Few Questions.

[fastamdman]

Well I have recently started working on computers for friends, family and a few clients. Usually small simple stuff but I find myself burning drivers to cd's or dvd's *because im outta cd's* haha. I figured it would save me A LOT of trouble, if I simply got a usb flash drive.

So first thing is, I would like a usb flash drive. Size doesn't matter so I would like the best price to performance. I would RARELY use this but usb 3.0 would kinda be nice and something larger could potentially be useful later on down the line.

Next up I am faced with another storage dilemma. I currently have 1 64gb crucial m4. I play WoW and SWTOR. After windows and a few necessary apps, there is not enough storage for both so I am wanting to upgrade. I can either sell my 64gb and grab a 128, or simply buy another 64gb and raid 0 them together. Thoughts?

cliff notes - recommend a usb flash drive and 128gb ssd vs 2 64gb raid 0

 

[Shmee]

Hmm, as for the flash drive, I would recommend usb 3 for sure. I got a patriot supersonic express 32 GB for about 30-40 bucks on sale at frys a while back. Keep in mind, with usb3 flash drives, speed can vary a lot, read reviews first and compare them! Also, the posted numbers don't seem to be very accurate.

As for the SSD, If you have an Intel sata controller, you should be able to get RAID 0 working with trim with latest Intel software, so I would go with that, as it will be faster plus you already have one of the SSD's. If you are on an AMD system, I would be less tempted to go raid, but, it still might be worth it to keep the old one, whether you get a new 64 or 128 GB, either way, its still not a ton of space, and it can be helpful to have 2 SSDs.

 

[God Mode]

I'd sell the 64gb and go with a larger one. IME, Raid 0 with current generation of SSD leads to performance degradation which eventually becomes as slow or slower than a single drive itself.

 

[Blain]

Use a write locking USB thumbdrive to avoid malware jumping to your stick.
Oh, one more thing... make sure the drive is write locked before you plug it into any PC you aren't sure is clean and infection free.