WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:07.440 The concept of RAM discs or RAM drives is not exactly a new one. And the idea 00:00:05.359 --> 00:00:10.559 behind it is pretty simple. If you have more system memory than your 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:14.880 applications require, you can use software to allocate some of it to make 00:00:12.559 --> 00:00:19.920 a lightning fast storage device that your system sees exactly the same way it 00:00:17.840 --> 00:00:24.320 would any other standard hard drive or solidstate drive. Meaning you could use 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:28.880 it for anything. Sounds cool, right? Well, we do lots of cool stuff on this 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:32.800 channel. We've even got a Razer Siren review coming soon. So stay tuned for 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:40.480 that. But for now, roll the intro, then we'll tell you more. 00:00:40.480 --> 00:00:46.320 Cooler Master's Case Mod World Series is your opportunity to show off your 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:51.520 modding skills and win great prizes. Entries close February 7th, 2015. Click 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:56.079 now to learn more. Now, the first time pretty much anyone hears about RAM 00:00:53.760 --> 00:01:00.879 drives, their mind starts buzzing with ideas like, "Oh, snap. I could put my 00:00:58.559 --> 00:01:04.239 operating system on it or like I'm gonna put all my games on it so I'll be the 00:01:02.559 --> 00:01:09.200 first one to the heli in Battlefield. But life is never that simple, is it? 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:14.320 System memory is usually at least an order of magnitude more expensive than 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:19.360 even high-end storage drives. So those multi- gig application and game installs 00:01:16.720 --> 00:01:23.439 get really expensive real fast. And even if you did want to buy as much RAM as 00:01:21.520 --> 00:01:29.439 you can fit in your motherboard, unless you're buying a server grade board, that 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:31.200 won't be as much as you might hope. And 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:36.560 the list of disadvantages actually keeps on trucking here. RAM is what is known 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:39.680 as volatile storage, which means every 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:41.759 time the system powers off, it empties. 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:46.720 That means that most RAM disk utilities need to essentially recreate the drive 00:01:44.720 --> 00:01:50.880 when they're launched. And every time you boot, the drive needs to be refilled 00:01:49.119 --> 00:01:55.360 with whatever you want to store on it from a reserved spot on your system 00:01:52.880 --> 00:02:00.560 drive. A process that is bottlenecked by the aforementioned system drive and can 00:01:57.759 --> 00:02:04.240 therefore be quite slow. Then if you update anything while using the RAM 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:08.160 drive, it will need to commit those changes back to your system drive when 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:12.080 you shut down by dumping them from the RAM disk. And then of course if the 00:02:09.920 --> 00:02:16.959 system shuts down unexpectedly then you're in for a real problem because any 00:02:14.160 --> 00:02:23.120 changes not committed like a a save game or a file are just gone. But in spite of 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:27.520 all those challenges many performance enthusiasts and gamers remain committed 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:32.640 to trying to make RAM drives as practical as they can be. And one such 00:02:29.760 --> 00:02:37.760 enthusiast startup Tim on Twitter thinks he's finally done it at least for gamers 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:42.000 with a product called Dim Drive. Now, to be clear, the underlying technology is 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:47.280 exactly the same here. There's no voodoo magic, but the claims that Dim Drive 00:02:44.480 --> 00:02:51.920 makes about simplifying the process and optimizing the application itself for 00:02:49.519 --> 00:02:56.239 gamers intrigued me. So, I got on the phone with Corsair, had them send me a 00:02:53.840 --> 00:03:01.440 32 gig kit of their Vengeance LPX DDR4 2400 MHz RAM, which I ran in quad 00:02:58.480 --> 00:03:06.720 channel on an ASUS X99EWS motherboard for a basically as good as it could 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:11.680 possibly get scenario for DIM drive to really prove to me if it's worth the 00:03:09.519 --> 00:03:15.599 money. So, first a quick tour of the product, though. On the main screen is 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:19.599 an autopop populated list of the Steam games that you have installed. The star 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:23.599 allows you to easily sort whichever ones you want to the top. The size shows you 00:03:21.760 --> 00:03:27.760 how much RAM you'll need to cache that game. The wrench to the far right lets 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:32.640 you choose whether to autoload that game and whether to enable real-time file 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:38.879 synchronization, which should, knock on wood, protect you from progress loss in 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:43.519 an unexpected shutdown scenario and a less RAM option to show DIM drive where 00:03:41.519 --> 00:03:47.519 the important files are to cache for this title. So you can boost performance 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:51.519 potentially without caching the entire game and therefore getting a little bit 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:56.000 more mileage out of your RAM. Finally, the slider next to the wrench tells that 00:03:53.680 --> 00:04:00.959 game whether to cache or not. In the apps tab, you can add non- Steam games 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:05.200 or any other applications you want by manually uh dragging them onto the 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:09.599 window or right-clicking and clicking add. Then the settings tab lets you 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:13.840 configure your drive letter, the size of your DIM drive, your startup options, 00:04:11.519 --> 00:04:18.239 and your color scheme. Finally, at the very top of the window is the master 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:22.479 slider to turn DIM drive on and off. And I'll give this to Tim. This is a lot 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:28.320 simpler to configure than RAM disk software that I've used in the past. But 00:04:25.520 --> 00:04:33.520 even if it works as intended, is a RAM disk really a sensible upgrade for 00:04:30.400 --> 00:04:35.840 gamers. Storage speed is well documented 00:04:33.520 --> 00:04:41.280 as having literally zero impact on your FPS. So, the thing to look at then is 00:04:38.320 --> 00:04:47.440 loading times. We ran four different scenarios. a one terabyte 7200 RPM WDD 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:53.759 black hard drive. A one terabyte Samsung 850 Pro SSD. That same SSD with 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:55.600 Samsung's rapid RAM cache enabled. We 00:04:53.759 --> 00:05:00.080 needed to show several results for this one, by the way, to show how it learns 00:04:57.199 --> 00:05:05.840 over time. And finally, DIM drive with the full game loaded into memory. 00:05:03.280 --> 00:05:10.080 And this conclusion probably won't surprise anyone who has fooled around 00:05:07.440 --> 00:05:13.199 with RAM drives before, but it was still an interesting experiment for me to run 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:17.600 and make a video about since I wanted to play around with the software anyway. I 00:05:15.520 --> 00:05:21.360 really think that DIM drive has made enormous strides towards making RAM 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:25.919 drives easier to use, but that doesn't change that the most compelling storage 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:30.320 type for an enthusiast PC or gaming PC is still an SSD. It's only a few times 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:34.560 more expensive than a hard drive and makes your entire system much more 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:39.280 responsive, not just game or application loading times, and it costs about 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:44.639 onetenth what you'd spend per gig to put your games in RAM every time you boot 00:05:41.440 --> 00:05:46.240 up. Now, if DIM drive was like 10 bucks 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:49.600 and you're the kind of person who really only plays one or two games and enjoys 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:53.520 being the, you know, the first one to the heli, like I said before, then it 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:58.720 would actually get a pretty strong recommendation. At $30 though, it's a 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:03.680 little too much for me to buy for personal use, though. Speaking of things 00:06:01.280 --> 00:06:07.360 that cost too much, razors. But fortunately, today's episode sponsor, 00:06:05.440 --> 00:06:11.840 Dollar Shave Club, has got that shiz taken care of for you. All you've got to 00:06:09.440 --> 00:06:16.240 do is for a very affordable monthly fee, sign up for Dollar Shave Club and they 00:06:13.440 --> 00:06:21.039 will ship you razors and other shaving supplies straight to your door once a 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:25.759 month. So you don't have to get off your butt, go to the grocery store, find 00:06:23.280 --> 00:06:28.880 someone to unlock that freaking safe that they keep the razor blades in for 00:06:27.520 --> 00:06:34.560 some reason. I've had people tell me, "Well, Lionus, they don't keep the razors in a behind a lock and key at my 00:06:33.039 --> 00:06:38.400 store." Well, you know what? They do here. I actually have footage of it that 00:06:36.960 --> 00:06:41.759 maybe we can find or maybe we can't. But the point is, it's a pain in the butt to 00:06:40.479 --> 00:06:45.840 go get these supplies. And on top of that, you're paying way too much for 00:06:44.080 --> 00:06:48.560 them. Dollar Shave Club's razors are high quality and they've got a bunch of 00:06:47.280 --> 00:06:52.800 other great shaving supplies too, including their Dr. Carver shave butter 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:56.960 as well as their aftershave and their one wipe charlies, which actually aren't 00:06:54.400 --> 00:07:02.080 shaving supplies unless you were trying to clean your butthole so you could 00:06:59.599 --> 00:07:04.800 shave that. One wipe Charlie's are butt wipes for men, by the way, in case you 00:07:03.520 --> 00:07:11.360 couldn't figure that. Anyway, I don't remember where I was going with this, guys. It's dollarshaveclub.com/Linus 00:07:08.400 --> 00:07:14.240 to start saving time and saving money on your shaving supplies. It's good stuff. 00:07:12.880 --> 00:07:18.720 Check it out. It's linked in the video description. And I think we're pretty much done here. Can't believe I was 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:23.280 talking about butthole shaving. I mean, what is this? What does this show come to? Anyway, guys, like this video if you 00:07:21.840 --> 00:07:27.039 liked it. Dislike it if you thought it sucked. Leave a comment below and let me 00:07:25.039 --> 00:07:30.400 know about dim drives or if your feelings are just more complicated than 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:33.039 this. As always, also linked in the video description, you can support us. 00:07:31.840 --> 00:07:38.000 You can buy a cool t-shirt like this one. Give us a monthly contribution so we can make videos like this one. Or 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:41.919 just there's one other thing, right? Change your Amazon bookmarks one with our affiliate code. So, we get a small 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:48.280 kickback whenever you buy stuff. That kind of stuff helps us out a lot. Thanks again for watching and as always, don't 00:07:44.880 --> 00:07:48.280 forget to subscribe.