RAID0 requires very little CPU calculations; so do I really need a hardware card?

[sharkeeper]

It depends on what (application) you're running. I've had high defect rates on <cough>abit<cough> boards with onboard HPT controllers. Sometimes you wouldn't see it right away, only after the machine was running for a month and the databases get screwy so you run a chkdsk and all sorts of things are found. (should've been on SCSI but the client was too cheap!) Only to realise what you have is a cage of tigers--when one acts up the others watch and they act up too! Before you know it, the tigers have eaten you!

There is nothing wrong with buying the 3Ware card. For all out streaming performance, the cheap cards can't be beat.

-DAK-

 

[MichaelD]

Thank you, shuttleteam.

 

[BentValve]

I am still contemplating what to do with my dual Western Digital 80gb SE drives.

Let me ask you this, What is the benefit of having such fast drives if I dont work with any large files such as
video? The largest files on my PC are my games. I would not mind using the extra drive for a permanent
files rather than a raid 0 set-up if I wont really benefit all that much from having it.
Probably more than anything I just wanted to try it out and see what it was like but I have a feeling it
wont be that big of a deal.

 

[MichaelD]

Having fast HDs and/or a RAID0 setup means quite simply that you both load and save faster than a single HD.

It's totally up to you if it's worth it or not; nobody can make up your mind for you.

As someone who has had RAID0 setups in the past, I can tell you that for ME, it's worth the addtiional expense. I game quite a bit myself and have seen the difference in game startup/load level times b/t a single drive and a stripe; it's very noticeable.

FYI, I decided on the 3Ware 7000-2, with two 80GB WD SE drives. Should fly like a scalded spider monkey on crank. :Q I can't wait!

 

[thorin]

The "real" card isn't that much more than the "fake" one.

If it isn't "that" much more then why put any extra burden (however small) on your CPU?

Thorin

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: thorin

The "real" card isn't that much more than the "fake" one.

If it isn't "that" much more then why put any extra burden (however small) on your CPU?

Thorin

Yep. I agree with you. I bought a 3Ware 7000-2. I figure "go big or stay home."

 

[sharkeeper]

You don't have to do use applications that depend on STR (like NLE) to feel the benefits of RAID0.

It's kind of like having an SMP system. (Your OS MUST be SMP aware though!) Even though you may have an application that runs just as fast on a dual cpu system as a single, the ability to multi task is where an SMP system shines. The kick in the pants factor is high. (Try running four SETI instances, burning a CD at 48X across GLAN, and Playing UT2003 with everything on at the same time on a uniprocessor system! )



When you stripe a pair of drives on one of these controllers, you are allowing the pair of drives to do the work of a single one. STR alone is not responsible for the quicker load times and system responsiveness. While it is true that even a single drive on one of these controllers is generally faster than a single drive on the mainboard ATA controller, two in RAID0 are faster still. Benchmarks were not designed to measure this! I have benchmarked ultra high end SCSI RAID systems with the usual programs that users here at AT are familiar with and the results frequently look worse than a single 7200 RPM IDE HDD!!! Of course I don't have to lose sleep over this because the system is very fast and I know it's doing what it's supposed to.

Just remember (especially with 8MB drives!) that your cables are very important! Do NOT skimp on them or you'll be sad.

-DAK-

 

[GnomeCop]

so do you have any cable recommendations?

 

[BentValve]

Originally posted by: shuttleteam
You don't have to do use applications that depend on STR (like NLE) to feel the benefits of RAID0.

It's kind of like having an SMP system. (Your OS MUST be SMP aware though!) Even though you may have an application that runs just as fast on a dual cpu system as a single, the ability to multi task is where an SMP system shines. The kick in the pants factor is high. (Try running four SETI instances, burning a CD at 48X across GLAN, and Playing UT2003 with everything on at the same time on a uniprocessor system! )



When you stripe a pair of drives on one of these controllers, you are allowing the pair of drives to do the work of a single one. STR alone is not responsible for the quicker load times and system responsiveness. While it is true that even a single drive on one of these controllers is generally faster than a single drive on the mainboard ATA controller, two in RAID0 are faster still. Benchmarks were not designed to measure this! I have benchmarked ultra high end SCSI RAID systems with the usual programs that users here at AT are familiar with and the results frequently look worse than a single 7200 RPM IDE HDD!!! Of course I don't have to lose sleep over this because the system is very fast and I know it's doing what it's supposed to.

Just remember (especially with 8MB drives!) that your cables are very important! Do NOT skimp on them or you'll be sad.

-DAK-

Man you lost me at STR and NLE.


All I do is download crap and play games on my PC , given the fact that IDE drives are already kind of fragile
I don't think the benefits of Raid 0 verses the doubled failure rate is going to be worth it.
I think I would benefit more from going from 512mb to 1gb of ram at this time. I feel games load to my ram fairly
fast furthermore load times are usually the least of my concerns when it comes to games...frame rates , IQ and
working out other bugs keep me busy as it is.

 

[sharkeeper]

The 80 pin cables that come with retail packaged drives are of good quality. Beware of cheaply made rounded cables! There are rounded cables of decent quality on the web. Check Sidewinder Computers.

STR (Sequential Transfer Rate): Think of the graph in HD Tach or the bars in ATTO. The longer, the better. Of course HD Tach is utterly useless with high end HBA due to the caching algorithms and its static (and non user adjustable) block transfer method.

NLE (Non Linear Editing): Sound and Video editing. A lot of people think they need high STR for capturing video. Any current generation drive (single drive, no stripe) is fast enough to capture AVI at any typical resolution. Where the STR becomes a factor of speed (as CID is to drag racing) is editing. SCSI RAID with many drives rules the roost here. IDE with a pair of drives striped can approach 100 MB/S sustained. (125 MB/S for Raptor x2)

Upgrading your RAM (even if the task manager doesn't show you're currently using all of your 512 that you currently have) makes sense because Windows actually puts unused memory to work in the form of a disk cache. That indeed will help the casual gamer/surfer for sure.

-DAK-