Do ramdisks really improve vs2010 performance?

Question

Do ramdisks really improve vs2010 performance (general and build times)?

If so, what are all the steps I have to do to get the maximum benefit of it? Can it also help resharper?

Thanks, André Carlucci

Answer 1

in my experience RamDisk is slower than SSD for build. it can be even slower than HDD... RAMdisk slower than disk?

so do not bother with RamDisk and buy Intel or Crucial SSD, but not OCZ.

EDIT:

After many tries I figured it out. When ramdisk is formatted as FAT32, then even though benchmarks shows high values, real world use is actually slower than NTFS formatted SSD. But NTFS formatted ramdisk is faster in real life than SSD. But I would not bother with Ramdisk anyway, SSD is everything you need.

Answer 2

So here is the issue that you will run into. Yes it can improve performance with some serious buts:

• You stand the chance of losing all your work between syncs.
• There is a noticeable lag when the ramdisk sync's to disc.

This will require you to setup proper sync times for how you work.

I'd recommend getting a SATA III Solid-State Drive and back it up weekly.

Answer 3

I have tried ram disk 1 or 2 years ago. I remember that the build time was about 30% faster.
That was too few to top the disadvantages as mentioned by Andrew Finnell.