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2x74 ratpors vs. single 150g Xvelocity raptor

C

cuti7399

Platinum Member
Right now i have 2x74g raptors in raid0 and wonder if it's worth it to upgrade to 150g Xvelocity raptor performance wise. I know raid0 is bad but it's fast and I run regular image backup.
I even though about raid10 because i have 2x74 raptors to spare but if i get the same performance with single velocity raptor then i would sell the 4 raptors to get because a single drive would use less power.

Thanks for any input
 
Raid 0 is not exactly raid as there's no redundancy but it's fast. I have 6 74GB raptors in 3 raid 0 arrays and never had a problem. Raid 10 will be faster and more secure than a single drive. A single 150GB velociraptor will use less power but will set you back at least 160$ provided of course that you can get your hands on one. IMHO and since you already have the disks you should use them. A raid 10 array with 4 Raptors can't be bad.
 
Run HDTach and HD Tune on your raid setup. Compare the speed to other New raptor benches, then you will have your answer.
 
Good comments above, everyone.

My 2 cents here:

The 74GB Raptor uses an interface speed of 150MB/second,
and the older ones had an 8MB cache; latest models have a 16MB cache:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136033

The VelociRaptor uses an interface speed of 300MB/second,
and it also has a 16MB cache:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136260


If you already have a total of four (4) 74GB Raptors,
here's a suggestion that will open more options for you:

One 150GB VelociRaptor withOUT the IcePak cooler
will be the least expensive model, at current prices:

I would suggest that you try to purchase one of the latter,
and wire your 4 x 74GB Raptors to a RAID of your choosing:
with 4 such Raptors, you can experiment with RAID 5,
which provides excellent redundancy with measurable performance too.

Since you've been using your 74GB Raptors, and the
VelociRaptor will be brand new, chances are that one
of your 4 older Raptors will fail first; thus, RAID 5 will
help you to detect -- and identify -- the failed 74GB Raptor
and gracefully degrade without losing valuable data.

The VelociRaptor should be formatted with a C: of 20-30GB,
and the rest as a data partition on that same HDD.

Drive image files e.g. using Symantec's GHOST,
should be written to your RAID array, and then
copied back to the second data partition on the VelociRaptor,
so that you can recover your system software easily
if the VelociRaptor system partition should fail.

In this way, a drive image restore task will always
find a recent copy of the latest drive image on the
VelociRaptor's second data partition, in the event of
software corruption e.g. virus/worm/malware of some kind.

One last point: you didn't mention anything about
RAID controllers: keep foremost in your mind the
fact that the old PCI bus has MAX HEADROOM
of 133 MB/second (32 bits x 33 MHz / 8 bits per byte).

That is the same "133" as found in "ATA-133".

Your 4 x 74GB Raptors will easily saturate that
aging PCI bus, if you configure them as RAID 0:
this limit has been reproduced many many times
in proper benchmark experiments.

To get better performance from a RAID 0 with
4 x 74GB Raptors, you would do well to upgrade
to a modern PCI-Express RAID controller,
preferably one that requires either x4 PCI-E lanes
or x8 PCI-E lanes -AND- one with on-board cache.

Also, even if a PCI-E RAID controller is designed
to use all x8 PCI-E lanes, your chipset may only
allocate x4 PCI-E lanes EVEN IF the slot is an x8
or x16 mechanical slot.

So, always RTFM (Read The Fine Manual -- not always "Fine" however).


I hope this helps.



Sincerely yours,
/s/ Paul Andrew Mitchell, Inventor and
Webmaster, Supreme Law Library

All Rights Reserved without Prejudice
 
Originally posted by: cuti7399
Right now i have 2x74g raptors in raid0 and wonder if it's worth it to upgrade to 150g Xvelocity raptor performance wise.
Click to expand...
Where can you buy a 150GB VelociRaptor?
 
> Where can you buy a 150GB VelociRaptor?


The Western Digital website has an on-line store,
but that unit is not currently being sold to retail customers,
last I heard:

http://www.wdc.com/en/products...riveid=496&language=en


WD is field testing them with preferred enterprise customers.

Send them an email inquiry, and I'm sure they will get back
to you. Their Tech Support have always been very helpful
and courteous to me.


Also, I wrote to Newegg requesting that they begin stocking that item.

FYI: It should be very easy to install a 2.5" VelociRaptor
in a standard 3.5" drive bay: here's an inexpensive bracket
that we purchased several months back, for a prototype system
we were building:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811993005


Sincerely yours,
/s/ Paul Andrew Mitchell, Inventor and
Webmaster, Supreme Law Library

All Rights Reserved without Prejudice

 
I bought an 80GB VR new Dell pull from a guy at HF.

It should be a little screamer!

I thought Dell was selling these 80GB VRs to the public on their site, and purchased one.

I sent it back on Monday because it was a regular Raptor.

They really didn't want it back. The last email from CS offered a 20% discount if I kept it.
 
raid0 doesn't exactly improve speeds in a normal desktop environment. only in synthetic benchmarks and in server-environments. i've real-world tested this with 1x and 2x raptors in raid0 and DID NOT notice any performance difference in windows boot time, spyware/antivirus scans, game loads, overall system snappiness. NOTHING.

went back to 1x 150gb raptor
 
Stop using motherboard "raid" and get a real host and I promise you your attitude will change. Your figure may too if you have to eat nothing but crackers for a few months. :laugh:

 
Yep....I've just upgraded to a Perc 5 and noticed a world of difference just in 5 drive Raid0......trying out the different raids to see which one I will like best currently though.

edit: of course I'm limited to 300MBs iirc because of the perc. But I can't justify spending more than $500 on a better one. :frown:
 
Originally posted by: supremelaw


FYI: It should be very easy to install a 2.5" VelociRaptor
in a standard 3.5" drive bay: here's an inexpensive bracket
that we purchased several months back, for a prototype system
we were building:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811993005


Sincerely yours,
/s/ Paul Andrew Mitchell, Inventor and
Webmaster, Supreme Law Library

All Rights Reserved without Prejudice
Click to expand...
The last I read, removing the VelociRaptor from it's HS frame voided the warranty.
 
Yep removal of the ice pack does void the warranty. They use four torx screws and one is covered with a seal.
 
LoL...
By the VelociRaptor being a 2.5" drive, YOU KNOW someone here will try and run it in a laptop, even given all the warnings!
They won't be able to help themselves. They'll think WD is conspiring to hold back mobile performance from them.

:laugh: They'll then post one of two threads...
* "Help, I think my VelociRaptor is dead"
or
* "Help, I think my laptop is dead"
 
It won't fit, it's too thick. If one really wants the best i/o in a notebook they're best going with a SSD device.

VR's probably would work well in those game consoles that take hard drives though.
 
> The last I read, removing the VelociRaptor from it's HS frame voided the warranty.


Yes! We received the same confirmation directly from WD
immediately after we asked them that question, several weeks ago.

Nevertheless ...

WD is now manufacturing the 2.5" VR withOUT the IcePak cooler
(they had this in mind when they down-sized to a 2.5" form factor):

http://www.wdc.com/en/products...atalog.asp?language=en

This model comes in 2 capacities: 300GB and 150GB:

http://www.wdc.com/en/products...riveid=494&language=en
http://www.wdc.com/en/products...riveid=496&language=en


Repeating my comment above:

The Western Digital website has an on-line store,
but that unit is not currently being sold to retail customers,
last I heard:
...
WD is field testing them with preferred enterprise customers.

[end excerpt]


I hope this helps.


Sincerely yours,
/s/ Paul Andrew Mitchell, Inventor and
Webmaster, Supreme Law Library

All Rights Reserved without Prejudice
 
i'm gonna stick with 2x74 (16MB cache) for now. I do notice different when I do video rendering, photo editing and joining, unrar files
 
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