Speed up the surface pro 3,2,1 with an micro sd

[Geo Hutchings]

I am using an sanddisk 128gb microSD to give my surface pro 3 readyboost ram of 15gb, this would work for all window tablets really but its not as fast as ram but it does help ether way.to get to readyboost

Right click on the drive-properties-readyboost it might not say its fast enough just hit try again then it should work

 

[Kris Simundson]

Ah readyboost technology, how I forgot about this. I remember using it on my laptop when it was first annouced. Used a 4GB USB Stick as means to "readyboost" my laptop lol

 

[P_Devil]

Does the Surface line, including the Surface 3, really need ReadyBoost? I can understand if a lack of RAM is causing performance issues but have we hit that point (without purposely trying to stress it) with Windows 8.1 and units that have at least 4GB of RAM?

I'm just curious if there would be an real-world benefit in doing this especially given the slow read/write times of a microSDXC card along with their failures rates particularly due to multiple read/write conditions.

 

[Kris Simundson]

Does the Surface line, including the Surface 3, really need ReadyBoost? I can understand if a lack of RAM is causing performance issues but have we hit that point (without purposely trying to stress it) with Windows 8.1 and units that have at least 4GB of RAM?

I'm just curious if there would be an real-world benefit in doing this especially given the slow read/write times of a microSDXC card along with their failures rates particularly due to multiple read/write conditions.

I honestly believe ReadyBoost was just a placebo effect lol

 

[Geo Hutchings]

Does the Surface line, including the Surface 3, really need ReadyBoost? I can understand if a lack of RAM is causing performance issues but have we hit that point (without purposely trying to stress it) with Windows 8.1 and units that have at least 4GB of RAM?

I'm just curious if there would be an real-world benefit in doing this especially given the slow read/write times of a microSDXC card along with their failures rates particularly due to multiple read/write conditions.

Games ran about 5 to 10 frames better and it allows more programs to run, sanddisk read/write are fast enough

 

[Geo Hutchings]

I honestly believe ReadyBoost was just a placebo effect lol

The surface pro already uses Ready boost with its SSD, and to prove it works, i got a 4gb laptop play a game without the add boost and it came up with system out of ram, used ready boost the game ran faster and the it stop System out of ram

 

[DLCPhototography]

OK, this looks interesting. I have the 4gb version of the Surface 3 (not Pro). While performance has been fine, I'm always looking to improve it. I have a SanDisk Ultra 128gb MicroSD card installed, and wouldn't mind dedicating 4gb of it to ReadyBoost if it would help.

However, the ReadyBoost tab doesn't appear when I check Properties for this drive, and I can't find any way to enable it. When I check Services.msc I see superfetch enabled, with no reference for readyboost.

What's the deal here? How would I enable ReadyBoost for my MicroSD card, and if I can, is it likely to help performance?

Thanks.

Don

 

[P_Devil]

Games ran about 5 to 10 frames better and it allows more programs to run, sanddisk read/write are fast enough

But what about the failure rate of microSD cards, something that increases the more you use them? Constantly reading and writing data to a microSD card (like using it for RAM) is going to limit its life so that the end-user will likely have to buy another in a year (or less). Is a trade off of a ~2% increase in performance really worth ~$70 a year? I can't imagine the Surface units with 4GB of RAM actually needing a boost and, if games are really your thing, there are better units than the Surface. I'm just trying to weigh if it's worth it for the long run, worth losing everything on my current SD card just because I wanted some apps/programs to run 2% smoother.

 

[Geo Hutchings]

But what about the failure rate of microSD cards, something that increases the more you use them? Constantly reading and writing data to a microSD card (like using it for RAM) is going to limit its life so that the end-user will likely have to buy another in a year (or less). Is a trade off of a ~2% increase in performance really worth ~$70 a year? I can't imagine the Surface units with 4GB of RAM actually needing a boost and, if games are really your thing, there are better units than the Surface. I'm just trying to weigh if it's worth it for the long run, worth losing everything on my current SD card just because I wanted some apps/programs to run 2% smoother.

Its a 20% to 30% boost not 2% and i did not buy the surface pro 3 for gaming i got it for graphics, it can game and i now find a way to make it run just that much faster/ and these are new MicroSD cards which means they are unlike to fail compared to odder gen, you don't even have to use a 128 gb you could use 4gb one and use it as ram the whole thing, it would not even matter if it broke they are cheap

 

[Geo Hutchings]

OK, this looks interesting. I have the 4gb version of the Surface 3 (not Pro). While performance has been fine, I'm always looking to improve it. I have a SanDisk Ultra 128gb MicroSD card installed, and wouldn't mind dedicating 4gb of it to ReadyBoost if it would help.

However, the ReadyBoost tab doesn't appear when I check Properties for this drive, and I can't find any way to enable it. When I check Services.msc I see superfetch enabled, with no reference for readyboost.

What's the deal here? How would I enable ReadyBoost for my MicroSD card, and if I can, is it likely to help performance?

Thanks.

Don

It will help with performance for sure, it made my atom stream 7 with windows 10 faster, but i am confused why yours is not showing up? hmm i have not tested a windows 8.1 atom machines, i will give it a look online for you

 

[DLCPhototography]

It will help with performance for sure, it made my atom stream 7 with windows 10 faster, but i am confused why yours is not showing up? hmm i have not tested a windows 8.1 atom machines, i will give it a look online for you

I've done some searching as well, with a lot of heated discussion found. In one thread, several people were adamant that if one already had more than 2gb of conventional RAM, that ReadyBoost wouldn't provide any significant benefit. Others disagreed.

Here's perhaps a dumb question on this topic:

If one runs out of conventional RAM, the OS has to turn to a SwapFile. In the case of the Surface 3, that would be the only drive it has, which is an eMMC. Although not as fast as a conventional SSD, wouldn't this still be quicker than a MicroSD card? If it is faster, then what would be gained by using ReadyBoost on the MicroSD? If the MicroSD is faster, then perhaps we're talking some potential benefit.

Theoretically ReadyBoost will self-enable if it identifies a drive that could provide a beneficial impact on system performance. The fact that it is not enabled on my MicroSD might suggest that it wouldn't provide any benefit.

Interesting topic, in any case.

 

[cygnus11]

I am also not seeing the ReadyBoost tab in the properties of my sd card. I wonder if it is not enabled on the Surface 3 in windows 8.1. Maybe it is related to the "Notes" section of this web page: Using memory in your storage device to speed up your computer - Windows Help.

"Readyboost is not enabled on this computer because the system disk is fast enough that ReadyBoost is unlikely to provide any additional benefit."

Just a thought as to why it does not seem to be available on the Surface 3 in Windows 8.1.

 

[Geo Hutchings]

I've done some searching as well, with a lot of heated discussion found. In one thread, several people were adamant that if one already had more than 2gb of conventional RAM, that ReadyBoost wouldn't provide any significant benefit. Others disagreed.

Here's perhaps a dumb question on this topic:

If one runs out of conventional RAM, the OS has to turn to a SwapFile. In the case of the Surface 3, that would be the only drive it has, which is an eMMC. Although not as fast as a conventional SSD, wouldn't this still be quicker than a MicroSD card? If it is faster, then what would be gained by using ReadyBoost on the MicroSD? If the MicroSD is faster, then perhaps we're talking some potential benefit.

Theoretically ReadyBoost will self-enable if it identifies a drive that could provide a beneficial impact on system performance. The fact that it is not enabled on my MicroSD might suggest that it wouldn't provide any benefit.

Interesting topic, in any case.

I noticed the heated Discuss haha, and i disagree about it only improving 2gb or less machines, because of what i found in real working uses, as i said before a game was not running that great (lego worlds) when i was trying to play it on a i3 4gen, 4gb of ram, HD intel what ever number graphics, and it keep saying ram was out and the game had to close, so i was like wait a second ready boost ^_^ used it 15gb of ready boost ram and now the game runs smooth and does not run out of ram.

That could be the case. but you can have as many Ready boost drives as you want, so i don't see why it would stop you, i have two in the laptop now using Usb drives, they were laying around, both 8gb that gives me 16gb of ready boost ram, nearly as good as the MicroSD, and no they would not be as fast as an eMMC but nearly depends which microsd you get

PS not my laptop Just want to get the game to work for someone

 

[P_Devil]

Its a 20% to 30% boost not 2% and i did not buy the surface pro 3 for gaming i got it for graphics, it can game and i now find a way to make it run just that much faster/ and these are new MicroSD cards which means they are unlike to fail compared to odder gen, you don't even have to use a 128 gb you could use 4gb one and use it as ram the whole thing, it would not even matter if it broke they are cheap

Again, not that I don't believe you or anything, but are those numbers that you've actually measured? How about comparing speeds when using a microSD card vs. the SSD for swap space instead? Modern-day SD cards will fail pretty quickly if they are constantly being read and written to, that's a major problem that even the most expensive ones haven't figured out. They do have a limited life.

Yeah, you could always buy an 8GB or 16GB card but then you are swapping out cards if you have an additional, higher capacity card that you use for file/media storage. To me, it just doesn't seem like it would be that big of a difference in terms of performance especially compared with the "hassle" of swapping out cards, limiting the life of whatever card you installed to be used with ReadyBoost, etc. Not unless it's an actual measurable increase in performance, more than just saying "Eh, it's about 20-30%."