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Some months ago I bought a Mini PC:

  • Intel Celeron J4125
  • 8 GB of DDR4 RAM
  • 256 GB M.2 SSD
  • Windows 11, fully patched

I use this PC for programming in Visual Studio and SQL Server.

The PC is very slow in some operations, like starting up, or loading the software I use. The PC doesn't allow RAM upgrades; The maximum is 8 GB of RAM.

However, the PC has a tiny TF slot (MicroSD?) and so I am asking if the insertion of a 16/32/64/128 GB MicroSD card could significantly improve the speed of the PC, and what configuration it would require to do this. Could it perhaps be used as virtual memory?

MonkeyZeus
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JDias
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6 Answers6

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Adding an SD card will not be of any benefit to you aside from the larger (but considerably slower) disk space.

As Tom Yan mentioned in a comment, SD cards are slow. Even top class ones would be not be fast enough to be of a noticeable benefit to your needs, let alone on an SD interface.

The only option that could slightly help is if the Mini PC has an SD card slot that supports NVMe. Then getting your hands on a top-class SD card could let you use it as virtual memory (swap), but operations would be noticeably slow, because of the difference of speeds compared to actual RAM. And the cost for this would be high with, in my opinion, not good enough returns.

Run5k
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Fanatique
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Some months ago I bought a Mini PC

So far, so good. I've had good experiences with mini PCs.

Intel Celeron J4125

This CPU is practically e-waste, the rest of my answer is irrelevant.

8 GB of DDR4 RAM

That's kind of low but not unusable. I've considered 16 GB to be the bare minimum since about 2012.

256 GB M.2 SSD

This is kind of low. You'll need to share the SSD specs such as model number or something.

The storage space isn't concerning but rather the performance specs of a 256 GB drive in this day/age.

The PC doesn't allow RAM upgrades; The maximum is 8 GB of RAM.

Low-end computers usually pull this kind of stunt to minimize the life of the system.

However, the PC has a tiny TF slot (MicroSD?) and so I am asking if the insertion of a 16/32/64/128 GB MicroSD card could significantly improve the speed of the PC

No. SD cards are good for cold storage and that's about it; so you could offload some files if you wish but it is unlikely to help.

If you have a USB3 port or higher then you are much better off getting a good USB SSD.

If you discover that your 256 GB SSD is your bottleneck then installing the OS onto an external SSD could improve performance.

MonkeyZeus
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The PC is very slow in some operations, like starting up, or loading the software I use.

If you are not using SQL Server all the time, make sure you configure it to run on demand instead of automatically on boot. It is very resource hungry and can slow down low-spec devices a lot. Go to Services and configure MSSQLSERVER (or the one named after the instance if you chose to use named instance during installation) to start manually. Then you can start the services when needed and stop it when done. Other SQL Server services can be left unchanged.

SQL Server supports setting a memory cap, and you can try adjusting it to minimize interference with other applications.

But actually, the specification for this PC really isn't enough for Visual Studio and SQL Server. It wouldn't be enough even if you downgrade to Windows 10. Those apps, especially SQL Server, are compute-intensive, so your CPU would probably be another bottleneck.

If you are just learning or prototyping, consider moving to alternative, lightweight offerings like VSC, SQL Server Express LocalDB, or SQLite. If you do need the full-featured SQL Server, you can also try moving it off to another PC and connect via the network, if possible.

DL444
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No, as others have said, a MicroSD card will not help you here.

The best thing would be to turn off some Windows services that you don't need. For example, a few years ago I turned off Windows Search in Windows 7 on my old notebook and immediately noticed a noticeable improvement in the notebook's performance. However, this notebook CPU only had one core. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Search

Coder
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The best thing to do would be to buy a new computer. If it's your own device, then replacing it should not be a big deal. If it's your company's device, it seems a ticket with the IT team stating that the hardware provided is insufficient for your workload should do the trick.

In either case, you will need a PC that will match your required workload. The most important specs will be memory size and CPU power, with SSD storage being secondary. 16 GB RAM will be a minimum, 32 GB will be recommended. As for CPU, "better is better". You certainly don't need a high-end CPU, but certainly not something from the bottom third either. Keep in mind that the Celeron series of CPUs was made for workloads like sending e-mail and entering data into SAP, not running an SQL server. Storage depends entirely on how much you need. 256 GB (especially on a M.2 SSD) might be entirely sufficient or way too little.

What you certainly don't need is a GPU of any kind. As long as your PC can output some form of graphical signal your monitor can understand, you'll be fine.

MechMK1
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The J4125 CPU is much too slow if you run Windows. I have one with Linux. It's OK for receiving backups at around 100Mbps (its main purpose) but even with Linux it feels sluggish.

The latest mini-PCs have an N100 CPU which is around 2x faster here. Also they often have 16Gb RAM (though they still sell 8).

As everyone has said MicroSD is far too slow. You could plug in a USB3 external SSD or HD for extra storage. USB3 is decently fast, though not a patch on M.2 NVMe. And it's transferrable to a new PC in the future.

nigel222
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