two HDs in RAID better than one large drive?

Thanks for all the feedback about the gaming rig. I've decided to
order the parts and DIY. I'm probably going with an i7 940 and ASUS
P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 mobo.

For HDs I'm debating weather to buy one large (1T) drive or two 500gb
in RAID configuration. I understand that generally a larger drive is
faster than a smaller one, but would the RAID configuration using two
smaller (500g) be faster, particularly with gaming? Thanks again.

"sp" == sillyputty writes:
sp For HDs I'm debating weather to buy one large (1T) drive or
sp two 500gb in RAID configuration. I understand that generally a
sp larger drive is faster than a smaller one, but would the RAID
sp configuration using two smaller (500g) be faster, particularly
sp with gaming? Thanks again.

A RAID 0 configuration will enjoy faster read and write access than a
single drive, or most other RAID configs. Whether disk access times
are important for gamers I don't know. I've been running RAID 0 on 3
drives for 1.5 years with no problems at all.

For convenience and a less risk consider 3 drives: a smallish (~ 100
GB) drive for the boot OS and page file, and then everything else in
the 2-disk RAID. Makes booting and diagnosing OS problems a lot
easier.
--
Today it is fashionable to talk about the poor. Unfortunately, it is
not fashionable to talk with them.
~ Mother Teresa

On Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:15:25 -0800, Bob Fry
wrote:

"sp" == sillyputty writes:
sp For HDs I'm debating weather to buy one large (1T) drive or
sp two 500gb in RAID configuration. I understand that generally a
sp larger drive is faster than a smaller one, but would the RAID
sp configuration using two smaller (500g) be faster, particularly
sp with gaming? Thanks again.

A RAID 0 configuration will enjoy faster read and write access than a
single drive, or most other RAID configs. Whether disk access times
are important for gamers I don't know. I've been running RAID 0 on 3
drives for 1.5 years with no problems at all.

For convenience and a less risk consider 3 drives: a smallish (~ 100
GB) drive for the boot OS and page file, and then everything else in
the 2-disk RAID. Makes booting and diagnosing OS problems a lot
easier.

Yeah booting from a RAID drive is not the best idea. I have tried it.
The smallish boot drive is a very good idea or at least use a small
partition for the OS. It makes backing up much easier. Games can be
put on the RAID. I wouldn't say RAID was unrealizable, but a single
10 Gig partition is the only way to go for the OS IMO.

Actually if you back up often, go for using RAID for the main drive.

I never had the extra cash to try, but using 4 drives with one RAID
configuration would be sweet.

Get the "system" set up as you like it, and use Acronis for a backup
program.

sillyputty wrote:
Thanks for all the feedback about the gaming rig. I've decided to
order the parts and DIY. I'm probably going with an i7 940 and ASUS
P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 mobo.

For HDs I'm debating weather to buy one large (1T) drive or two 500gb
in RAID configuration. I understand that generally a larger drive is
faster than a smaller one, but would the RAID configuration using two
smaller (500g) be faster, particularly with gaming? Thanks again.


A single Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB, used to be
about $300. It has a max transfer rate of 120MB/sec and
rotation rate of 10,000 RPM. That will give you good performance
without going to RAID. It is mechanically a smaller drive, with
a heatsink surrounding it. You could purchase a separate 1TB drive
for data storage, a second one for backups and so on. Never trust
all your files to just the one drive (do backups).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ptor&x=21&y=27

For drive comparisons, see the storagereview.com database. That
will help you select just the right drive.

http://www.storagereview.com/Testbed4Compare.sr

Paul

"sillyputty" wrote in message
...
Thanks for all the feedback about the gaming rig. I've decided to
order the parts and DIY. I'm probably going with an i7 940 and ASUS
P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 mobo.

For HDs I'm debating weather to buy one large (1T) drive or two 500gb
in RAID configuration. I understand that generally a larger drive is
faster than a smaller one, but would the RAID configuration using two
smaller (500g) be faster, particularly with gaming? Thanks again.


There is a myth that RAID 0 is so much faster than a single drive, but it is
patently not true. The fastest single drives (Raptors excluded) match RAID 0
in the majority of real world circumstances - on rarely will RAID 0 make a
difference, and not in any gaming sense. Sustained transfers are faster, but
realistic usage (including gaming usage) means there is little benefit.

On the other hand, you face double the risk of failure!

Raptors will be faster in some situations (lots of small transfers) due to
the shorter seek times, but again, in the mixed real-world scenarios, the
advantage is quite muted.

Another option would be to have two decent SATA drives (e.g. Samsung or
Seagate) with the OS on the first part of the first disk, and your apps
(i.e. games) on the first part of the second disk - the outer part of the
platters spin faster and thus have greater data transfer rates (but same
seek time).

"Bob Fry" wrote in message
...
A RAID 0 configuration will enjoy faster read and write access than a
single drive, or most other RAID configs. Whether disk access times
are important for gamers I don't know. I've been running RAID 0 on 3
drives for 1.5 years with no problems at all.


Only important in that load times will be quicker but games load their data
into ram so it really makes no difference as far as game play performance
goes. Might help in some games where the loading of new data can cause
slight pauses but that is due to poor programming methods in the first place
and shouldn't happen if a game is designed well.

"CJM" writes:

"sillyputty" wrote in message
...
Thanks for all the feedback about the gaming rig. I've decided to
order the parts and DIY. I'm probably going with an i7 940 and ASUS
P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 mobo.

For HDs I'm debating weather to buy one large (1T) drive or two 500gb
in RAID configuration. I understand that generally a larger drive is
faster than a smaller one, but would the RAID configuration using two
smaller (500g) be faster, particularly with gaming? Thanks again.


There is a myth that RAID 0 is so much faster than a single drive, but
it is patently not true. The fastest single drives (Raptors excluded)
match RAID 0 in the majority of real world circumstances - on rarely
will RAID 0 make a difference, and not in any gaming sense. Sustained
transfers are faster, but realistic usage (including gaming usage)
means there is little benefit.

On the other hand, you face double the risk of failure!

Raptors will be faster in some situations (lots of small transfers)
due to the shorter seek times, but again, in the mixed real-world
scenarios, the advantage is quite muted.

Another option would be to have two decent SATA drives (e.g. Samsung
or Seagate) with the OS on the first part of the first disk, and your
apps (i.e. games) on the first part of the second disk - the outer
part of the platters spin faster and thus have greater data transfer
rates (but same seek time).

They have the same rpm. Are you sure about that? Do the sectors hold
more on the outside (wider) section?

On Nov 18, 9:37*pm, sillyputty wrote:
Thanks for all the feedback about the gaming rig. I've decided to
order the parts and DIY. I'm probably going with an i7 940 and ASUS
P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 mobo.

For HDs I'm debating weather to buy one large (1T) drive or two 500gb
in RAID configuration. I understand that generally a larger drive is
faster than a smaller one, but would the RAID configuration using two
smaller (500g) be faster, particularly with gaming? Thanks again.

Waste of money for gaming. Most of your games are on CD, and those you
purchased through Steam or wherever can be downloaded again if you
lose them.

If you have tons of photos, movies, CG art, documents, etc., then
maybe Raid.

But just to game? To get into the game maybe 5 seconds quicker? Nahhh.

..02

morvak writes:

On Nov 18, 9:37Â*pm, sillyputty wrote:
Thanks for all the feedback about the gaming rig. I've decided to
order the parts and DIY. I'm probably going with an i7 940 and ASUS
P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 mobo.

For HDs I'm debating weather to buy one large (1T) drive or two 500gb
in RAID configuration. I understand that generally a larger drive is
faster than a smaller one, but would the RAID configuration using two
smaller (500g) be faster, particularly with gaming? Thanks again.

Waste of money for gaming. Most of your games are on CD, and those you
purchased through Steam or wherever can be downloaded again if you
lose them.

Are you joking? I hope so.

You do realise that PC users install the game onto their hard drive don't
you?

On Nov 19, 12:33*pm, Walter Mitty wrote:
morvak writes:
On Nov 18, 9:37*pm, sillyputty wrote:
Thanks for all the feedback about the gaming rig. I've decided to
order the parts and DIY. I'm probably going with an i7 940 and ASUS
P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 mobo.

For HDs I'm debating weather to buy one large (1T) drive or two 500gb
in RAID configuration. I understand that generally a larger drive is
faster than a smaller one, but would the RAID configuration using two
smaller (500g) be faster, particularly with gaming? Thanks again.

Waste of money for gaming. Most of your games are on CD, and those you
purchased through Steam or wherever can be downloaded again if you
lose them.

Are you joking? I hope so.

You do realise that PC users install the game onto their hard drive don't
you?

Right. And like I said, if anything happens to the hard drive, they
still have the original CD or DVD or their steam account to re-
download the game.