1 SSD vs. 2 HDD RAID-0

[dredogol]

Alright guys... I'm at a crossroad now...

I'm debating over staying with my 2 HDD RAID-0 machine (200GB=OS/Progs and 800GB=Data partitions), OR changing to a single 200GB SDD drive with regular 500GB HDD for data.

My questions:
#1) Which is better performance ... single SSD, or 2x 7200rpm WD Blue platter HDDs in RAID 0?

#2) I read that SSD in RAID will disable the TRIM features, even on Windows 7... is this accurate?

#3) Is it possible to keep 1 SSD drive, and 2 HDD in RAID-0, and still have the SSD with TRIM features?
-----> I read on various forums (including TH) that it IS possible... just needs to do things in certain order.

===========================

Here are my currently system specs:
-- MOBO = ASUS P5K-E Mobo (SATA-2 3Gb/s) with ICH9R SB controller.
-- RAM = 4GB crucial Ballistix DDR2 OCed to 850MHz
-- CPU = Intel Core2 Q6600 Quad-core OCed to 3.60GHz.
-- HDD = 2x WD Blue 7200rpm 500GB in RAID-0 = 1TB
-- OS (current) = Windows XP Professional 32-bit SP3
-- OS (Jan 2013) = Windows 7 64-bit Professional SP1

In case you're wondering... I got the 500GB HDDs, because XP doesn't support AF HDDs with the new 1024 block sizes when formatting/making new partitions.

If I DO end up getting a SSD, I'll probably plan on getting one of the following SSDs:
-- OCZ Vector - 256GB (Vertex5)
-- Corsair Neutron GTX - 240GB
-- Samsung 840 Pro - 256GB
-- OCZ Vertex4 - 256GB

Yeah... I know all of these SSDs are SATA-3 6Gb/s... but I'm thinking about future upgrades with a mobo that supports SATA-3 and native USB 3.0.

I'm just not sure if the Cost/Performance ratios are good enough for me to get the SSD ... even if I had a native SATA3 6Gb/s Mobo in the first place.

Could you guys please weight in on your opinions?

Thanks.

 

[Outlander_04]

the ssd is faster than RAID 0 hard drives

 

[BriboCN]

Modern SSDs have almost fully saturated Sata 3 bandwidth for a solo drive. There is simply no comparison between them and a normal HDD in Raid 0 or not. If you plan on upgrading get a top end SSD if not get an SSD for SATA 2.0 and save yourself some money.

 

[manofchalk]

SSD, its better than a HDD in OS situations because of its non-existent access times (under .1ms vs a HDD's ~10ms), which doesnt improve in a RAID environment.

Believe me that once you use an SSD for the OS, you really notice when you have to use a HDD system. IT is really noticeable.

Also if you dont want to shell out for an SSD, get a 128GB. That has all the space you will need for an OS+ important programs drive. My 128GB is only half full.

 

[BriboCN]

SSD, its better than a HDD in OS situations because of its non-existent access times (under .1ms vs a HDD's ~10ms), which doesnt improve in a RAID environment.

Believe me that once you use an SSD for the OS, you really notice when you have to use a HDD system. IT is really noticeable.

Also if you dont want to shell out for an SSD, get a 128GB. That has all the space you will need for an OS+ important programs drive. My 128GB is only half full.

One of the issues is some modern SSDs will start to lose speed once they hit 50% capacity. Are they still faster than HDDs...sure, but its not near your max

 

[manofchalk]

They lose speed once you max out their capacity, not halfway. Its always good to leave a good 10GB or so free for this purpose.

EDIT:
Just realized there were question in the OP.

1. SSD, near no doubt in my mind.
2. That comes down to the mobo I think, not sure. But there's no reason to RAID SSD's anyway, so its not really an issue.
3. The prescence of RAID outright wont disable TRIM, only when the SSD/s are in the RAID array. All you would have to do is install Windows to SSD as normal and just set up the HDD's in RAID0 to act as a storage drive. Should be fine.

Of those SSD's, the Samsung 840 Pro is the fastest, but its the most expensive. Currently the two SSD's I recommend are the Samsung 830 or the OC Vertex 4 depending on the situation at hand. If its just going to be a standard OS drive with some programs, the 830 as it has faster read speeds than the Vertex. If its going to be a output drive for a video editing application or otherwise is going to have a lot of data going through it, the Vertex for its superior write speeds.

 

[dredogol]

Thanks for all the replies guys... keep them coming!

If you plan on upgrading get a top end SSD if not get an SSD for SATA 2.0 and save yourself some money.

Yeah... I'm debating as to which SSD to get, because I know the prices won't change much over the next few years in terms of $$/GB.

SSD, its better than a HDD in OS situations because of its non-existent access times (under .1ms vs a HDD's ~10ms), which doesnt improve in a RAID environment.

Hmm, I noticed my system booted faster after I did my RAID setup... and yes, I know SSDs have almost no RST.

1. SSD, near no doubt in my mind.
2. That comes down to the mobo I think, not sure. But there's no reason to RAID SSD's anyway, so its not really an issue.
3. The prescence of RAID outright wont disable TRIM, only when the SSD/s are in the RAID array. All you would have to do is install Windows to SSD as normal and just set up the HDD's in RAID0 to act as a storage drive. Should be fine.

...... If its just going to be a standard OS drive with some programs, the 830 as it has faster read speeds than the Vertex. If its going to be a output drive for a video editing application or otherwise is going to have a lot of data going through it, the Vertex for its superior write speeds.

Thanks for that last 2 parts manofchalk. I plan on using my SSD for only READING program data for quick access times (OS + Progs + Games). All my of Data and User Profile Data will be on my regular HDDs. I'll be setting up my User directories to be on the RAID HDDs during the fresh windows install.