Raid Cards, How do they work?

[waleedfsd]

So i did some research about Raid Cards becuase I want to get one, But I want to Confirm some things just in case I am not Mistaken, Now I am planning on using only the Raid 0 functionality and only with HDDs not SSDs, So related to that I have a couple of Questions:

1- Do Raid cards NEED PCIe 3.0 connection? or Can I just connect it to a PCIe 2.0 or a 1.0 on which do they work best if I am using two 7.2rpm 1TB HDDs with 64 MB cache?

2- Which is the Cheapest Raid card for a Raid 0 setup?

 

[camieabz]

1. PCIe of any version should suffice for HDD requirements. Obviously, the more things connected to the PCIe slots will call on the available PCIe lanes, so work out what's available and likely to change.

2. Depends on where you shop really. Here's one in the UK for £64

https://www.cclonline.com/product/110670/PEXSAT34RH/IDE-SATA-SCSI-Cards/StarTech-com-4-Port-PCI-Express-SATA-III-6Gbps-RAID-Controller-Card-with-Heatsink/CNT0244/

Add a couple of 1TB HDDs at £40-ish each, and you have a single 2TB RAID 0 array for £144.

Personally, I would prefer a 1TB SSD (£135-£165 depending on model) and forget the RAID costs, config, and potential RAID risks, not to mention the heat and noise differences. Of course, it would be 1TB less data, so it depends on data needs.

A single 1TB SSD will out-perform a RAID 0 HDD array easily.

 

[4745454b]

I've been anti RAID since before SSDs even came out. Just because there is a need for it in the business/server space doesn't mean that need translates to personal use. RAID is designed for uptime. Personal PCs just don't have that need. You don't lose money when your PC goes down. Hence you have no need for RAID. As above, just get a good SSD. Will give you all the speed you need with no headaches at all.

 

[USAFRet]

What is the desire for this RAID 0?

An SSD crushes a HDD RAID 0 for performance. With far fewer hassles.

 

[camieabz]

You don't lose money when your PC goes down.

Noting the 'when'. I only ever had one RAID 0 array, back in the heady days of the 60 GXP era. RAID controller went, and took all the drives and the data with it. Month 13.

I did ponder on an NVME RAID 0 array lately, purely for the uber-read speeds (maybe 30% more), but the whole PCIe lanes / SATA issues on the second M.2 put me off of it (and I wasn't spending the extra for a RAID card).

While SSD RAID 0 is 'probably' more reliable than HDD drive arrays ever were, there comes a point when it's just for benchmark bragging rights for most users. It's an expensive screenshot, so keep a backup of it.

 

[USAFRet]

Outside of a very few use cases, SSD + RAID 0 brings zero user facing performance gain.

 

[4745454b]

I tested my SATA III 840pro with it's 525/525 read/write against my 470 SATA II 300/300 drive and found no real world difference. One game I test would load 1second faster, but that was it. Same level and game loads for nearly everything. Even though the 840 was 200MB+ faster in read speed. At some point the CPU and system becomes the bottleneck dealing with the info the drives gave it. SATA III seems to be able to put that bottleneck back on the system.

 

[waleedfsd]

1. PCIe of any version should suffice for HDD requirements. Obviously, the more things connected to the PCIe slots will call on the available PCIe lanes, so work out what's available and likely to change.

2. Depends on where you shop really. Here's one in the UK for £64

https://www.cclonline.com/product/110670/PEXSAT34RH/IDE-SATA-SCSI-Cards/StarTech-com-4-Port-PCI-Express-SATA-III-6Gbps-RAID-Controller-Card-with-Heatsink/CNT0244/

Add a couple of 1TB HDDs at £40-ish each, and you have a single 2TB RAID 0 array for £144.

Personally, I would prefer a 1TB SSD (£135-£165 depending on model) and forget the RAID costs, config, and potential RAID risks, not to mention the heat and noise differences. Of course, it would be 1TB less data, so it depends on data needs.

A single 1TB SSD will out-perform a RAID 0 HDD array easily.

Wow is this really the cheapest one you could find? Damn these things seem expensive... is there really no cheaper one? I mean I only want it for Raid 0 and I know an SSD is obviously better but I dont want something better(More like Cant afford it) , I just want to get the best out of my PC. I do have an SSD for Boot up and other than that I have a 1Tb Hard disk and I am planning on getting another... So I thought Raid was meant to be a Cheaper solution to get more out of your PC instead of buying a whole new and Better Storage Device like an SSD...and Also I dont relly care about losing my Data that much because its all just Games... I mean sure it'll be Hassle but I''ll download most of em Again.

 

[USAFRet]

Wow is this really the cheapest one you could find? Damn these things seem expensive... is there really no cheaper one? I mean I only want it for Raid 0 and I know an SSD is obviously better but I dont want something better(More like Cant afford it) , I just want to get the best out of my PC. I do have an SSD for Boot up and other than that I have a 1Tb Hard disk and I am planning on getting another... So I thought Raid was meant to be a Cheaper solution to get more out of your PC instead of buying a whole new and Better Storage Device like an SSD...and Also I dont relly care about losing my Data that much because its all just Games... I mean sure it'll be Hassle but I''ll download most of em Again.

Games will not get any appreciable benefit for all the hassle and expense of a RAID 0 with HDD's.


"So I thought Raid was meant to be a Cheaper solution to get more out of your PC"
No.

 

[camieabz]

Pretty much avoid RAID for normal systems nowadays, unless for business or mission critical (i.e. server) stuff. RAID was never cheaper. Motherboards with RAID options tended to be more expensive, and you had to have two drives minimum, so more expensive in £/GB or $/GB.

 

[waleedfsd]

Damn well thanks guys.... This Saved me hell of a lot of money.