Moving Flash player cache into RAM to stop drive spinning up

[Kerosene]

- Firefox using RAM for cache
- Windows running on SSD
- Windows TEMP directory located on Spinpoint F3

This works really well for silent browsing, which is the only time I really want silence.
The Spinpoint spins down, and stays down, until...

Flash uses the Windows TEMP dir as a cache. So as soon as I hit a site with Flash, the Spinpoint whines into action.

The only solution seems to be moving the Windows TEMP dir back to the SSD, which means lots of writes will be going on (especially with YouTube etc).
Is it possible to move the Flash cache into RAM?
Or should I just make a RAM disk and use that?

[CA_Steve]

Lots of analysis done on SSD writes. Don't think a home user could possibly run out of write cycles over it's stated life.

[doveman]

Yeah, go with a RAM disk. It's much easier to just relocate certain folders to that.

I use Vsuite RAMdisk (Free Edition) as it lets me use my spare memory in XP. I've got 8GB and 4GB of that is assigned to the RAMdisk, which holds my pagefile and my temp files (including the Internet ones).

I think if I used Win7, I'd want 12GB+, so there'd be 8GB available for the system/games and I could still have my 4GB RAMdisk Haven't got enough RAM slots on my board for that though, unless I swap out two of my 2GB modules for two 4GB modules, and I doubt I could afford that or that I could even find 4GB DDR2 1066 modules

[andymcca]

Just edit /etc/fstab and add a tmpfs... Oh wait
No idea on windows, get Ubuntu!

@doveman: What limitations are there on the free edition of Vsuite?

Edit: PS if it is a modern flash drive you probably don't have to worry so much about flash writes unless you are watching things 24/7. But if you are trying to save power maybe it's worth it? I like keeping my HDDs from spinning up with a ramdisk for noise reasons.

[dorin_nicolaescu]

What's the point of spending money on an SSD and not use it? TEMP dir back to SSD!

By the time it wears out, you'll long be running a newer/bigger/better/faster/cheaper SSD.

[andymcca]

What's the point of spending money on an SSD and not use it? TEMP dir back to SSD!

RAM is definitely higher bandwidth and lower latency, though Why buy 8GB+ of RAM if you're not going to use it

[CA_Steve]

Useful 1-page calculation on SSD writes by Anand.

RAMDisk works, too. I haven't set one up in ages, though.

[doveman]

@doveman: What limitations are there on the free edition of Vsuite?

The main one is that the "Reserve First x MB of Invisible Memory" is disabled. With my MA780G-UD3H, using the IGP, the BIOS automatically seems to use below 4G for the IGP memory, so it just works. On my Biostar TA790GXBE, there are manual settings to use below 4G for the IGP and to disable Memory Hole Remapping. I'm not certain I needed to do the latter, but Vsuite Free worked fine with those settings.

Another disabled feature is "Support IM Hibernation", but I just use Suspend so that doesn't bother me.

If you don't want to put the pagefile on the RAMdisk, Dataram RAMdisk is another free option, which does allow you to reserve part of the Invisible Memory. However, it doesn't initialise in time to be ready for when the pagefile is created. It works just fine for temp files though, at least as far as my limited testing went, but unless you need the "reserve" feature, Vsuite is a much nicer piece of software.

Edit: PS if it is a modern flash drive you probably don't have to worry so much about flash writes unless you are watching things 24/7. But if you are trying to save power maybe it's worth it? I like keeping my HDDs from spinning up with a ramdisk for noise reasons.

I use a simple RAMdisk on my HTPC as well, as when watching LiveTV the software (Mediaportal) constantly creates buffer files to allow for timeshifting, so by locating those on the RAMdisk, it stops the HD being constantly in use

[pes]

Does an extra stick to two interfer with the Dual channel usage? As in 2x4gb and an extra 4GB for the ram disk solely?