Intel® Robson Turbo Memory

[wirelessfender]

What is Intel® Robson Turbo Memory exactly? Why is it different that regular system memory? If the laptop I'm looking at has 4Gb of system memory would another 2 or 4GB of turbo memory be worth it?

 

[frozenlead]

Think of turbo memory as a super-huge HDD buffer. It allows you to start your system faster with less access to the slow hard disk, and allows you to start regularly used applications faster with the same reason behind it. It isn't comparable to RAM (and cannot function as it, either), as it is simply just a USB or mini PCI-e flash memory module embedded into your computer. In reality, it doesn't provide much of a system boost, and is generally viewed on as a waste of money. I'd just get more RAM.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Depends on what type it is.

Old Turbo memory is becoming useless (although it's ok for returning from sleep/nibernation) since it's so slow 40MB/s (much slower than an HDD buffer), but the newer turbo memory is much faster getting closer to Sata1 interface speed ~ 170MB/s, but as we move towards faster SSDs Turbo memory won't matter.

Robson 2 is ok, but between it and more system memory I'd still take more system memory, since the benefits of Turbo memory are very limited. But if you already maxed your system memory and it's a small additional price then Robson2 is ok, but if it's Robson 1 then it might be near worthless (most people like myself disable it now that there are fast 5400RPM drives Turbo memory actually holds you back, and can be unstable).

 

[dwellman]

Recent benchmarks Ive seen (Maximum PC, for example) show the benefits of Robson disappear when your system memory begins to exceed 1024. With a fast hard drive and 2048 or more memory, the Turbo Cache is basically, as previously stated, worthless.