Quote - I can vouch for the RAM side of things.

 

Just recently jacked my laptop (Samsung RC512 S02) from 6GB to 8. Made a dent in the render times nicely (I already have an i7 in there). 

 

PS: IMHO, skip the ReadyBoost in Windows. Unless you have a large USB3 stick in a USB3 port, you're going to see some massive slowdowns whenever the OS tries to use a slower-bussed (USB2 or 1) stick as if it were RAM.

 

ReadyBoost is not used as ram.  It is used for swap space instead of the hard drive.

if your hard drive is faster than the readyboost device, it will not help, but in most cases it will help on swap time (which is less common with more RAM)

 

http://www.ask.com/wiki/ReadyBoost

 

Bill

People that know everything by definition can not learn anything