Add same SSD to collection for later Raid 0 or no?

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I think my Vertex LE 100g is on it's last legz. Seems to have died. I've tried other Serial ATA ports and it still doesn't boot. Luckily it's just for a gaming rig and not too much data is lost, may even be retrievable. But I'm thinking of getting a new SSD drive. I currently have a Samsung 128 Pro in my main rig. Should I get another to use in the Game rig, and then upon upgrade I could use them in a Raid 0 for the game rig (which is not sensitive data if lost due to Raid 0) All I need to backup is a few files but mainly config files which I do periodically..

Thoughts and suggestions. If making suggestions please suggest the current best and latest gen single SSD solution for a rig.

Thanks


Moving to General Hardware at OP's request.

Admin IDC

 

[Idontcare]

Moved to GH from M&S - IDC

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Awesome, thanks

 

[mfenn]

Samsung has never made a drive called the 128 Pro to the best of my knowledge. Are you talking about a 470, 830, or 840?

Anyway, no I would not recommend getting a drive with RAID 0 in mind. A typical desktop workload simply does not tax an SSD enough to warrant it. Just get a solid 128GB drive like a Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB and call it a day.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Do you think a Samsung 128Gb Evo would be a better option? I'm researching a little over it on the front page. Haven't seen any comparisons vs the Sandisk . I'd like the 250 but it's not in stock at B&H (pre-order). The 128 is however. @ 109$

 

[Essence_of_War]

For everyday desktop stuff they're functionally identical.

Get whichever one costs you less

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

For everyday desktop stuff they're functionally identical.

Get whichever one costs you less

Money is not too much of an issue. However I did buy the GTX 670 vs the 680 so I do consider price for performance in GPU generations. At the same time though I don't see SSD tech evolving as fast as GPUs and I regard my desktop performance under unyielding compromise so if there is an area which will help e.g. file transfers under say a main boot to a scratch drive, with a 2x EVO config (Microsoft Expressions Encoder) then I'd go that route.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I wouldn't RAID using a soon to be used drive and a new drive.

I would pick this up. It's a Marvel based SSD and pretty cheap.

If money isn't an issue, I'd pick up an M4 or 830

 

[Essence_of_War]

Money is not too much of an issue. However I did buy the GTX 670 vs the 680 so I do consider price for performance in GPU generations. At the same time though I don't see SSD tech evolving as fast as GPUs and I regard my desktop performance under unyielding compromise so if there is an area which will help e.g. file transfers under say a main boot to a scratch drive, with a 2x EVO config (Microsoft Expressions Encoder) then I'd go that route.

Fair enough.

Gaming doesn't really benefit from the kind of high performance that SSDs like the Sandisk Extreme II or the Samsung 840 Pro provide.

Like mfenn said, the Sandisk Ultra Plus is a fine choice, so are Samsung 840 non-pro, and the Evo. For fixed price, I think you get more value in a gaming set-up from having a larger capacity of a non-pro ssd, than having a smaller capacity pro-quality.

Either way, RAID0'ing SSDs seems sort of like overkill unless you have a specific use-case that benefits from it. In sequential reads, you're already likely getting close to limits from SATA, and doubling your throughput through raid0 will almost certainly be bottle-necked by SATA. Plus you get a better price/GB buying a single larger capacity drive.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

To add an addendum to my first post, I am no longer facing a drive failure. The question now is why would the drive boot up in a different SATA port? Software wise, or due to hardware?

buying an SSD is no longer an need

 

[T_Yamamoto]

To add an addendum to my first post, I am no longer facing a drive failure. The question now is why would the drive boot up in a different SATA port? Software wise, or due to hardware?

buying an SSD is no longer an need

The port could be dead.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

The port could be dead.

That's what I thought a few yrs ago when it happened the first time. Since then I'm sure I used the same port over again. What's peculiar also is the other port that I used ended up doing the same thing. Could that possibly be a bios thing?

 

[mfenn]

To add an addendum to my first post, I am no longer facing a drive failure. The question now is why would the drive boot up in a different SATA port? Software wise, or due to hardware?

buying an SSD is no longer an need

Have you tried plugging a different (known working) drive into that port? What about a different cable?

 

[T_Yamamoto]

That's what I thought a few yrs ago when it happened the first time. Since then I'm sure I used the same port over again. What's peculiar also is the other port that I used ended up doing the same thing. Could that possibly be a bios thing?

My thinking was that the port is becoming faulty.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Have you tried plugging a different (known working) drive into that port? What about a different cable?

Actually they've all worked. Seems whichever port I plug into it ends up failing.. I'm now thinking it could be an electrical delivery issue. Or a dying cmos

EDIT: whoops. The drive was plugged into a different port and it booted up fine. It was readable as a slave drive in my main rig, also.

My thinking was that the port is becoming faulty.

It's just trying to figure out on what level it becomes unstable from. I've down-clocked a little but it's probably futile because it's been almost or maybe more than a year since it's happened last.

The ironic part is the SSD drive was predicted to fail within a yr or two from when i bought it. I think it's going on 3+yrs now. 100G Vertex LE (special sauce)