gamerb6y5
Usually $15 USD for the 32GB version. The 4GB version is still freeware, saw this and though some people might be interested in it.
AMD Radeon RAMDisk (32GB Version) - $9.99USD
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If I'd known the prices would go up I'd have bought 32Gb…
I'm happy I bought 16Gb since it'd cost me double to buy the same RAM now.
Been meaning to get around to trying a ramdisk, just haven't been bothered to yet.
Awesome for temporary space when processing data,images,video, etc… sooooooo much faster than my Samsung 840 SSD!
http://www.raymond.cc/blog/12-ram-disk-software-benchmarked-…
Just posting it as it's 30% off. I myself use the free version of it for a small 256mb drive which I run Chrome off. As per my post, the 4GB version is still free.
SoftPerfect RAM Disk
Available for Windows XP, 2003, 2008, Vista, 7 and 8. Allows for RAM disks up to 3.5 GB on 32-bit systems and any size on 64-bit. Multiple RAM disks can be created, and can be persisted to an on-disk image.[13] Free for non-commercial use. A commercial use license starts at $49, and discounts are offered for quantities over 5.[14]
see: FREE
more bargainy than this.
you posted an alternative option and were down voted .. you didn't even neg the deal ..I wonder why?
Not sure why this was downvoted… its actually the fastest one with unlimited size support and freeware
What is this RAM Disk and how does it work?
Takes RAM & creates a very fast virtual SSD/HDD.
Mostly useful for fast scratch folders and temp folders for audio/photo/video editing and such though, right?
You couldn't make 50GB of your 64GB of RAM into a pricey superfast boot disk, RAM is gone when the power goes off.
Remember if you use a RAMdisk, be prepared for a longer boot-up and shut down time
Since RAM is volatile (doesn't hold memory when powered off) it needs to offload and save the data that's stored on it to a normal disk when you shut down the computer.
This transfer can take several minutes (depending on the destination drive — a slow 5400RPM drive or an SSD). The reverse happens when you start up — the disk image that was created on your drive needs to be loaded back on the RAM before you can start using your virtual RAM drive, and this takes time.Obviously I don't have to explain what happens if there's a power outage and you're working on RAM drive…
Obviously I don't have to explain what happens if there's a power outage and you're working on RAM drive…
Your UPS kicks in and you continue working?
Your UPS kicks in and you continue working?
You speak as if every Tom dick and harry on Ozbargain is supposed to own one.
Well if you have cash to burn on ramdisk software then I guess it's safe you've splashed out on some power protection for your PC..
Honestly, percent of people on laptops must be very high (so effectively automatic UPS)….although probably not the market for RAMdisk
Not seen a bargain on a UPS in a while ;)
Your UPS kicks in and you continue working?
You're not meant to continue working when it kicks in. You're meant to save your work and power down. It's meant to buy you time to save your work, not continue working.
And depending on how long it takes to copy the stuff from RAM to your disk…. you could still lose your work.
I recall back in the days using those pci cards that you can plug your "spare ram" into and it had a lithium battery attached to keep the data alive in ram for upto 30days… was a good way of extending RAM beyond available ports by putting windows virtual memory on it.
I thought RAM-disks were a standard feature of modern operating systems, along with disk-caching, virtual memory and timeshare multi-processing. Does Windows really need this!?
It's the other way around on OS's. When you need more RAM then is available the OS starts using your HDD as RAM.
The OS doesn't but your programs do.
As above, the OS is backwards and swaps unused processes to the HDD via virtual memory to free up RAM.
If anyone could be bothered in the short term to set these up then in the longterm, its pretty good for gaming. For example:
- setup 10Gb Ramdisk (from a 16Gb system) and install a game on it
- Play games = load times are non-existent
- When game play finished, write the ramdisk contents as an image to an SSD drive
Kind of like loading an ISO… it takes load off your SSD for increased life and you get instant-like load times in your programs.
It's actually pretty damn awesome using a ramdisk when using massive MS Access databases and MS Excel sheets with multiple tabs of million row formulas…
But it means less RAM is available to your game doesn't it?
Unless you beat the game in one sitting, don't you lose more time (and write cycles) transferring a large game between RAMdisk and SSD before and after every session? Games already load fast with SSD, and if you're playing multiplayer you might still need to wait for everyone else to load anyway.
You are correct, Windows doesn't need it. There would be very few cases where you could do better with it than Windows' own automated disk caching, esp since you have to take into account the time to manage the disk as well (like copying the files in or out). It is more useful as a temporary storage for things you want to disappear after you turn off your computer, eg web cache, but that can be bad too if you prefer to speed up browsing by retaining the web cache beyond one day.
I use a ramdisk for browser + cache so I can offload write cycles from my SSD.
I think SSDs are meant to last 5 years if written to for 22Gb/day. The average user will take more years to get the equivalent amount of usage. You would surely upgrade due to space issues long before you get to that stage.
In a SSD endurance test, even after 22TB of writes, all of the tested SSD's kept going with no perceptible 'wear'. Read the whole thing for more info.
SSD's have more endurance than you'd expect!
Those tests were conducted on empty disks, where maximum space was available for controller to distribute written blocks before requiring them for rewrites. Most people would have reasonably populated disks and this space would be greatly reduced.
This is unnecessary with wear levelling in all SSDs. By the time you even see a hint of degradation on your SSD, significantly larger and faster drives will be available anyway. It would be like worrying your 60GB PATA disk is failing. Time to upgrade.
This would be awesome for extracting stuff
Tbh I haven't really found a use for RAMdisks since the heady days of Doom2, when autoexec.bat and config.sys files had to be modified for each and every individual game. PCI RAMdisk cards had potential as insanely fast OS drives but by the time they were reliable enough SSDs had dropped in price. Windows also became too large an install to justify the cost of the parts required. Most enthusiasts just went with RAID solutions or WD Raptors.
Can maybe see potential in running a 32GB RAMdisk in squad based shooters where load times determine whether or not you get your class of choice. However, for everyday stuff, using one USB stick for Windows ReadyBoost and another to act as the system paging file will give a decent lift to performance for bugger all cost. Handy for anyone on a tight budget still stuck with a smaller capacity SSD.
Still, props to @emwearz for posting the deal if for no other reason than prompting a discussion :)
most of the people reading won't understand what you're talking about:
- himem.sys
- extended memory
- getting upper memory as close to 640kb freelol
EDIT
With readyboost, ever since i installed an ssd, even a usb 3.0 doesnt get detected as suffiecient. Whats the go with that?
Tbh I haven't really found a use for RAMdisks since the heady days of Doom2, when autoexec.bat and config.sys files had to be modified for each and every individual game.
Damn. You're old.
But so am I for knowing what you're talking about. :(
Back in the days we just add this into
c:\config.inidevice=c:\dos\ramdrive.sys 512 /eBang! 512 kilobytes of RAM drive! These days I have to
mkfs -q /dev/ram1 512; mkdir -p /mnt/ramdrive; mount /dev/ram1 /mnt/ramdriveOh wait. People actually pay for these things?
mkfs ...Wrong OS.
No. Scotty definitely has the right OS.
yes.. but the entire syntax is clearly linux. Point he's making is that its old news and freely available on linux.
Hence why I dont understand why the SOFTPerfect Ram Disk post above got downvoted….
Well. It's hard to believe that something like RAM drive is not available from the operating system itself on Windows, when MS-DOS 30 years ago, the 16bit OS that this current 64bit OS is based on, had it.
No, it's relatively easy to understand… Early MSDOS did not natively (ie. without EMS) support RAM above 640KB. People used what remained as RAM Disks. This isn't true anymore. Windows and all other modren OSs utilise available RAM dynamically and automatically share between running applications, whereas RAM Disk is static and applications need to be configured to use it.
It doesn't mean that RAM Disks are completely useless… Dumbass Windows Media Centre always buffers broadcast stream to disk without option to disable, wearing out HDD (whether magentic or flash) even when time-shifting isn't wanted - RAM Disk would be very useful here.So according to your description, Linux would be backwards like the old MS DOS so it needs some implementation of RAM disk?
RAM disk is very useful for us running servers as well. For OzBargain, we mount MySQL's tmp directory on a RAM FS so temporary files created for sorting large data set won't touch the disk at all. Also mounted nginx's cache directory on a RAM FS so we can use some cheap VPS to serve > 100req/sec of static images.
So according to your description, Linux would be backwards like the old MS DOS so it needs some implementation of RAM disk?
Linux doesn't require RAM Disks either - it's just as good at memory management as any other modern OS.
What you've described above is use of RAM Disk to mitigate application or implementation deficiency. That is, inability for an application or its configuration to use on-demand OS-allocated RAM as a cache (without the burden of a File System).
If the design of application requires use of non-volatile storage (such as a hard-disk, and its associated File System) for its cache then using volatile storage (to emulate it) is against that.If the design of application requires use of non-volatile storage for its cache then using volatile storage
In reality, a lot of applications do not require volatile storage — for temporary data or intermediate result set that can be easily reconstructed. The two cases I listed above demonstrated that. The application developer (in the case of MySQL and Nginx) wouldn't know that either, as sometimes it's up to the user to decide the optimisation strategy.
Yes I agree that in most cases you shall just let the kernel to make memory management decisions. However RAM disks are useful when you have some specific requirement.
A somewhat interesting article from 2012 with HDD/SSD comparisons/ benchmarks for anyone interested
Sounds great and all but i already have an SSD installed which was already a massive improvement over the HHD previously used. Plus, i don't want to give up some of the speed at which my laptop now starts up and shuts down just for the sake of speeding up a few apps and/or games. And let's not forget that most bigger game titles nowadays weigh roughly around 10 to 15 gigs and is steadily growing. Jams even that 32 gig version up pretty quickly.
I don't know, doesn't really seem worth it to me, but it might be fun to experiment with though.
Reminds me of device=c:\dos\ramdrive.sys 512 /e
Who would have thought::: A ramdrive for windows…
How many OzBargainers have 32GB of unused RAM in their system to use as a RAM disk? :P