Use SATA RAID?

[rlculver]

Hi,

I have the Gigabyte GA-8KNXP mothboard board which contains : -

* Intel SATA RAID
* Silicon Image SATA RAID

Shall I just use the hard drives as just two seperate drives (No RAID) or is it best to use RAID 0?

If so, would you recommend using the Silicon Image Hardware RAID chipset? and which 'cache' size (not sure if it is called cache).

I want best performace for copying files etc, including games etc. So please recommend RAID or no RAID!

 

[Dutch Guy]

RAID-0 doubles the chance of losing your data, if one drive fails all is lost so only do this if you backup important data or not care about your data.

RAID-0 is faster but not so much with games, it is faster at file transfers though.

As for stripe size I have little experience and went for the default 64k, small stripe size is better for Windows installs, larger stripe size is better for games and larger files (but take this with a pinch of salt, I think someone else will be along with better advice)

Also do you have two identical drives?

 

[jbloggs]

rlculver:

I use a stripe size of 32KB, with a 4KB (Windows XP default) cluster. I have 2 x 74GB WD Raptors set up in RAID0 on ICH5R cont. This works very well for me, giving in HDTach the following, Average read, 130MB/s +, Burst speed, 200MB/s +, Random access 7.6ms.

This stripe size is a good compromise for running Windows XP, Gaming and working with large video files.

I would use the Intel controller rather than the Silicon, because the Intel (if it is ICH5/6/7R) will be faster than the Silicon, as the Silicon is on the PCI bus.

 

[smids]

If you do go for a RAID, based on your usage I would suggest a stripe of 32K with the Intel controller. Intel RAID controllers are far superior to standard add on controllers like the Silicon Image.

RAID-0 will require a regular backup of your data should a drive fail but in my experience, is worth it.