OCNewb Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 I've herad about RAID setups before, but never really looked into them... I thought it was something for servers/networks and not for a home Pc. But after reading around (the guide here was really nice BTW) it sounds like this would be something good for my new gaming system im trying to put together. What's a good setup? RAID 0 sounds like it would be the fastest. I was thinking about getting 4 drives and setting them up as a RAID 0 configuration. Is the improvement worth the setup and investment? Do the drrives have to be identical in size and model? Thanks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisFiT_ Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 Yes RAID 0 is usually for a gaming system. Just make sure your motherboard supports 0 which all raid motherboards pretty much do (i've never seen a motherboard that does raid not support 0). Raid 0 is striping data on at least 2 or more drives. No, hard drives don't have to be same model and size but its better to have 2 74GB drives than a 74 and a 32 because with a 74 and 32 in raid 0, you only have 32 gb of space to use because your 32 gb cant hold more than 32 gb so you'll have space leftover on your 74 gb hd. It's better to have 2 74 gigabyte hard drives because both of your drives can use equal space (74gb). That's just an example. For me.. no I wouldn't do RAID 0 or any raid.. For gaming it makes loading times faster that's pretty much it (as far as I heard). If one drive fails in the raid all your data is lost *important*. My single 250 gig 7200 loads as fast as my friends 2 hd 7200 raid 0 setup in games. I would say don't get it, its not worth it.. Uh... Idk why I explained.. as since you read guides you should know what RAID 0 is.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardnrg Posted June 13, 2008 Posted June 13, 2008 if you only have 4 drives I'd recommend 2 in RAID-0 and 2 in single drive mode... ideally the two in RAID-0 would also have fast access time, so Raptors basically assuming you're using SATA for the full benefit of RAID you really need multiple arrays for fast disk-disk transfers... in my main rig, I run 4 drive RAID-10 2 drive RAID-0 4 single drives and I love it... fantastic for video work Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCNewb Posted June 14, 2008 Posted June 14, 2008 Almost all the time when Iread around about RAID or test rigs, peple use the WD raptor drives.... Itake it these are the best for fast access? Can I go with something less for RAID? I was planning on getting maybe 4 drives off Ebay. I usually have no issues with drives from there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardnrg Posted June 14, 2008 Posted June 14, 2008 Raptors have very fast access times, faster than "standard" 7200 RPM SATA drives... this makes the main difference... but the downside is you pay more for the access time and the drives are lower capacity... I go for the highest performance SATA drives I can find that aren't Raptors, so that way I can get near the performance of Raptors, not pay as much, and not have to compromise capacity. The Hitachi T7K500 is my favourite drive, and so the 250GB model is the one I use in all my RAID arrays (I have 6 in my main rig). You could take a look at StorageReview.com to compare performance in a wide range of benchmarks, along with other factors like noise, power, etc I wouldn't buy drives from eBay unless it was an eBay store of an actual retail store. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCNewb Posted June 16, 2008 Posted June 16, 2008 I go for the highest performance SATA drives I can find that aren't Raptors, so that way I can get near the performance of Raptors, not pay as much, and not have to compromise capacity.I wouldn't buy drives from eBay unless it was an eBay store of an actual retail store. Thanks. I'm going to do the same nad look for higher prformance SATA drives. Since this system is only for gaming, I don't mind if a drive or two goes out down the road, so I might still chek out the respectable sellers on ebay. As I noted, (knock on wood) I have had realy good deals on drives from there at good prices. In the end should my system be used for something else, I can invest in the drives at that time. Thanks for the info andthat site... Im liking it! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comp Dude2 Posted June 16, 2008 Posted June 16, 2008 They dont technically have to be the same drive but it can cause some headaches if they arent, so if you were buying new i'm with hardnrg, dont just get anything Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCNewb Posted June 16, 2008 Posted June 16, 2008 They dont technically have to be the same drive but it can cause some headaches if they arent, so if you were buying new i'm with hardnrg, dont just get anything Ahhh.. yeah, that is what I meant to say. I plan to get the same size/type/model drives to limit any issues - If I can find a good deal on new in town or online, I'll be going for that instead of ebay, but I like to look around.. you never know. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCNewb Posted July 8, 2008 Posted July 8, 2008 I'm leaning on getting a couple (3 maybe) drives of this model: http://cgi.ebay.com/SEAGATE-750GB-ST375033...1QQcmdZViewItem Hardnrg: You mentioned of having single drives along with RAID setups, what's the benefit? Wouldn't it be better to have them all on a RAID setup? Thanks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comp Dude2 Posted July 8, 2008 Posted July 8, 2008 Will you really need a 1.5Tb or 2.25Tb OS + program drive? because thats all you can really store on it, expendable stuff, personal docs, music, movies etc will have to go on other drives. If you stick to something like 250gig drives then you end up with a fair ammount of space, without un-necesary wastage, maybe get a 750gb for general storage? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kash Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 If this is going to be a gaming system, I would recommend two smaller drives for RAID, with one or more larger drives in single configuration for storage. RAID 0 has an inherent flaw in that if a single drive fails, the entire array goes with it, so it's not a good idea to use a RAID 0 array for storage. However, if you are planning on buying three or more drives, then you might want to consider RAID 5, where you get both the performance of RAID 0 and the security of RAID 1 (mirroring). As you can see in my sig, I have two 74GB Raptors in RAID 0, with two independent internal drives, along with two external drives. I use the four independent drives for storage, and the measly 2x74GB array for the OS, games, and other expendable files. So I still get the performance of RAID 0, with very little of the risk. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 I wouldn't bother. I used to run a 3 drive RAID 0 set and while load times were *slightly* better for most things, the only real improvement came from file copying. For gaming load times just having a Raptor nets you far more than anything else short of a good SSD. SDDs, on the other hand, do benefit greatly from being run in RAID since they aren't hampered by access times. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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