Raptors in Raid + IDE

[Coach3K]

Hey folks. Great site and forum here. Information here helped me decide on my first PC build. I have a question about Raid and Windows XP that I?ve seen conflicting information on, though.

Here?s the setup that?s being shipped to me this week from Newegg.com:

* Asus 875P Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU, Model "P4C800-E DELUXE" -RETAIL

* Intel Pentium 4/ 2.6C GHz 800MHz FSB, 512K Cache, Hyper Threading Technology - Retail (plan to OC to 250+ FSB)

* Geil Ultra Series Dual Channel 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-4000 - Retail

* 2 x Western Digital 36.7GB 10,000RPM SATA Raptor Hard Drives, Model WD360GD (RAID 0)

* Antec Performance Series II Mid Tower Case With 350W Power Supply,Model:SX835II,Retail

* Windows XP Home Edition Full Version w/SP 1a - OEM

* Miscellaneous extras like Arctic Silver thermal compound and 2 extra case fans to blow over HD's

I have a Ti4200 I?m planning on bringing over from my current system until this generation of Radeons and GeForce cards become ?older? and less expensive?there?s still life in that puppy.

I?ll also use my Lite-On 48x24x48 CDR/RW as my primary ROM unless I find some great deals on DVD-R this weekend.

My question comes down to this:

I?m putting the 2 Raptors into a Raid 0 configuration on the ICHR5 controller on the motherboard. I?m going to use a standard IDE HD at 7200 RPM in addition to that Raid array, probably on the same controller?I don?t see any need to put it on the Promise controller.

I?ve seen totally conflicting info on the issue of where my OS, swap file, and data should be, though?on the Raid 0 or on the IDE.

For the most part, I play online games like EverQuest, Horizons, WWIIOnline, etc., and some FPS games, along with MP3 and DVD playback, on top of normal internet usage. I don?t do much photo/video editing, CAD, etc.

Would it be better to install the OS and swap file on the 7200 RPM IDE drive and use the Raid 0 for data at fast transfer rates?

Or would I be better off putting XP and my swap file on the Raid array for fast OS speed with data going to the IDE drive?

Also, is 1.5 x RAM still the optimum for manual swap file size with Windows XP? I remember that guideline several years ago, but don?t know whether that holds true or whether I should just let XP handle memory on its own.

I?ve seen folks make recommendations both ways, and I?d love some expert opinions based on my usage.

Thanks in advance for any input and have a save and Happy New Year.

Coach

 

[snidy1]

Great choice on your setup, almost like mine except I don't have my rapters yet. I have the same question on the RAID setup, I've also heard conflicting opinions for the best configuration. But I think most say to have the OS and swap file on the non RAID drive. Can someone who's tried both configs tell us what the best choice would be?

 

[GT1999]

I'd have the OS and swap file on your fastest drive, which would be the RAID 0 by far. Then use your larger 7200RPM HDD for storage, games, etc.

 

[Looney]

Nice setup you have.

But definitely put the OS and pagefile on the RAID0.

 

[snidy1]

Originally posted by: Geekish Thoughts
I'd have the OS and swap file on your fastest drive, which would be the RAID 0 by far. Then use your larger 7200RPM HDD for storage, games, etc.

Shouldn't the games be on the faster drive as well?

 

[Ikonomi]

I would put OS, swap file, and game installs on the RAID drives, while using the other drive as storage for music or whatever else you store. Office-type applications, if you have any, would do fine on the 7200 drive, too.

But yeah, definitely put the games on the RAID... I used to play EQ, and I know firsthand what those zoning times are like on a slow drive.

 

[fredtam]

I?m putting the 2 Raptors into a Raid 0 configuration on the ICHR5 controller on the motherboard. I?m going to use a standard IDE HD at 7200 RPM in addition to that Raid array, probably on the same controller?I don?t see any need to put it on the Promise controller.

What do you mean.I tought the ICh5 only has two ports. So you would have to use the promise or ide controller.

 

[GT1999]

Originally posted by: snidy1

Originally posted by: Geekish Thoughts
I'd have the OS and swap file on your fastest drive, which would be the RAID 0 by far. Then use your larger 7200RPM HDD for storage, games, etc.

Shouldn't the games be on the faster drive as well?

Not when they can easily overflow the drive and you'd run out of space. Games take up multiple GB.

 

[snidy1]

Originally posted by: Geekish Thoughts

Originally posted by: snidy1

Originally posted by: Geekish Thoughts
I'd have the OS and swap file on your fastest drive, which would be the RAID 0 by far. Then use your larger 7200RPM HDD for storage, games, etc.

Shouldn't the games be on the faster drive as well?

Not when they can easily overflow the drive and you'd run out of space. Games take up multiple GB.

True, but I only install the games I'm playing at the time. Performance is most important to me.

 

[poppyq]

Not when they can easily overflow the drive and you'd run out of space. Games take up multiple GB.

He'd have over 70GB of space with a RAID 0 config of the raptors. That's plenty of space. I have a 40GB as my primary partition and I put all my games and apps on it without any space worries.

 

[GT1999]

Originally posted by: poppyq

Not when they can easily overflow the drive and you'd run out of space. Games take up multiple GB.

He'd have over 70GB of space with a RAID 0 config of the raptors. That's plenty of space. I have a 40GB as my primary partition and I put all my games and apps on it without any space worries.

When the drives are formatted and with XP on there, it'll be more like 55-60GB.

 

[b4417]

Originally posted by: Geekish Thoughts
I'd have the OS and swap file on your fastest drive, which would be the RAID 0 by far. Then use your larger 7200RPM HDD for storage, games, etc.

I agree completely.

I have done both -- OS on RAID (2x Raptors), and OS on separate single Raptor, and the OS on RAID is definitely faster.

HTH,
Bill

 

[Sideswipe001]

Originally posted by: Geekish Thoughts

Originally posted by: poppyq

Not when they can easily overflow the drive and you'd run out of space. Games take up multiple GB.

He'd have over 70GB of space with a RAID 0 config of the raptors. That's plenty of space. I have a 40GB as my primary partition and I put all my games and apps on it without any space worries.

When the drives are formatted and with XP on there, it'll be more like 55-60GB.

XP doesn't take 5 GB.

If he's less than 65 GB I'd be surprised.

What do you mean.I tought the ICh5 only has two ports. So you would have to use the promise or ide controller.

It had both the Intel ICH5 AND a Promise SATA controller. It means he has 4 SATA available, 2 for each controller.