So I've been toying with setting up a RAID array on my computer......

[C'DaleRider]

The problem is I don't play FPS games; the games I play are like Simcity4 (which I cannot stand and want to dump), Age of Mythology, the rare race car game, NHL Hockey, and the like. I alos just chat, cruise the 'net, write on WOrd, and such....nothing heavily intensive.

Now I'm home from shopping and I'm sitting here staring at 2 WD SE 120GB hard drives and an Adaptec 1200A ATA RAID card.

My system currently specs as: 2.53 GHz P4, 80GB Maxtor HD, 768MB RDRAM, ATI 9700 Pro video card, Pioneer 16X slot-load DVD drive, Lite-On 52x24x52 CDRW, Santa Cruz sound card.

Will I really notice the difference in RAID 0, striping, or did I just blow a chunk of change for nothing? Or should I go whole hog and go for RAID 0/1 mirrored striping?

I'm such a schmuck sometimes............

 

[mechBgon]

Your sustained transfer rates may approximately double. What does that do for system performance? StorageReview.com's front page has some of their findings (Is RAID0 Really Worth It?). Low boot-up times with WinXP seem to be one of its strongest suits.

If you do set up a RAID in WinXP or Win2000 SP3, it would be good to make it a Dynamic Disk (right-click Disk 1 or whichever, in Windows Drive Management, and choose "Upgrade to Dynamic Disk").

 

[C'DaleRider]

Thank you, sir.

 

[chizow]

For what you use your rig for, you won't see much difference at all. Only like mech said, faster boot-up times in WinDoze. Some of your games may load faster if they have long load times, but I don't see any in your list that might fit that description ('cept Sim4, but I've yet to play it).

If you needed the extra storage (which it doesn't seem like you do), or you needed a few more IDE headers to free up for optical drives, then I wouldn't say you wasted your money. If you don't think you'll need the aadditional 240GBs in a RAID 0 array, you may want to consider mirroring your drives in RAID 1. You'll lose out on most of the speed benefits of RAID 0, but your read times should still see a boost.

Chiz