Rampage III Formula RAID on 6gb/s?

[eric4277]

I am looking to get the Rampage III formula over the extreme because I want to use 2 way SLI a sound card and a wireless adapter w/o blocking my fans on my video cards. I also want to RAID 0 some 6gb/s Velociraptors. When looking at the specs on newegg for the Rampage III Formula I noticed the RAID functionality list "SATA 3.0 Gb/s: RAID 0,1,5,10" whereas on the Rampage III extreme it simply says "0/1/5/10". Does this mean I would not be able to RAID my Raptors in 6gb/s? The Rampage III Gene also lists its raiding functions like the formula.

I don't really need all the features on the extreme and I like the Formula's chipset heatsinks better. If I can't Raid the raptors I think I may still get the board and RAID 10 4 Samsung F3s. I would be using 2 for storage anyhow.

Also, Would the chipset heatsinks on the Formula be too tall for a prolimatech megahalems? This youtube video is the only place I know to look at the formula. Asus doesn't even have it on it's website yet.

 

[mgrzTX]

I am looking to get the Rampage III formula over the extreme because I want to use 2 way SLI a sound card and a wireless adapter w/o blocking my fans on my video cards. I also want to RAID 0 some 6gb/s Velociraptors. When looking at the specs on newegg for the Rampage III Formula I noticed the RAID functionality list "SATA 3.0 Gb/s: RAID 0,1,5,10" whereas on the Rampage III extreme it simply says "0/1/5/10". Does this mean I would not be able to RAID my Raptors in 6gb/s? The Rampage III Gene also lists its raiding functions like the formula.

I don't really need all the features on the extreme and I like the Formula's chipset heatsinks better. If I can't Raid the raptors I think I may still get the board and RAID 10 4 Samsung F3s. I would be using 2 for storage anyhow.

Also, Would the chipset heatsinks on the Formula be too tall for a prolimatech megahalems? This youtube video is the only place I know to look at the formula. Asus doesn't even have it on it's website yet.

Have you purchased the Velociraptors yet? Why not just go SSD and F3 for storage? Are these components urgently needed? If their not, my advice is to wait a while until the next generation of SSDs come out. They'll be SATA 6Gb/s and be able to take advantage of that feature, significantly out performing either RAID setup. Then get some Spinpoints for storage.

 

[eric4277]

I am trying to go
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB($30 difference between 120gb and 90gb) for OS and apps.
2x SATA III Raptors for games
2x F3s for storage

I would like to do some video editing. I was thinking of RAID 0ing the Raptors and maybe the F3s, not sure about that. But I do want to RAID 0 the raptors.

I like SSDs but I don't think I would like to use the current SSD technology for gaming. All reviews I read talk about performance deterioration with constant use. The price for high capacity and unreliability makes me just want to use Raptors in RAID 0.

So my question still remains, can the formula perform RAID arrays for the SATA III 6gb/s slots?

 

[eric4277]

Upon further inspection, Asus.com has the extreme and Gene using the same Marvell® 9128 PCIe SATA 6Gb/s controller. I don't think any of the Asus boards support RAID in the 6gb/s ports.

So now the question is how much speed would be lost when using them in SATA 3gb/s. I don't think it would be that drastic but idk.

I am also curious to know if the rampage III formula's northbridge heatsinks would be in the way of a prolimatech megahalems.

 

[foscooter]

Using the SATA III port over the SATA II ports WILL HAVE NO DIFFERENCE, as you are using HDD. The bandwidth of these SATA ports is far above the max. ouptput of ANY hard drive.

Yes, a drive may be rated as SATA III 6.0GBs, or SATA II 3.0Gbps, but you will never even come close to saturating the bandwidth of the controller.

Even my Seagate 7200.12 in RAID 0 only max out at 150MBps reads! Yet my Intel X25-V 40GB in RAID 0 can max over 400MBps. 2-Intel X25-M 80GB can push that to over 500MBps. That is crazy fast for reads (program loads).

Raptors are overrated and overpriced, but if you already have them, RAID 0 them on the SATA II, and you can still RAID 0 the F3's. You set up the array for whichever drives you choose. I have 2 RAID 0 arrays on one machine. The X58 chipset can handle 6 SATA ports, so 3 RAID arrays.

SSD drives come very close to saturating the bandwidth of the SATA II controllers! That's why SATA III has evolved. But I wouldn't put any HDD on the SATA III ports.

And YES, THE MARVELL CONTROLLER MAY NOT SUPPORT RAID! But I think it does, because it's listed as 0/1/5/10...But I wouldn't use it. Others have had troubles, and posted in here.

 

[eric4277]

Best answer selected by eric4277.

 

[eric4277]

Thanks for the answer. I have not purchased anything yet though. I want to get it all at once. Buying over time is nice but I don't want any DoAs being discovered too late.
I have been waiting on a few product releases and i7 950 $drop before I buy my build.