Primo vs. Dataram

[Vector]

Hi again guys,

I've been reviewing my options regarding which RAM Disk software to use/purchase, and it comes down to either your software (Primo), or Dataram's. The big difference is, for what they're offering on their Free version, it seems like the logical choice, seeing as my RAM Disk will definitely be under 4GB.

Taking into consideration the above, my question to you (Primo) is; Why should I buy your product over Datarams freeware, if at all?

You can list in bullet points if you wish, I just need some justification to be spending £30+ on what seems like basically the same product I can easily get for free.

Cheers,
Vector

[Hellbilly]

If you're looking for the fastest ramdisk there is, if you've finished benchmarking pretty much every ramdisk out there, if you find the fastest one costs money and you happen to be able to afford it easily then you might as well shell out the bucks for it. That's how I did it.

Different ramdisks reach different speeds on different systems, even if they're similarly equipped. Here's how Primo performs on my system (CPU overclocked to 4GHz). The benchmark numbers on your system may look quite different.


Primo's other nice to have feature for me is the compact mode, allowing to set up a ramdisk that only uses up as much memory as the files on the ramdisk actually need.

And that's it. Not using any other feature.

There are at least three other free ramdisk solutions out there. I'm just not sure if we're allowed to mention or discuss them here.

[Vector]

Hi Hellbilly,

Just installed Anvil's Storage Utilities, and the results are quite one sided, to say the least -



RAM Disk: Dataram, CPU @ 3.8GHz with HT.

Massive differences there, especially with Write. Looking at your results, if performance is anything like what they depict, I think I'm bought.

Oh and by the way, what does "Alignment 64KB NOT OK" mean?

[Hellbilly]

I think alignment is for those 4k drives so we can see if the first partition starts at exactly 4kbyte. I think http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/storag ... rd-disks/1 offers some explanation.

As far as Anvil's benchmark program is concerned, varying values are partly due to compressibility of the test files written or read. The files I put onto my ramdisks are rarely compressible so I've set it to "100% (Incompressible)". Sorry I forgot to mention that earlier. Also it makes quite a difference if you've got NTFS compression enabled for your ramdisk. I found turning it off actually increases writing speeds tremendously. It may save 100 or 200 megabyte per 10 gigabyte of files on the ramdisk when active, but with RAM being so cheap at the moment I can't see why someone would enable NTFS compression and lose performance. After all ramdisks are for those with plenty of RAM

Don't assume anything because you've benchmarked one ramdisk software. Benchmark every one of them to get to know your system and what speeds it can reach, then pick the ramdisk software that performed best. I'm running games from my ramdisk. Some games stream contents into RAM, some load it all at once, so I went with the ramdisk that has the best average reading performance on my system. There's one ramdisk in particular that allows for almost double of Primo's sequential read speed on my system, but it leaves a lot to be desired in any of the 4k tests. It was dirt cheap though (11 bucks), so I got it as well.

Still not sure if we're allowed to tell the names of other ramdisks. Perhaps Tenchi or Support could clear this up.

[Support]

Primo Ramdisk provides lots of features which can meet various requirements, some features are even unique. Also Primo Ramdisk provides great performance and stablity.

PS. Basically we don't recommend to specify the name of other ramdisk products, as this forum is mainly to discuss Primo Ramdisk itself.

[Vector]

I've been lurking the forums and I'm definitely impressed with the level of customer service. I also like the fact that the products are still receiving healthy updates, especially RAM Disk, the product I'm interested in.

In all honesty, I don't usually buy software unless it's absolutely worth the money, and I believe Primo RAMDisk is, so I went ahead and bought the Pro Licence!

I do have some questions regarding setup though which I'd appreciate help with;

Just to quote Hellbilly -

The files I put onto my ramdisks are rarely compressible so I've set it to "100% (Incompressible)".

How does one apply that within the program? I don't see any setting for it. At the moment these are my settings;



Any recommendations on Dynamic memory management?

Cheers,
Vector

[Hellbilly]

I was referring to the compression setting in Anvil's benchmark.

As far as Primo's dynamic memory management is concerned, just check the "Dynamic memory management" and "Compact mode" check boxes.

[Vector]

I was referring to the compression setting in Anvil's benchmark.

Ah, I see.

As far as Primo's dynamic memory management is concerned, just check the "Dynamic memory management" and "Compact mode" check boxes.

In regards to Compact Mode, reading the FAQ, it states; The shortage of Compact Mode is that it costs minor performance of data access. Besides, it only supports Smart Image if the Image File feature is enabled.

I assume the performance is negligible?

Ok, just tried changing to Smart Image, but it's greyed out. Help a noob out?

[Hellbilly]

It's greyed out if you haven't yet selected "Compact mode" when setting up your ramdisk. You may need to delete your ramdisk and create a new one with the correct settings if you don't want to have to restart your computer after changing the setting(s).

Attached is a disc descriptor file containing the ramdisk settings I use. Smart Image works with that.

[Vector]

Thanks m8, that did the job.

I'll be ordering another 6GB RAM soon enough.