Computer experts say that RAM Disks are very useful in case you need more memory on your system; even if you have enough memory, the disks can help you speed up some operations and that’s not all – they provide you the necessary background for storing temporary files from your system, other software you might need and don’t know where to keep and cached files that might come from your browser.
Another usage would be to store programs or data that can help your browser load faster and work better. One browser that could have improved performance thanks to storing files in RAM is Mozilla Firefox.
If you don’t have enough RAM, but after reading this would like to have more, don’t worry! You can find some useful applications that can help you with this; they create RAM Disks. Some of them are free to use, but you might need to pay the license for the others.
Of course, the price will be low, considering the long-term benefits. You might get a little skeptical and think that there is no use in creating RAM Disks, since they are based on the computer’s physical RAM and they will work with the same speed, but this is not the case. If you use a software for getting better coded and optimized RAM Disks, you will notice the difference in performance.
What programs can I use
Next we will mention 13 free programs specially designed for creating RAM disks. Several performance tests have been run in order to see how fast each of them can read and write to the RAM disk. The reference system is 64-bit Windows 10 on a PC with 16 GB. For testing, another popular tool has been used – the CrystalDiskMark. During the operation, developers created RAM disks formatted to NTFS with a size of 512 MB. With the help of CrystalDiskMark, the size was reduced to 100 MB.
The results have shown that the RAM Disk software is faster than the SSD. Of course, it all depends on how fast your computer and system memory work.
What are the tools I can use
For getting the best results with RAM Disks, you could use the following free tools:
- ImDisk Toolkit
- AMD Radeon RAMDisk
- ASUS ROG RAMDisk (ROG – Republic of Gamers)
- Ultra RAMDisk Lite
- Mirav RAM Drive
- Dataram RAMDisk
- Oiling Disk Master Free
- Passmark OSFMount
- Gizmo Drive
- SoftPerfect RAM Disk (the free version)
- ASRock XFast RAM
- StarWind RAM Disk
- Bond Disc
Each of these tools can be used for getting the best results when you are trying to use your RAM Disk. If you are a novice user, you should try to learn more about each of them and even ask for a specialist’s advice. It is hard to make a decision if you haven’t used any of these tools so far. Once you have chosen the best option for you, it’s easy to find it online, download it and start using it. If you want to do it by yourself, look for online tutorials and respect the instructions. After you install the tool, look for another tutorial that tells you how to use it. If you think that you cannot manage, ask for someone else’s advice.
Remember that, even if these versions are free, they might come with additional features than standard package and, in this case, you will have to pay. Make sure that you are downloading it from a website which offers it for free. After you learn the basic facts, it’s easy to use the tool all by yourself.
Henry Lares is still early into his career as tech reporter but has already had his work published in many major publications including Tech Crunch and the Huffington Post. In regards to academics, Henry earned an engineering degree from Apex Technical School. Henry has a passion for emerging technology and covers upcoming products and breakthroughs in science and tech.