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Looking to go RAID

Post Date: 2009-10-28
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DL13 View Drop Down
Groupie
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Posts: 110 		  Quote DL13 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Looking to go RAID
    Posted: 28 Oct 2009 at 3:35pm

I apologize if this has been covered elsewhere on the boards.  In conjunction with going Win7 I'm looking at going to RAID 0 and have no experience with RAID. 

Currently I have two 500GB drives (both WD - one "blue", one "black") in my machine (i7 920, HAF 932, R2E).  Ordering another 500GB black today.  Thinking of two scenarios:
1) utilizing one drive for the OS and programs, another for photos and video and the third for internal backup
2) going RAID 0 with the two black and using the blue for photos and video
In both cases I'm looking at building a NAS or WHS for additional redunancy and file sharing so not worried about losing the third drive as internal backup in the RAID scenario.
 
The first is pretty easy and I'll do a fresh Win7 install after back-up, etc.  For the RAID scenario I have some questions:
1) will I see performance gains?
2) can I even do this?  drives 1 and 2 as RAID 0 and third drive non-RAID (does the controller(?) support this?) 
3) if 1 and 2 are yes, what is the best approach?  Go Win7 first then RAID, go RAID first then Win7 or both at same time?  Any guidance is appreciated.
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DST4ME View Drop Down
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Posts: 36758 		  Quote DST4ME Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Oct 2009 at 4:04pm
1. for gaming no, for other things yes, but you would better off with a single drive like a ssd.

2. you can set 2 black to raid 0 as HDD1 and blue non raid as HDD2.

3. Its been a while since I myself have messed with raid, but I think setup raid in bios and then install win7, but justin I think is more into raid then I am, he can tell you better.

Nvidia Drivers----AMD Drivers
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justin.kerr View Drop Down
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Posts: 5084 		  Quote justin.kerr Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Oct 2009 at 7:24pm
the 500 Gb ones are very slow, RAID 0 them and still about the same as a  single 640 Black.
I have 5 PC's in my house that are used daily and they all run RAID 0, but for most people it is more a pain in the butt than it is worth.
My top machine runs 8 Intel's SSD's and for every day use it does not seem any faster than one with just one Intel SSD. In benchmarks yes, but not worth it at all for pretty much anything else. lol
 
I would either run a 300 Velociraptor for OS, and games, or an Intel SSD, that will show you a boost in performance, the two 500 Gb in RAID 0 will  not give you a noticeable gain.
There are games that can see a gain in performance with faster hard drives but only a few, they are games that you are continually load off the hard drive as you run/play around an area, and a person goes from a very slow drive to a fast one.
 
But it sure is nice to click on the call of duty 4 icon, and be playing a game in under 10 seconds. Confused
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DL13 View Drop Down
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Posts: 110 		  Quote DL13 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 28 Oct 2009 at 9:18pm
Thanks Justin.  Probably not worth the hassle right now to RAID.  I'll be looking for SSD next year.
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