RAID question

[kevlarkev]

Hi Everyone,

Firstly here is my new system;

CPU:Intel Core i5 2500k(with Asaka x4 968 Heatsink)
MOBO:MSI P67A-GD53(with OC genie activated)
RAM:1x stick of 4GB Kingston DDR3 1333
PSU:ACE 620W +12V116A +12V218A Switching PSU
HDD's: Western Digital 500GB (WD5000AAKX)SATA 6Gb/s, 7200rpm, buffer 16MB. (AHCI Mode enabled in BIOS)
GPU: VTX Radeon HD6850x2 1GB GDDR5
OS: Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit

I set this up last week and have been using it to play Battlefield 3 on Ultra settings on my LG 32" screen with smooth play. I have used the onboard OC Genie button and have the cpu Overclocked to 4.2Ghz and RAM upped a little...

Now everything is running fine, I am looking at where I can improve things. I have no more money to upgrade anything for the foreseable and want to use what I have to speed things up and make them more efficient ect...

Also, I have some spare HDD's I have laying around, and my question is, can I? and should I? setup RAID with the below listed HDD's or should I just leave it as it is and use them as additional storage?

My spare HDD's:1X 500GB Western Digital Caviar Blue, 7200rpm, 16MB 6Gb/s(WD5000AAKX)
1x 80GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10, 7200rpm, 8MB 3Gb/s(ST380815AS)
1x 80GB Western Digital Caviar SE, 7200rpm, 8MB, 3Gb/s(WD800AAJS)

1X 320GB Western Digital Scorpio Blue 5400rpm, 8MB 3Gb/s(WD3200BEVT)
1x 250GB Seagate Momentus 5400.6, 5400rpm, 8MB 3GB/s (ST9250315AS)

 

[kevlarkev]

Okay, after having zero assistance on my last question I will go for a more simple approach.

I have three HDD's I would like to use as some type of RAID, my focus is to improve speed in general and in gaming.
Please dont suggest selling the HDD's and buying a SSD, as I will do this in the future but for now I want to try RAID as its on my 'things to do before I die list'...

My main HDD with OS installed on it is;
500GB Western Digital Caviar Blue, 7200rpm, 16MB 6Gb/s(WD5000AAKX)

My two spare HDD's are;
80GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10, 7200rpm, 8MB 3Gb/s(ST380815AS)
80GB Western Digital Caviar SE, 7200rpm, 8MB, 3Gb/s(WD800AAJS)

I also have laying around two old laptop drives;
1X 320GB Western Digital Scorpio Blue 5400rpm, 8MB 3Gb/s(WD3200BEVT)
1x 250GB Seagate Momentus 5400.6, 5400rpm, 8MB 3GB/s (ST9250315AS)

I currently have the WD 500GB, 16MB as my main HDD with my games installed on it, and I use the other two 80GB, 8MB HDD's as additional storage.

If I setup RAID with the two 80GB drives will I be able to leave my main 500GB HDD set to AHCI and as it is?


What should I do!!!

 

[kevlarkev]

I expected an instand response from the big 'T' website! but I have and a tumble weed pass by and thats it...

 

[GhislainG]

You'll have to switch the controller to RAID mode, but that shouldn't cause issues with the 500GB HDD. Once you switch to RAID mode, the drivers will be installed.

RAID 0 will increase transfer rates, but performance improvements may not be as high as you may be expecting.

 

[kevlarkev]

Cheers matey, so what I am going to attemp is; In Disc Managment I will format both 80GB HDD's as RAID, then power off, go into BIOS and change controller from AHCI to RAID O, then I am up and running?

I appreciate that to someone familiar with RAID will be rolling their eye's but it is still a little foggy to me...

Gonna wait about 10 minutes for a reply then I am going to go ahead and press the 'FIRE' button

 

[yoji]

If your saying you have an identical WD 500GB as you seem to... I might be tempted to put that in Raid0 with your current one.

Some say perfomance boost is marginal.. I have it - and I think it does help (just empirically... I have not done hard testing).
But you are doubling your risk of HD failure.

If the 80GB 7200RPm drives are up to snuff (i.e. Very/close same as you mains)... may be play with putting one in as a dedicated drive for your
page file.

The other 5400 RPM... put in and use as backup for your (now extra "at risk" raid).

Dont expecttoo much... go into it as a fun project and any boost should be a bonus rather than an expectation.

Have fun
Cheers.

 

[GhislainG]

If you format them in Disc Managment, then you'll create a Windows RAID and there's no need to change the RAID controller settings. I thought that you'd create the RAID after installing the RAID software.

 

[geofelt]

Raid, and I presume raid-0 is not a performance improver for the most part.

Sell your old hard drives, now that hard drives are crazy, and use the proceeds on a ssd if you can.
Otherwise up that ram to 8gb and you will do very little paging.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This next topics has been merged by Mousemonkey
■ 2x 80GB HDD's RAID for gaming?

 

[yoji]

Okay, after having zero assistance on my last question I will go for a more simple approach.

What should I do!!!

May be, rather than say you got no help... say sorry that YOU messed up your OP..

It clearly says you have a spare WD 500GB... same spec as your fitted...

Its not our fault you are an idiot!!

 

[kevlarkev]

May be, rather than say you got no help... say sorry that YOU messed up your OP..

It clearly says you have a spare WD 500GB... same spec as your fitted...

Its not our fault you are an idiot!!

Have I just been called an idiot? so making a typo makes you an idiot? I only made that statement so not to appear to be a double poster and it was in good spirit...anyway I have thick skin so no hard feelings

 

[kevlarkev]

Thanks all for your help, I am now setup... and 'yoji', the admin team merged two of my posted and made it appear I had dissmissed your assistance. After reading the newly revised thread I can understand why you got a little tearful. Closed