What's the 'right' way to set up RAID 0?

nogoodreason · 16 Feb 2016 at 16:07

I have two sets of identical SSDs so figure it makes sense to run them in RAID 0. I get the impression that nowadays there are several ways to create a RAID array so I want to make sure I'm not making any mistakes.

In the past I've gone into BIOS, changed SATA mode from "AHCI" to "RAID" which has given me an extra dialogue box as the computer boots up. Created the array from there with recommended settings, then booted into Windows and formatted the new "disk" Windows finds. (I'm never entirely sure whether to format it as MBR or the other one if it's just a storage drive.)

Is this the best way to go about creating an effective RAID 0 setup? Or am I missing something/should be looking into software, etc?

Any and all advice welcomed.

Motherboard:
ASUS Z97-K Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard

Proposed C:
2x Samsung 256GB SSD 850 PRO SATA 6Gbps 3D NAND SSD

Proposed D:
2x Intel X25-M 160GB

nogoodreason · 16 Feb 2016 at 20:36

Thanks for the reassurance.

I need to initialise my D: array before I can access it. Should I go with MBR or GPT?

(I am curious to try out Intel Rapid Storage - is this something I can utilise the older SSDs for? Have never used it before.)

nogoodreason · 16 Feb 2016 at 21:52

Thanks Steampunk. This is a point I see raised whenever talk of RAID 0 and SSDs comes up - to be honest I mostly want to do it to see if I notice a difference. Plus the older SSDs aren't very big so I'd find it convenient to have it seen as one 320GB.

I'm most curious about its effect on big, high quality computer games. Previously I had Windows, Steam and Photoshop on the SSD, but all their related game and image files were on an older, bigger drive.

Given the choice between having Steam and the game files installed together on one big RAID 0 SSD array, and having two separate SSDs - one with software, the other with files - which would you choose and why?

nogoodreason · 17 Feb 2016 at 01:57

Appreciate your input, thanks very much.

You're correct about the fast internet and not-majorly-important game files. Perhaps I'll start out running the older Intels in RAID 0 but leaving the Samsungs alone.

Would I be at any disadvantage by doing that? I know a few things don't like to work when your motherboard's not in AHCI mode. Unsure about Intel Rapid Storage and what the best way to implement that would be.