Western Digital AAKS Series drives and Raid 0

[Sparky__H]

Hi guys

I reached the point where my poor old 74Gb raptor can no longer cope with the 10GB install requirements some games seem to be shipping with now (Damn EA!) and it’s in need of a replacement.

I’m looking at getting a couple of the 320GB AAKS drives and popping them in Rad 0. I’m a previous user of Raid sets so I know all the risks and setup procedures.

I have a few questions before I part with my cash:

Is the data density on the 320GB drives the same at the 500GB drives thus providing the same output speeds?

Are there any other drives from other manufacturers that outperform the new WD AAKS series?

Sparky

 

[Sparky__H]

The 320 and 500Gb AAKS drives use the same platters, I believe it's 2 in the 320Gb and 3 in the 500Gb one.

The only SATA drives I know of which can sustain a transfer rate faster than the AAKS drives are the 150Gb Raptor, the newer 74Gb Raptors and the Hitachi 7K1000s.

Just as I thought, thank you

The drive will mostly be used for games and programming so a stripe of say 16 sound right?

 

[Sparky__H]

Average read of 120 MB/s

Burst of 230 MB/s

Thats fresh install no driver updates