is it true that raid (0) gives no real gains to gaming?

[LegionX]

hi
i was reading a post further down and people were saying that raid doesnt give gaming any speed performance besides loading of the game. i was/am considering a raid set up but if this is true then i dont see a point for it since the speed i want out of raid wont be where i want it to be
say it isnt so

 

[Adul]

it is so, you wont notice much ofa difference and personaly i dont think the trade off in half the relibility is worth the risk

 

[MichaelD]

Adul; nice avatar dude!

 

[HendrixFan]

RAID works best for sustained throughput, loading a map in a game will have a small difference because you are talking seconds gained, nothing more.

RAID will be a little better for general OS tasks as well, but again, not a big difference. I use my RAID setup for audio and video editting, and I see big time improvements, though the gains for games are small.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: HendrixFan
RAID works best for sustained throughput, loading a map in a game will have a small difference because you are talking seconds gained, nothing more.

RAID will be a little better for general OS tasks as well, but again, not a big difference. I use my RAID setup for audio and video editting, and I see big time improvements, though the gains for games are small.

I agree to some extent, the biggest gains you will see are for things like media editing and manipulation (time shifting, PVR functions etc.) or running a server, however, I have seen substantial differences in performance in games, particularly BF 1942. That game is a memory hog, so it easily flows into your swap file if you don't have a gig of RAM.....RAID really helps in that situation and when loading maps. Its definitely not as noticeable though in older games, BF 1942 is one of the most intensive apps I run, period. Also, I have no need for 240GB on 2 separate partitions, and a redundant mirrored array is pointless for what I do as there's nothing I do on my home PC that is "mission critical" or for work (done on my ThinkPad). My current set-up is ~160GB as my main OS and app partition, with an 80GB partition for unique data files on my RAID 0 array. I have a "mirrored" 80GB Maxtor 8MB Cache Ultra to back-up periodically to, and I save seldomly used files like driver updates and downloaded installation files to.

PC performance in the last year has generally been pretty stagnant; There hasn't been any earth-shattering advancements in the desktop PC market, just incremental clock increases. I've found for some time that the ONLY times I wait on my system are when my CPU is waiting for data from input devices like my optical and IDE drives. Even a 15% increase in access or load times is more signifcant than a 15% overclock IMO......

Chiz

 

[mechBgon]

If you don't need lots of storage space, there's Cheetah 15k.3... 75Mb/sec on the straightaways, 3.8ms cornering (per drive... imagine those in RAID0 on a U320 controller with 128Mb cache )

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
If you don't need lots of storage space, there's Cheetah 15k.3... 75Mb/sec on the straightaways, 3.8ms cornering (per drive... imagine those in RAID0 on a U320 controller with 128Mb cache )

Hehe, yah but I spent $300 (3ware 7000-2, 2 x 120GB Maxtor 8MB Ultras) on my array...not $3000

Chiz

Edit: Bottom line: I wouldn't go out of your way to shell out crazy cash for a RAID 0 array. I just lucked upon 2 120GB Ultras for dirt-cheap and ended up with too much HD space. So I figured spending a few bucks more to speed it up wouldn't be a bad idea

 

[LH]

You could always do a 15k.3 18GB RAID 0, for around $500, oh wait for got the SCSI RAID Card, that would bring the total to around $1000.

The 73GB drives are under $700. So you could have a 3 drive RAID 5 setup for $3000.

 

[mechBgon]

Hehe Strictly for entertainment purposes... you could set that up for about $750 if you stuck with an Ultra160 RAID controller such as an Adaptec 2100S and used 18Gb drives. About as practical as a Ferrari, but I'd still like to try it someday!

 

[BurnItDwn]

Games load faster ....
Thats about the only gain though

 

[Auric]

RAID 0 aka "fake RAID" is not something to pine over.