Does a RAID 0 Drive configuration improve gaming?

[bjiceman]

I'm looking at getting a notebook and alienware offers a RAID 0 hard drive configuration. Is it worth the cash? Or should I upgrade Processor or Videocard instead?

 

[InlineFour]

raid 0 for desktop is already unpractical, don't even start with raid 0 on a notebook. you're better off upgrading to a better cpu and/or video card.

 

[alimoalem]

upgrade video. even if you have a go7900GTX, the 2.13 Core Duo CPU, 2GB or ram, 100GB 7200RPM drive, and all the other options, i still wouldn't get RAID0.

 

[JEDIYoda]

The answer from those of us who use raid0 for gaming is YES it is wirth it!!
As long as you continuously back up all important data to a seperate storage device!!

You will always get both sides of the argument..No its not weorth it becuase..ladedadeda.....you can lose all your data and there is no significant proof that its really woirth it. Let me say there is no significant proof based on individual tests.

Yet those of us who use it we see a difference!!

So its really up to you which way to go!!

 

[bjiceman]

are there any advantages to it?

 

[Pens1566]

Slight increase in load times. That is all. Upgrade video instead. Or CPU. Buy ram later from the 'egg.

 

[InlineFour]

Originally posted by: Pens1566
Slight increase in load times. That is all. Upgrade video instead. Or CPU. Buy ram later from the 'egg.

decrease.

 

[Bobthelost]

It will improve your load time in some games, maybe. If you want to have better graphics then it's an utter waste of time and money that could go on a better graphics card instead. Waiting 3 seconds less to load a map is not worth losing eyecandy for.

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: alimoalem
upgrade video. even if you have a go7900GTX, the 2.13 Core Duo CPU, 2GB or ram, 100GB 7200RPM drive, and all the other options, i still wouldn't get RAID0.

:thumbsup:

 

[bamacre]

You should look into the Dell XPS M1710 Gaming laptop instead of an AW, or at least compare and see which is better for your money...

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/product...snb_m1710?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn

 

[Daniel]

Are you ever planning on unplugging this laptop by any chance? I'd love to see the battery life on one of those...

 

[RebateMonger]

I didn't know they made laptops with dual internal hard drives. Pretty amazing. RAID 1 would be a good idea for people who drop their laptops. Maybe one drive might survive the fall. But, as mentioned, battery life would suffer, for sure.

 

[dBTelos]

The idea for RAID0 on a laptop is completely ridiculous, for that matter any duel hard drive configuration on a laptop is stupid. We have enough problems with laptops and battery life and heat. Alienware has completely lost my respect with this kind of thing. They are clearly just listing the few pros that can come from a RAID0 configuration. They are just in it to take peoples money. Taking it from a more technical angle, RAID0 is an over hyped technology for consumers, the majority of the desktop computer market. A simple link can let you know what I mean, a lot quicker. http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=952998

As the link clearly states:

"RAID cannot provide a performance boost in all applications. This statement is especially true with typical desktop application users and gamers. Most desktop applications and games place performance emphasis on the buffer startegy and seek performance of the disk(s). Increasing raw sustained transfer rate shows little gains for desktop users and gamers, as most files that they access are typically very small anyway. Disk striping using RAID-0 increases linear transfer performance, not buffer and seek performance. As a result, disk striping using RAID-0 shows little to no performance gain in most desktop applications and games, although there are exceptions. For desktop users and gamers with high performance as a goal, it is better to buy a faster and more expensive single disk than it is to run two slower drives in RAID-0. Even running the latest and greatest drives in RAID-0 is unlikely to boost performance more than 10%, and performance may drop in some access patterns, particularly games."

People setup these RAID0 configurations, see a slight performance boost at most and proceed to brag about it.

 

[Pens1566]

Originally posted by: InlineFour

Originally posted by: Pens1566
Slight increase in load times. That is all. Upgrade video instead. Or CPU. Buy ram later from the 'egg.

decrease.

That's what I meant.

 

[Luckyboy1]

He said gaming and notebook in the same sentence!

 

[bjiceman]

Originally posted by: Luckyboy1
He said gaming and notebook in the same sentence!

...and?

 

[Trey22]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
The answer from those of us who use raid0 for gaming is YES it is wirth it!!
As long as you continuously back up all important data to a seperate storage device!!

You will always get both sides of the argument..No its not weorth it becuase..ladedadeda.....you can lose all your data and there is no significant proof that its really woirth it. Let me say there is no significant proof based on individual tests.

Yet those of us who use it we see a difference!!

So its really up to you which way to go!!

Placebo effect? Benchies?

I now AT had done a review on R0 sometime last year. Should still hold true. I'll dig it up.

Edit: HERE

 

[JEDIYoda]

yeah my bad using gaming and notebook in the same sentence is a nonono!!