Do flash cards affect performance?

[Masterhaides]

hello, i was just wondering if running a game off of a flash card would affect performance (dramaticly?) as opposed to running it straight of system memory?<br><br>my quake is getting like 5 fps for some reason, i'm running the full version..<br>and my movies don't seem to play very well, even if i reduce the bit rate down to 128k (even tried 64k, to no avail!)<br><br>thanks

[MooseMaster]

Only negligably, and only during load times. There are MANY reasons why your movies may not play very well. Many encoding options other than bitrate could be to blame. There is a slider for 'quality to smoothness'. If you set it to 50 then your movies will run very smoothly and with little degredation in quality.<br><br>It also depends on the type of memory card your are using, such as solid state or rotary (flash memory or a MicroDrive to be more specific). Flash memory is generally easier on the battery and provides faster load times in comparison to rotary hard drive type storage due to it's 'instant access' capabilities. On hard drive related storage the spindle has to rotate and the magnetic needle must extend to the appropriate location before data reading even begin, would can take up to 200milliseconds. That, coupled with the necessary mechanical spinning of the data disk, causes a longer reading phase and the requirement of more power taken from the main device battery.

[MooseMaster]

So...<br>Flash Memory better, faster, and requires less power.<br>MicroDrive allows the storage of more data, but can be slower and does require more power.

[Masterhaides]

I have a Flash card (Mr. Flash 128meg) and i do use the slider, i move it ALL the way down to nill on the quality! (on wmvs)<br>but on the TMPGenc there is no "slider" so to speak of.. so i don't know how to reduce the quality of my mpegs!! Any help would be great!!<br>(i'm using an HP525)<br>thanx

[MooseMaster]

In the MPEG codec option, I believe. Chris knows more about this area.

[Chris Edwards]

the microdrive is actually faster than solid state cf cards... it suprised me when i heard about it... but i tested it, and it's true..<br><br>I'd still buy a CF card over a microdrive anyday.

[Chris Edwards]

masterhaides.. what is the resolution of your video file? if it's any bigger than 320 width and 240 height, than you will experience extreme slowdowns....

[Masterhaides]

Ok, now i've got mpg video<br>240x110 with Constant BitRate 32<br>Audio 44100 64bitrate mono<br>23.976 fps /3 @ 7.99 (that's what it's set at)<br><br>now, when i play the video, i get like 12 fps, but it's jerky, starts and stops alot! =(<br>i want smooth playing video, how do i do it?