Raid and ATA or SATA

nunyer

Junior Member
Aug 15, 2004
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Hi
I have been doing a ton of research to build a new machine. I am building a game machine and was wondering what is the best drive configuration for the money. I am on a budget so the SATA 10000 RPM is expensive. My question is should I go with

  • Raid 0 with 2 ATA 7500RPM Drives
  • Raid 0 with 2 SATA 7500RPM Drives
  • Or Just spend the money on a smaller 10000RPM SATA drive

I would think that I listed them in speed order. What type of benifit would I see from the ATA to SATA raid jump?


I am also goind to use the the ASUS p4c800-e Motherboard.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
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None of the above. If you're on a budget, more RAM, faster CPU, and a better video card are all more important than the hard drive which only affects map / level loading time not frames per second.

If you already have an A64 3200+, 1 GB RAM, and nV 6800 GT in your budget, then it might make sense to get the single Raptor.

Click the Storage tab at the top of the page and read "Western Digital's Raptors in RAID-0" (you can skip to the gaming page and final words).

I am also goind to use the the ASUS p4c800-e Motherboard.
An A64 3000+ is roughly the same speed as a P4 3.2 GHz for gaming, and a 3200+ is faster. So if you're on a budget, a P4 is not a good way to spend your money. I say this even though I'm using a P4 3.2C now, on this exact motherboard.
 

wfbberzerker

Lifer
Apr 12, 2001
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you don't want to go with RAID if you're on a budget. the small performance gain you will receive is not worth the increase in both price and the chances you'll lose all the data on both drives. you will see a larger increase in performance if you go with a better processor or video card. my advice to you is to get just one SATA or parallel ATA drive and save your money for use on the rest of your system.

also, could you post what the rest of your system is going to look like? or what you had in mind for the rest of it.

EDIT: also, i agree with what davesimmons said. for being on a budget, athlon really is the way to go.
 

Pollock

Golden Member
Jan 24, 2004
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Originally posted by: wfbberzerker
you don't want to go with RAID if you're on a budget. the small performance gain you will receive is not worth the increase in both price and the chances you'll lose all the data on both drives. you will see a larger increase in performance if you go with a better processor or video card. my advice to you is to get just one SATA or parallel ATA drive and save your money for use on the rest of your system.

also, could you post what the rest of your system is going to look like? or what you had in mind for the rest of it.

EDIT: also, i agree with what davesimmons said. for being on a budget, athlon really is the way to go.
I second that. And you could probably go with ATA to save a few bucks, since the only real advantage of SATA is the smaller cable and maybe being slightly higher quality for being a "flagship" product.
 

nunyer

Junior Member
Aug 15, 2004
5
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Sorry I should have told you the budget was just for the drives. I am going with a P4, 1g memory, the 6800 video card and Killer case. I guess if the only advantage I will see is map loading that is not a huge plus for me.