Controller card

Thanks guys.

I'll quote from another forum to let you understand why I need assistance. The content of the attached quote is about getting true performance from either a Velociraptor or a pair of Velociraptors in Raid (I've still to establish which).

"None of those cards provides what a 3Ware card, or other brand in that class, provides This is where people get ripped-off. Those cards are simple RAID controllers and although some of them are true hardware RAID, most of them are no different than the motherboard ports The card I use is old.. its been around for years http://store.lsi.com/ index.cfm? category=12&subcategory=8&p 4LPML The modern version of the card I use is this one http://store.lsi.com/ index.cfm? category=12&subcategory=31& the real advantage to the modern version is 512MB 800MHz DDRII cache memory You must understand, not only do those cards provide true hardware RAID and SATA support, they also have on-card DDR memory (256-500MB), whereby you are writing to the DDR memory, and, that memory acts as a buffer to file reads from the drives too, therefore as you run the system the storage performance increases. At the same time the on-card hardware offloads the CPU from file reads. With those cards you posted you wont see much of any difference over plugging drives into the motherboard, and, they will not offload the CPU NOTE: LSI bought 3Ware out, same cards.. different company name"

and

"Originally posted by avi8 Yep i understand that but we 'get them In South Africa so we don't have a choice Unless I import it at extra cost...... So can I make the assumption that instead of buying an alternative I just use the onboard SATA ports of the mother board. ? If the cost is not in your range and you cant get the card then the only alternative you have is to use the SATA ports on the motherboard. At that point you can, assuming the motherboard is a modern Intel chipset (x58 and above) is go with SSD drives for the OS/FSX and use a single SATA mechanical drive as a backup for file storage. Once you install the Intel RST Drivers, TRIM is enabled and will keep the drives clean on the fly. Unlike Windows XP/ (even Vista), installing Windows 7 to a SSD automatically sets the OS up for SSD in that process. Microsoft got that part right. Unlike mechanical drives that should NOT be set to AHCI in the BIOS (set mechanical to ENHANCED -IDE), you MUST enable AHCI in the BIOS before installing Windows to the SSD Using multiple SSD is not required as with SSD you can put the OS and FSX on the same drive with no perf loss (but still install FSX to C:\FSX instead of C:\Program Files). The only reason I mention 2 SSD drives is to keep cost low. You can calculate the space requirements and if the OS and installed software is only say 20GB and the FSX install is 40GB (with all addons and scenery) then 1 40GB (OS) and 1 60GB (FSX) SSD drives will typically be far cheaper than a 100+GB drive for everything. The mechanical backup drive (1TB is good) is there for backups and moving files around. Unlike mechanical HDD's, SSD is volatile and its a good idea to keep one mechanical drive in the system for backups and file moves in case the SSD's need maintenance down the road that requires wiping them. If you intend to go with all mechanical drives on the SATA ports you do not use/ need the Intel RST drivers and at that point the only thing you can do to max perf is use 300+ GB Vraps. EDIT: But be aware even Vraps on SATA motherboard will not perform like Vraps on the right PCIe card! Motherboard SATA has its limitations where even Vraps can display scenery stutters without the hardware card support. Drive manufactures know that HDD's are limited by motherboard ports which is why card manufactures are in business. The issue is the manufactures know inexperienced users do not know what card is a rip-off (no different than motherboard or only slighty better) and which cards are not, none the less you will always PAY to get that perf be it PCIe SSD or SATA."

As an inexperienced user I would like confirmation that I would be buying the correct type of card, i.e. I don't want to be fooled into buying a crappy card.

I'll see if someone on here recommends something similar to what I'm after otherwise I'll contact O.C.s for guidance.

Cheers

Flyer01
 
"crappy" for what?

Unless this is for a high performance workstation (and by that I mean a proper workstation class machine, not something you'd build from components yourself), or a server, then there is no need to splash out on expensive RAID cards.

What are you trying to acheive with this?
 
Paradigm,

The small thread I've linked will explain everything.

http://www.simforums.com/forums/fsx-on-hddsddhybrid_topic38646.html

Now if the date of the thread I linked to was a few years old I would probably believe, due modern manufacturing methods, natural decrease of pricing over time, etc these 30 pound controller cards I read of do the same thing, but because both the thread date is recent and NickN is an expert in the workings of FSX, I somehow doubt he would pay about 260 pounds if a 30 pound controller card can perform the same.

I'm trying to decide between buying a 256 GB Vertex 3 or x2 300 GB Vrap in Raid 0, or a 600 GB Vrap. The Vrap solution gives you more space but on older, hotter and louder tech, the SSD gives less space but on quicker, quieter, cooler tech. Then there are price considerations.

Flyer01
 
Let's put it this way. I've got 6 "old" 500GB Seagate 7200RPM drives in RAID5 on my onboard ICH10R (x58 chipset), I also had the same array configured on my ICH9R on my x38 chipset. Both setups utterly wipe the floor with an SSD (or even two in RAID0 depending on the SSD in question) for sustained read and write speed.

Granted my seek times are longer (due to the nature of platter based storage), but for the cost/GB, and the speeds involved, at the time it was a no brainer for me.

All this on an onboard controller, which is more than adequate when attached to a modern day 4+ core processor. Sure a dedicated hardware RAID solution would take the load off the CPU, but when the load is <2% at the worst of times, is it really worth the effort and money? No.
 
Paradigm,

I've done some research. I agree that it is really not worth the cost of getting a controller card, a normal SSD will do for me. Cheers for your input, and sorry for the delay in posting.

Flyer01
 
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