Storage vs. Speed - what's my best option?

[CurseTheSky]

I've made similar topics in the past, but I haven't really found a "perfect" solution (if one exists) yet. My Raptor X is getting close to full, so time is getting shorter and shorter.

I have two drives in my computer: the 150GB Raptor, and a 640GB WD. The Raptor has my OS (Vista), games, and other applications on it. The 640 is just used for storage - backup files, software downloads, music, pictures, etc. The Raptor has about 20 GB left free, and the storage drive has about 500 GB left.

I'm looking for the best option for getting higher capacity while still retaining overall system snappiness and without breaking the bank. I could grab two WD 640GB Blacks and put them in RAID 0 for about $120-140, replacing the Raptor completely and gaining a huge amount of storage space. Or, I could grab a 30-60 GB SSD for just the OS and critical applications, then install games on the Raptor. On the other hand, I could upgrade to a 300GB VelociRaptor, which shouldn't fill up any time soon.

So, in your opinion, what's the best option:
-2x WD 640GB Black in RAID 0 (Raptor for OS, maybe?)
-30+ GB SSD for OS, Raptor for games / applications
-Upgrade to VelociRaptor
-Do nothing (wait for SSD prices to drop, tough it out, etc.)

Thanks.

 

[taltamir]

it is much better to have a seperate physical drive, even if slower, for the OS. otherwise you often have the drive reading and writing to itself at the same time, and that just gives atrocious performance (aka, filling the page file when you run a game for example) you also have cases where windows is not respond while p2ping (run many torrents and if windows is on the same drive as your download scratch then you have system unresponsiveness)...

So I would avoid putting two 640s in raid0 as a storage AND OS drive.

In order from my most favorite to least:
-Do nothing (wait for SSD prices to drop, tough it out, etc.)
-60+ GB SSD for OS, Raptor for games / applications
-2x WD 640GB Black in RAID 0 (Raptor for OS, maybe?)
-Upgrade to VelociRaptor
-2x velociraptor RAID0 for OS only.

they are all viable, but it is a matter of money, how much you gain, etc... I am in a similar boat and right now I am holding myself and waiting for SSD prices to go down... but if i break id buy an SSD before i make a raid0, and do raid0 for OS before a velociraptor.

 

[F1shF4t]

I like to keep the os/programs, games and storage all on separate HDDs.
I'd keep the raptor for os and applications. Buy a WD Black 640 for games and keep your existing 640 WD for storage.

That way you get a few benefits.
- Nothing accesses you os drive except os and progs
- Games will not be fragmented or offset to end of drive due to storage/os
- Dedicated drives just for storage, spun-down most of the time.
- By far the cheapest option. Your 150 gig raptor is still a good drive, and you'll get quite a bit more performance by moving games installs off it (free it up and have the os at begining of drive where its fastest).

I have a similar setup as follows.
- 150gig vraptor os/apps
- 1tb Storage drives
- 750gig Samsung for game installs.

 

[CurseTheSky]

I may buy one more WD 640 GB for games (or a 1TB and use the current storage drive for games and the new drive for storage). That way, if I decide I want some more data security, I can shove my current storage drive and the spare 640 GB in a RAID 1 setup.

I'm still torn. I'd LOVE to see the speed boost from a SSD, but the prices still suck. I'm hoping to be able to get a fast, reliable 256GB SSD for around $150-200 sometime in the not-so-distant future. C'mon Samsung, OCZ, Corsair, Kingston, Patriot, Super Talent, etc. Keep the competition going

 

[F1shF4t]

Same here, i'd like to get an SSD but something reasonable size and quality goes for $600+ here in australia.
I just decided to settle on a vraptor for now. Broke up my 74gig raptor raid 0 and sold one of them, the other is in second comp.
In the end I still got a performance boost (for both machines) and only cost me $200 AU, plus a hell of a lot quiter operation.

 

[taltamir]

another good point of the WD 640, it is actually faster than the old raptor for sequential reads (but slower for random writes)... which is ideal for a game drive as levels load faster.

The raptor is a better OS drive though as it has better random writes.