Raid noob with questions.

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So my pc is pretty good at the moment and I was thinking would I gain performance by having a Raid array for my C drive?

Currently I have a Maxtor DiamondMax22 as my C drive using a 160Gb partition of which I'm using 100mb, would having say 2 x Samsung 320Gb F1's in raid be loads quicker than what I have now?

What other drives should I consider? I don't want to spend a fortune.

Also is it Raid 0 I need for speed? How difficult is it to set up a raid array?

Thanks
 
Yes it will be faster.

Raid0 is easy after you set it up in the SATA Bios its just seen as 1 HDD by Windows and you treat it as that. ;)

IMO, if you ain't bought the HDD's yet buy 2x WD RE3's as they are made primary for Raid.
 
IMO yes again they are made for Raid, and F1's seem to be dropping like flies recently.


There is some versions of the RE3 that are Short Stroked versions of the large ones so they are faster.


Here :


WD RE3 Features:

* StableTrac™ - The motor shaft is secured at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking during read and write operations. Visit the Web site at http://www.wdc.com/global/flash/inde...ily=stabletrac to see StableTrac in action.

* Dual processor - Twice the processing power that results in a 20 percent performance improvement over the previous generation.

* RAFF™ technology - Resulting in up to 60 percent performance improvement over previous generation drives, WD's fourth-generation RAFF technology includes sophisticated electronics to monitor the drive and correct both linear and rotational vibration simultaneously in real time for maximum performance in high vibration environments.

* IntelliSeek™ technology - Calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise, and vibration in active seek modes without degrading performance.

* Multi-axis shock sensor - An additional third sensor has been added to RE3 models to detect automatically the subtlest shock events and to compensate to protect the data.

* RAID-specific, Time-Limited Error Recovery (TLER) - Prevents drive fallout caused by the extended hard drive error-recovery processes common to desktop drives.

* Third-generation dynamic fly height - With this next generation dynamic fly height technology, each read-write head's fly height is adjusted in real time for optimum reliability.

* Thermal extended burn-in test - Extended burn-in testing with thermal cycling added to ensure only the most robust drives are produced as RAID Edition.

* NoTouch™ ramp load technology - The recording head never touches the disk media ensuring significantly less wear to the recording head and media as well as better drive protection in transit.
 
Anyway to find out the speed difference between the 250 and 320 RE3? I could make a nice little saving getting the 250's, its not like I need the space.

I also assume that the raid set-up would be faster than having a Raptor?

My system is fast now but having it boot faster and load games even faster would be great, I havent upgraded anything for a while and the only other think I fancy is a CPU but the ones I like are expensive lol.

Cheers

edit - how about buying another Maxtor to raid with the one I have? Just noticed they are only £38!
 
I know Slackworth has stated which are Short Stroked so SEARCH with his Nick.

2x 250GB = 500GB is enough for a OS/Boot HDD IMO, 1TB is pointless.

Modern 7.2K PRM HDD's in Raid 0 will beat a VelicoRaptor but not in SEEK as they already have lower SEEK and more so in Raid0.

Put it this way, I will repeat myself : I know a very clever older Yank who told me to stop buying every Gen of CPU/GPU as the gains are tiny compared to adding more Memory if your low on it (I ain't) and getting Faster HDD's/Going Raid0 because they are the Slowest Part/Bottleneck of any modern PC in recent years.

I bought 1 Raptor X and it was the single most amazing purchase ever, better than going from a CPU to a CPU or GPU to a GPU, 1 week later I bought another and went Raid0 and never looked back.

Now I have 2 VelicoRaptors but not in Raid yet.
 
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My RE3's have arrived, not done anything with them yet as I'm still confused.

I want to install my OS on them, do I need to configure them first? How do I go about this? Is there anything I need to do in the bios? Does it matter which Sata ports they are connected to?

Sorry for all the questions, I feel like I'm about to do a space mission or something lol. What if aliens come out of the RAID array????
 
Your going to possibly need a SATA Driver on some form of Media if its Intel and you need the RAID+AHCI Mode (I don't believe Vista will support the Raid Mode with its own basic drivers) and your far better off using the Intel Matrix Storage Drivers.

It does matter on some MOBO's but not on others but it be common practice to use SATA1 and SATA2 (you may need enable RAID+AHCI in the Bios for these Ports).

Also will need Enter the SATA Bios after the MOBO Bios boots and set up Raid0 and Stripe size of 32KB (IMO).

Then follow Vistas install as normal till part your asked for Drivers then install them from the media and after that its as if you have 1 BIG HDD. :)
 
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Thanks. I have downloaded the raid drivers from the Asus site to make a raid disc, do I need this? Can I use it from a usb?

I also downloaded Intel Matrix Storage Drivers but right now it says I cant install them, is that because I don't have a raid array yet?

Sorry for being a complete noob.

I'm going to give it a bash tomorrow after work. Might silence my gfx card while my pc is open.

Thanks for the help so far.
 
Thanks. I have downloaded the raid drivers from the Asus site to make a raid disc, do I need this? Can I use it from a usb?

I also downloaded Intel Matrix Storage Drivers but right now it says I cant install them, is that because I don't have a raid array yet?

Sorry for being a complete noob.

I'm going to give it a bash tomorrow after work. Might silence my gfx card while my pc is open.

Thanks for the help so far.

If Vista, you can use a CD/DVD or Floppy or USB Stick for Drivers.

I would use Intel's latest not Asus's BTW, just manually put the Folder onto the Your Blank Media if it wont make it Auto for you running a Wizard it should contain.

Its the folder with OEM.txt in it AFAIR.
 
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Woo I did it. How does it look?

2yzaosx.jpg


edit - this is on a totally fresh install, 1st time its properly booted if that makes any difference.
 
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