I've saved up some cash and started planning my uber-gaming machine. Got my ATIx800xt on preorder, beginning to price Opterons, but one big question remains: How to set up my HDDs? From research, it looks like dual WD Raptor 74Gb drives are the creme da la creme right now. However, should I have them pooled together or mirrored?
As 74Gb is more than enough space for a pure gaming machine, I don't care about the storage lost in RAID 1. But I back up my machines fairly regularly, and game saves aren't exactly mission critical data, so I don't mind the loss in reliability RAID 0 presents (besides, a 5 yr warranty leads me to believe that these puppies are in it for the long haul). In short, based on a pure gaming performance need, which setup would work best? Or does any RAID at all reduce speed below a single drive?
Thanks in advance for the help!
As 74Gb is more than enough space for a pure gaming machine, I don't care about the storage lost in RAID 1. But I back up my machines fairly regularly, and game saves aren't exactly mission critical data, so I don't mind the loss in reliability RAID 0 presents (besides, a 5 yr warranty leads me to believe that these puppies are in it for the long haul). In short, based on a pure gaming performance need, which setup would work best? Or does any RAID at all reduce speed below a single drive?
Thanks in advance for the help!