RAID 0 Vs SSD

original.wood

original.wood

original.wood

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Joined
17 Mar 2009
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311
Location
Manchester
looking in to building a new PC and got up to the HDD's,

i'd like a SSD just for having the OS on there aswell as apps and games, but i was wondering whether or not i could just buy 2 Samsung SpinPoint F1 RAID 750GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HE753LJ) and be done with it?

i seem to be able to soak up large ammounts of space on my PC's so i think with 1.5TB should be enough, but do i REALLY need a SSD if im going to RAID those 2 F1's?
 
OCZ Apex Series 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive is the SSD ive selected, is this the best SSD for the money, would 2x30GB in RAID be better? and perhaps the 1TB Seagate Barracuda for Data?
 
The Apex, Solid and Core series all had issues with their jmicron controller causing stuttering. The Vertex's are using an Indilinx Barefoot controller which has brought it's performance right up to challenge the Intel X25-M series. I would advise you to steer clear of anything other than the Vertex or Intel SSD's atm.

If you can afford it then I would go with 2 x 60Gb Vertex's in RAID0 for your OS & Apps/Games (giving you 120Gb total space) and something like the 1Tb Samsung F1 or the 1Tb WD Black for data storage.

As far as needing a RAID controller goes most modern mobo's have that built-in altho only a software solution it is usually more than enough for most home users needs. A mobo such as an Asus P45 series will have Intel's ICH10R controller integrated and that's pretty damn good.
 
after reading yours and others inputs on the OCZ Vertex thread on this forum i realise i need the Vertex's i think i chose the Apex's by accident :) i've gone for this mobo Gigabyte EX58-UD4P Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard and got the Samsung F1 already in my Basket.
 
original.wood said:
after reading yours and others inputs on the OCZ Vertex thread on this forum i realise i need the Vertex's i think i chose the Apex's by accident :) i've gone for this mobo Gigabyte EX58-UD4P Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard and got the Samsung F1 already in my Basket.
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Yeah, the OCZ Vertex's or Intel's are def what you want for an i7 build. That mobo will be great with them having the same Intel ICH10R Southbridge as my board has - a RAID0 setup with a couple of Vertex's would be a great boost to the rig!

I earlier said get 2 x 60Gb cause I reckon that 120Gb is a good size for OS and Apps, I started with 2 x 30Gb but quickly filled it to about 60% and thus bought a 3rd 30Gb drive to give 90Gb overall, now about 50% used with Vista64, Office, Photoshop, Pinnacle Studio, and about 5 or 6 large games (Crysis, Far Cry 2 etc) but tbh get what you can afford.
 
rig comes to just under £2k unfortunately, ill get the pic of what im willing to get,
pcbuild.jpg


thinkin of stickin a SSD in my laptop, have you seen the supposed Samsung SSD's without the casings on the bay?
 
I would have also said you could throw the new Samsungs into the mix, but the 64GB versions are limited to 120MB/sec write, whereas the 120GB and 250GB offer 200MB/sec write speeds. I think your current selection of 2 Vertex drives is best value for money right now. Although looking at your item selection, money is no object? :p
 
well, it is important, i just want a reputable futureproof rig,i have taken parts off the list so its just the basic, i gotta order a 64bit version of Vista, fan controller, optical drives and a large enough monitor to get the best out of the Card and CPU, if money was no object, a water cooled kit would have been included!
 
Seems pretty solid choices all round, I approve of the motherboard, it's one of just three I like for under at least £250! Only thing I'd point out is you've gone for some top-of-the-range RAM. Personally I can't see you using RAM that fast unless you overclock hugely, but regardless, did you notice OCZ's 6GB 2000MHz offering here? Shaves practically £200 off the cost.
 
i was unsure about the RAM, so i just went for the highest speed 6gb pair i could find, im suprised to see so much DDR3 RAM from the start i dont know which is best for me.
 
Blue Cypher said:
You would probably want a powersupply with that :D
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yeah i took some of the componants off the list as i couldn't fit them all on and do a screen shot at the same time.

FaceplantSi:=-

i chose the Titan as read good reviews in Custom PC magazine, it didnt mention the thermalright nor heard of it till i read a couple of pages on here regarding OCing the D0 I7 920's and a lot of people was using them.
 
original.wood said:
FaceplantSi:=-

i chose the Titan as read good reviews in Custom PC magazine, it didnt mention the thermalright nor heard of it till i read a couple of pages on here regarding OCing the D0 I7 920's and a lot of people was using them.
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You'll also see a lot of people using a 'TRUE' which is basically a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme with an extra set of wire clips so you can run 2 fans in a push/pull config. And the 'TRUE Black' is a black one! They are generally reckoned to be the kings of air cooling, the Noctua follows close behind along with several others.

There are also some 'direct contact' coolers where the heatpipes are exposed on the base rather than completely enclosed and this is reckoned to give better heat transfer into the heat pipes and thus better cooling - but the mehod used for applying thermal compound has to be modified to account for the different base configuration. The Sunbeam Core Contact cooler is highly regarded.

Have a browse around and you'll find differing opinions for all sorts of reasons. Everyone has their favorite and it seems that looks play just as big a role as performance, so it really is up to you and your budget!
 
I use a TRUE 120 and I can honestly say they're the best heatsink I've ever used :-). I only have one fan on mine as I was trying to cut down on noise, but it works really well.
 
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