Two separate RAID-0 arrays on a ASRock Z68 Extreme4 (+ choosing which SSD's)

[tulx]

Hello techies!
I'm planning a new system, which should include 2x64GB SSD for system drive and 2xSamsung Spinoint F3 drives for "storage" (meaning - not so demanding games). My question is - does one motherboard (ASRock Z68 Extreme4, to be specific) allow two separate RAID arrays? Does it need have two raid controllers?
PS - I'm still not 100% sure which SSD's to choose for the RAID (leaning towards OCZ Vertex 3 or Crucial RealSSD C300), so I'll gradly accept any expert recommendations or experiances!
Thanks in advance!
PS - I'm talking about RAID 0 arrays, of course.

 

[nanaki333]

yes it does. this is similar to my setup. i have dual intel 320 160GB in raid0, and 2x 1TB F3 drives in raid0 for storage, and a 240GB m4 for steam. you can do it all with the onboard raid. after you create the arrays, just go in the bios and go to harddrive boot order, or whatever they call it in asrock. tell it to use your SSD volume (whatever you labeled it during raid setup).

i would go with the c300 drives for the OS. the vertex 3 is still in it's infancy and currently has bugs popping up. maybe by the winter or early next year they'll be ready for mainstream.

 

[tulx]

yes it does. this is similar to my setup. i have dual intel 320 160GB in raid0, and 2x 1TB F3 drives in raid0 for storage, and a 240GB m4 for steam. you can do it all with the onboard raid. after you create the arrays, just go in the bios and go to harddrive boot order, or whatever they call it in asrock. tell it to use your SSD volume (whatever you labeled it during raid setup).

i would go with the c300 drives for the OS. the vertex 3 is still in it's infancy and currently has bugs popping up. maybe by the winter or early next year they'll be ready for mainstream.

Thanks for the advice! I'll probablt do that.

PS - I contacted the ASRock support about this question, and those guys actually build a system as I desctibed it and sent step-by-step photos of the RAID setup. Amazing! :thumbsup:

 

[moriz]

i have the p67 extreme4 motherboard, and i'm running two separate RAID0's on it right now. it works flawlessly. in fact, both my SSD and HDD RAID0's utilize different drives: mushkin calliston deluxe 120gb + intel 320 120gb, with a caviar black 1TB + seagate barracuda 7200.12 1TB as the secondary.

 

[nanaki333]

Thanks for the advice! I'll probablt do that.

PS - I contacted the ASRock support about this question, and those guys actually build a system as I desctibed it and sent step-by-step photos of the RAID setup. Amazing! :thumbsup:

wow, that's awesome. never had to contact asrock support for anything before (speaks of their quality as far as i'm concerned). i think they have the best bang for the buck motherboards. lots of features, solid board, for a great price. i actually just ordered a new s1366 asrock to mate with an old i7 940.

 

[tulx]

Looked up some more customer reviews on the Vertex 3 and it really does leave an impression of high failure rate. Amazon.de had quite many people complainig about their Vertex 3's failing after as soon as two weeks. Even replacement drives. I suppose that's one reason more to buy the Crucial alternative. Still checking other drives as well. Sandforce seems pretty established now, but other fast controller types are emerging as well. A dit confusing.

 

[nanaki333]

yeah. once the new sandforce drives mature, they'll be a great option. i have a vertex 3 that has random bsod's still. to be fair though, it hasn't happened in awhile so i haven't flashed the new firmware. you really can't go wrong with the c300 or even the m4 now.