What's faster?

[DeadLOK]

36gb raptor on it's own or 2x320gb 7200rpms in striped raid on ich9r.

Also is there any sense in partitioning a striped array to prevent the system partition getting cluttered?

 

[Zarf]

probably a couple of modern 7200rpms

 

[namnoc]

Sustained speeds are higher on the modern drives due to the greater data density on the platters.

 

[FaceplantSi]

Yeah in terms of pure speed then the striped array would be better, but the downside is data safety of course.

 

[rpstewart]

36gb raptor on it's own or 2x320gb 7200rpms in striped raid on ich9r.

Also is there any sense in partitioning a striped array to prevent the system partition getting cluttered?

As already stated the RAID0 array will wipe the floor with the Raptor for sustained transfers but there's life in the old dog yet. The random access time of the Raptor is still going to be a lot less than the array so in the real world which feels faster will depend on how they're being used.

Partitioning an array is just as valid an approach as partitioning a single drive.