hard drives for gaming

[dangerousmouse]

okay, i have searched and not found anything, although i am sure there would have been people asking similar questions in the past.

decided to give pc gaming a go (in addition to the 360). will be getting a 3870 next week. picked up the orange box today as i have read its a pretty good deal... looked on the back and i need 20gb space for installation. looking at other games i see most are around the 10gb mark.

so, this got me thinking i need some more gb's. what are you guys using and how?

i currently have
74gb raptor with windows and all software on.
120gb diamondmax with just music
320gb external with everything else.

mobo is k9a platinum.

could i please be informed of the pro's and cons of
1x XXgb drive (average drive, say barracuda)
1x 74gb raptor
2x 74gb raptors raided

whatever i buy would be solely for installation of games.

thanks in advance.

 

[HangTime]

2X Raptor RAID0: Improved loading times, but increased risk of data loss
1x Raptor: Slightly slower with less risk
500gig SATA: Plenty of space

Personally I would go with a standard drive simply because you get a LOT more space for your money.
The gains in gaming from a fast drive are minimal. Sure, you get better loading times, but in the grand scheme of things does it really matter whether it takes a game 30s or 25s to load? Is that 5s saved really so valuable to you?
The actual install of games won't be any quicker, because you are limited by the speed of the CD/DVD drive.

The only other gain in gaming would be in cases where you are paging to swap file due to low memory. But to be frank, if you are paging then you should be investing in more RAM rather than blowing it on a posh HD in any case.

Bottom line:
74gig Raptor = ~£1.22/gig
500GIG SATA II drive = ~£0.122/gig