Disadvantages of installing games on 2nd physical HDD?

[triggy]

Hello everyone, I need to ask some questions about installing games/applications on a second physical HDD.

I ordered two WD VelociRaptor 150GB SATA HD 10K/16MB/SATA-3 from TigerDirect so that I could build a RAID array on my current system (Q6600 on an ASUS P5k mobo). The disks are being shipped to me as I write this and with my excitement I searched the internet of any information about building a RAID 0 array. What I found out was that my mobo (P5K) does not support RAID 0 in the internal SATA (as the south bridge chip is an ICH9, not an ICH9R, so the SATA1 through SATA4 connectors do not have any RAID capability) but on the external SATA port at the back and another SATA-E2 connector, which I find very disappointing. Serves me right for not being thorough about my research before purchase.

Now, I do have two choices:

1) to return the merchandise and pay the shipping costs, OR

2) keep the HDD's (because the HDD's are really fast) and just settle for a two-HDD setup until I can build another rig that supports RAID 0 properly.

Since the HDD is relatively small by today's standard, and I will be installing Windows 7 64-bit, if I install some games or applications on the secondary physical HDD would there be real disadvantages as opposed to installing them on the primary drive (like performance, etc.)? I currently have a Seagate 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB cached HDD that I might use as a 3rd HDD for storage.

Hope to get some replies!

Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

You can get a PCI-Raid card that im pretty sure will be as fast as onboard for around $15 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000410&Description=pci%20raid&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=PRICE.

I havent run one in years so maybe someone else knows one to recommend. Maybe a choice between Silicon Image and VIA chipsets .....I would pick the Silicon Image.

 

[pepperman]

Personally, I would recommend this one- $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816132008

I own two of these in different RAID setups, and they're fairly reliable, despite being Rosewill, and of course, they are cheap.

 

[snurp85]

I have most of my games stored on a secondary hard drive running at 7200 rpm and have not seen any performance differences between those that are stored on the primary drive. As long as the drive isnt in hibernation mode or something when you go to load the game there wont be a difference, and even then it will be almost unnoticable.

 

[sub mesa]

Don't use PCI for storage; you'll regret it. PCIe is fine tho.

But rather than looking at RAID. If you CAN give those disks back for a refund, would an SSD be an option? With a good SSD, you don't need RAID, you don't need more than one, it will be faster than any mechanical RAID array and this kind of investment will likely be of use for a longer period. Generally if you get a good SSD it should be useful for at least two generations (or 2 x 3 years = 6 years service life).

Due to SSDs being very silent, vibration free, noise free, economical with power usage, reliable in operation and resistant to shock; its generally something that will be with you for many years. While faster and bigger SSDs will come out, the products today should be enough for any system disk requirements of the next 10 years.

 

[triggy]

Personally, I would recommend this one- $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816132008

I own two of these in different RAID setups, and they're fairly reliable, despite being Rosewill, and of course, they are cheap.

Is their performance as good as an oboard controller, too? Whoever designed their logo must have been a baseball fan LOL.

 

[triggy]

Don't use PCI for storage; you'll regret it. PCIe is fine tho.

But rather than looking at RAID. If you CAN give those disks back for a refund, would an SSD be an option? With a good SSD, you don't need RAID, you don't need more than one, it will be faster than any mechanical RAID array and this kind of investment will likely be of use for a longer period. Generally if you get a good SSD it should be useful for at least two generations (or 2 x 3 years = 6 years service life).

Due to SSDs being very silent, vibration free, noise free, economical with power usage, reliable in operation and resistant to shock; its generally something that will be with you for many years. While faster and bigger SSDs will come out, the products today should be enough for any system disk requirements of the next 10 years.

SSD's are excellent, however I would wait until the general price for these go down to an affordable level, especially the larger and practical capacities like 120GB. It's safe to say in 5 years they will become mainstream.

 

[pepperman]

The performances isn't quite as good as the onboard, but it wouldn't cause a bottleneck for two raptor HDD's. It might cause a problem if you ever try to put SDD's on it, however, but most likely you'd have a new comp by then.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey