Noob RAIDER seeks help

[johnwm]

i have recently brought a PC for myself, i work using large quantities of data and need a fast machine, anyway i brought dual SSDs but they failed to deliver the performance i was hoping for. so i am adding a further SSD drive so my database runs off both dedicated SSDs in RAID formation. my spec for the built is as follows :

Hard drive for running 64-bit windows 7:
OCZ 60GB Agility 3 SSD - SATA-III - Read 525MB/s Write 500MB/s 50,000 IOPS

2x Hard drive for database in RAID:
OCZ 120GB Agility 3 SSD - SATA-III - Read 525MB/s Write 500MB/s 50,000 IOPS

Spare hard drive:
Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache

Motherboard:
Asus M4A88T-V EVO/USB3 880G Socket AM3 ONboard 128MB Memory DVI VGA HDMI Out ATX Motherboard

CPU:
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4GHz Socket AM3 8MB Cache 125W Retail Boxed Processor

8GB RAM Memory:
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz XMS3 Memory Kit CL9 unbuffered

DvD burner/player:
LiteOn IHAS124-19 24x DVD±RW DL & RAM SATA Optical Drive - OEM Black with Nero Essentials

Case:
Coolermaster Sileo Quiet Case With 500W Extreme Power Plus PSU

i am also looking to improve my cooler, i have eyed a few up but am unsure if they ll fit in my case okay, here they are:



so i am goin to have to install the RAID setup myself and was hoping i could get some advice on the setup / installation of it, thx in advance for any help JOhn

 

[sminlal]

You should understand that RAID will not improve the access times of the SSDs, only (potentially) the transfer rates. If whatever software+workload you're running against your database is bottlenecked by access times, RAID won't make much of a difference.

 

[johnwm]

yes i checked the software situation and apparently running dual SSDs in RAID is the best way to increase the overall speed so thats what i am going for, the thing is when i receive the SSD i am goin to have to attempt to completely reformat / reset my entire computer and configure the new drive in RAID - this is what i have no idea about

 

[johnwm]

can anyone point me in the direction of some tutorials showing how to completely reset my OS (windows 7 - 64 bit) and create a RAID style setup?

 

[johnwm]

???????????

 

[sminlal]

Basically you can back up your data, set up the RAID array, and install Windows from scratch onto it. Your motherboard manual should tell you how to set up the RAID array.

 

[johnwm]

hey man, i am stuck atm trying to configure the RAID, my motherboard manual doesnt cover the necessary steps required to carry out the RAID setup, so ill try and describe here in the hope someone can help me... thx alot in advance anyone who does... ok so here goes...

last night i replaced my hard drives on my M4A88T-V EVO/USB3 motherboard, i have gotten the new OCZ agility 3 - a 60GB for running windows 7 home premium 64bit, which i managed to install very easily - and 2x 120GB agilitys on which i am trying to setup in RAID 0 array, i also have a 1TB samsung HD setup on a SATA port as an IDE drive.

So trying to create my RAID array i entered the BIOS and went into the SATA configuration - inside there is the option to change SATA ports1-port4 to either IDE, AHCI or RAID. The problem with this is i cant select just the 2x120GB drives and try and create a RAID from them, i only have the option to change the port group settings - if i do change that to RAID i cant boot up my computer???

 

[johnwm]

edit: what i mean is i cant select just the two 120gb drives and configure them as RAID drives, i can only change the entire group of ports (containing all devices connected to ports 1-4) ?