Is RAID 0 worth it?

Bobmunkhouse · 9 Apr 2007 at 13:57

Hi im going to be building my new pc soon and cannot decide if RAID 0 is worth it? I have had a single segate 320GB drive for a long time and I am happy with it, I have also had an extra drive with page file on it which made the system run a bit quicker but what I want to know is it worth running a 2 drives in RAID 0 or just have an extra drive with the page file on? I mostly just play games and other general use.....

Im thinking of getting 2 of these as it looks like a single platter....

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-022-HI&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=167

Thanks for any help

matja · 9 Apr 2007 at 15:17

Cost effective? no.
Sensible? no.
Faster? yes.

Participant · 9 Apr 2007 at 15:21

If you are planning to add another drive in any case and have suitable backup media, then for me it fulfills all three of the factors mentioned above by matja.

It's cost effective because I presume you already have a RAID chipset on your motherboard and can therefore try RAID 0 and therefore get more speed for no extra money.

It's sensible because it's faster than just having the two disks performing seperately.

So, do it imo!

Bobmunkhouse · 9 Apr 2007 at 16:32

So are you saying I will notice a speed increase in games loading and windows booting?

Slogan · 9 Apr 2007 at 16:37

Bobmunkhouse said:
So are you saying I will notice a speed increase in games loading and windows booting?

Yes.

If you want to be the first into every game, then it's worth it.

Windows booting is decent, but not amazing.

Cupra · 9 Apr 2007 at 17:12

i use 2 lots of raid 0 as its faster...

snowdog · 9 Apr 2007 at 17:13

imo def. worth it, faster and cheaper per gig ( them 750 gig drives are unaffordable ) .

binaryknight · 9 Apr 2007 at 17:24

i use it my self simply because i use 2 x 40 gb drives as my os drive and a secondary 120gb as storage and page file

faster? yes
worth it? for me yes

downsides though raid 0 if the stripe fails or a drive fails you loose every thing works for me as my storage drive is bigger than the os and all my non replacable data goes there but if your planning on using 2 large drives i wouldnt bother unless you have blu ray as a backup medium or one of those massive 750gb drives lol

Bobmunkhouse · 9 Apr 2007 at 18:26

Ok so I think im going to do it then does everyone think these drives will be ok ..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-022-HI&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=167

Energize · 10 Apr 2007 at 06:25

matja said:
Cost effective? no.
Sensible? no.
Faster? yes.

It can be cost effective actually, you get more space for less money when you buy certain sizes of drives. And as long as you have a backup it's more sensible to raid and improve performance than not to.