Should I go raid?

[JonD]

Im going to be upgrading my pc in the next week and im going for the Seagate 250Gb 7200.10. How much difference will it make by raiding 2 together? Is it worth it?

Note - I dont really know about raiding etc, so go easy.

Thx
jd

 

[rpstewart]

There are plenty of threads on this subject

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17663747

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17661086

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17658647

 

[jbloggs]

JonD:

The main reason for setting up and using RAID0 is if you are working with large files, ie DVD/video files.

With RAID0 you will notice an increase (in real terms) of moving files around on your HDDs, you will also see an increase in the speed of unzipping files.

You will not notice any improvement in the speed of games loading.

Along with rpstewart's links, have a look at This one.

 

[topgazza]

Does installing a RAID1 setup mean a completely fresh install of everything or can I utilise my existing 2 x 300gb SATA drives setup, C & D, and just "press RAID1" so to speak.....

Or can I just copy D data onto the one drive and then RAID after that?

I don't require blindingly quick performance but like the resilience angle. I currently use ghost to an external drive so I guess the other option is just to carry on doing that.

 

[rpstewart]

Normally you would need to reinstall from scratch to get the right drivers installed etc. Creating the array itself will also wipe the partition tables etc on both drives so you'll need to backup the data somewhere.

 

[topgazza]

I thought that might be the case.

Like most people I have a shed load of programs from printer installs to DVD copy to little utlities that only exist on the hard drive, not CD. Like all "projects" I guess a tidy up first is never a bad idea and identify those programs I use the most and note them down for saving the zips or downloading again once everything is up and running.

It would be nice to back everything up on Ghost as one drive then set up the RAID and then reinstall from Ghost to the new setup but I guess it wouldn't be as simple as that ? There is lots of tips on creating a RAID 1 setup but is there a definative "noddy" guide that can be recommended ?

A good spring clean is long overdue mind you and creating one C drive and then RAIDing that and then reinstalling all my bits and pieces has its attractions despite how tedious that can be......

Thanks for the reply by the way....

 

[beast]

Guys, I have an identical HDD on order for a RAID 0 setup, are you telling me I will see no difference when gaming, because this is really what I would be using it for. If so I'll cancel it.

 

[bandit]

Guys, I have an identical HDD on order for a RAID 0 setup, are you telling me I will see no difference when gaming, because this is really what I would be using it for. If so I'll cancel it.

most gaming loading times are with textures etc, which get loaded into memeory, especially if you have good amounts of RAM on your GPU and in your system.

RAID0 only makes an appreciable difference helps when moving large files as you have more time to see the small differences stack up.

think of it like the motorway, you have a car going at 65 and another car is going 70, over the short jouney (loading games) you will not notice much difference if any, however over an hour, well hes 5 miles ahead!

capice?

 

[normski_]

Guys, I have an identical HDD on order for a RAID 0 setup, are you telling me I will see no difference when gaming, because this is really what I would be using it for. If so I'll cancel it.

Mate, I have a couple of identicle systems and the one with raid is noticably quicker at loading XP and games, you especialy notice it on games like HL2, Far Cry etc. where load times are pretty long.

It's a trade off really, the only downside to RAID0 is security of your data, but if you back up very regularly you will not be risking much, other than a bit of hard work to re-install the OS etc. and data if a drive fails.

I guess as you are using two drives instead of one, some might say the chances of a failed drive are double, but then aren't they doing half the work each? In 5 years of using raid, none of my RAID drives have gone, but the singular ones have. Possibly for this very reason...one drive has to do all the work, but two drives together only do half each.

Have to say the 7200.10 from Barracuda trounces two SATA2 RAIDO 80 gig 8mb buffer drives in some tests so if you are going down the single drive route apart from Raptor that's where I would go. But 2 7200.10's in RAID0 would be excellent as far as I am concerned, the best of both worlds.

Overall I find RAID0 to be quicker for everyday life by a good margin.

 

[beast]

Well, cancelled the order for the identical hard drive. But with the money saved I bought an E6600 and some of the geIL 6400 RAM. But I am still lusting for a RAID 0 configuration. I have backed up my existing hard drive and I am just building a PC for gaming. But then I need a DS4 to maximise the chip and RAM anyway so the mone will go there before the HDD.

 

[snowdog]

JonD:


You will not notice any improvement in the speed of games loading.

How come then im nearly always first to join a new map in battlefield 2 when map changes since i've moved bf2 onto my raid 0 array ( while im playing bf2 maxed out ) ?
If your hdd is defraggged ok, avrage read speed makes a whole lot of difference in loading games, a lot more as seek time, especially on games with big data files each a few hundred mb's or a few gigs...

 

[celliott]

Because everyone elses PC sucks

Im normally first in any BF2/2142 server with a single drive.

 

[jbloggs]

beast wrote:

I am still lusting for a RAID 0 configuration

I have heard the word "lusting" applied to many things, but never a RAID0 setup!

I suppose at the end of the day, try it and see, and if you don't get on with it, you can always revert back to a single HDD setup.