ur copying stuff, not at times when you have to play games etc... I tried it, and my copy speed went from 3MB/s to 7MB/s....
I guess even with a single 8GB one, I should get a decent speed...

nmakes · Jun 25, 2013

furlow :

Every time you read/write a flash drive, you degrade it. So even with normal use you shorten the life of a flash drive. All current flash technology works this way. Most off the shelf flash drives are expected to to last 100,000 P/E cycles ( + or - ), after which degradation is likely to occur.

With that said, I have an old rig where I test software and such before deploying it company wide. I have for several years now, used a handful of older flash drives for ready boost. I started with 4 but had one give it up recently. I cannot say for certain that it quit from too many read/writes, it may have died for other reasons. I have had other flash drives that I used for daily tech stuff die for no reason as well. Any tech will tell you the same.

Nobody can guarantee that your drive will last 1 year, much less 1 month. Is using it for ready boost going to use up the life of your flash drive? Yes. Flash drives are cheap and considered disposable. Even the company's with the best quality have a failures. At current prices, I would not hesitate to run the hell out of the one you have until it breaks and then buy another.

Best of luck to you.

Thanks for that!

I'll try to test on one, before using it on a large scale like this.

nmakes · Jun 25, 2013

OK so.. does that mean, I wont get any improvement in gaming and stuff, except for copy/paste and read/write things? Because I already have 16GB page file?
So, I should better use one 8GB for readyboost. right?

guanyu210379 · Jun 25, 2013

nope...not a single improvement in gaming, small improvements ony others...sorry mate!
Build a new rig for expected boost.

I know this is not really appropriate to give you this kinda advice but...for such rig..I would not bother waiting any longer.
I built my i7 3770k 2 months ago not waiting for Haswell. I was upgrading from Q6600 + DDR2 rig.

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