Revamping my System

[Lepudds]

Hi everyone.

I have an itch to upgrade my system, and at the moment, my backing storage is the main bottleneck. I am relatively competent with PC systems, but would like a bit of guidance.

I want to set up a RAID of SSDs to mount my OS and frequently used programs and games on, while keeping less frequently accessed, and ever changing games, programs and files on my current HDD. Is it possible to have a RAID setup and an independent drive for data in the same setup?

Secondly, I am unsure whether I should build RAID 0 or RAID 10, as my OS is going to be on the RAID. Any feedback on this would be appreciated.

And finally, can anyone recommend products to use. I am not looking to break the bank, but I'd rather have reliability and longevity over low cost. I am planning to use a RAID card for this setup.

My current system is:

Gigabyte Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3 Link
ATI Radeon HD 7870
4x 4GB RAM
AMD FX 8320 8 core
OCZ 750w modular PSU
2x WD 7200RPM 1TB drives (independent) - planning to ditch one.

I am struggling on the RAID controller, and the SSDs I have in mind are Transcend SSD340s (or SSD370 if someone can tell me the difference!).

I look forward to your guys' input!

 

[chesteracorgi]

While a RAID array of SSDs for your OS and some programs would be incredibly fast, it will not produce a system that is appreciably faster than an plain old SSD. The reason is that the SATA III channel is limited to 6GBps and while you may see and incremental increase in SSD speed it will not be significant. However, the risk of the RAID array going down is significant.


I had a pair of Samsung Pro 840s in RAID array as my boot, and while they were fast, their booting was slowed by the load of the Intel RAID driver. So I broke up the RAID array and have one for boot to the OS and the second for apps that I want to load fast.

Yes, it is possible to have a SSD RAID array and secondary non-RAID storage. The choice of RAID 0 or RAID 10 is a matter of cost. Just remember that if you chose RAID 0 you should keep to a disciplined backup routine. If you want RAID 10 you will need 4 SSDs and the cost will double.

I suggest that you fist try a single SSD and see the speed increase before you venture into RAID as a single (albeit larger) SSD may give you all the speed that you need.

 

[Lepudds]

While a RAID array of SSDs for your OS and some programs would be incredibly fast, it will not produce a system that is appreciably faster than an plain old SSD. The reason is that the SATA III channel is limited to 6GBps and while you may see and incremental increase in SSD speed it will not be significant. However, the risk of the RAID array going down is significant.


I had a pair of Samsung Pro 840s in RAID array as my boot, and while they were fast, their booting was slowed by the load of the Intel RAID driver. So I broke up the RAID array and have one for boot to the OS and the second for apps that I want to load fast.

Yes, it is possible to have a SSD RAID array and secondary non-RAID storage. The choice of RAID 0 or RAID 10 is a matter of cost. Just remember that if you chose RAID 0 you should keep to a disciplined backup routine. If you want RAID 10 you will need 4 SSDs and the cost will double.

I suggest that you fist try a single SSD and see the speed increase before you venture into RAID as a single (albeit larger) SSD may give you all the speed that you need.

Thank you for that informative and clear answer.

I am aware that a RAID 10 will require four drives, but I had not taken into consideration the load time of the RAID drivers having an affect on the setup, that is good to know.

Given that my OS would be on the RAID, and the information that you have given me, I would likely opt for a RAID 10, but I will definitely try out a single SSD first as you said.

As for SSD manufacturers, I have found Transcend to be the more cost effective ones; are there any preferred SSD manufacturers, or better performers than this brand?

Here's what I'm looking at: Link. Can you advise if this is a wise decision, or if I should lean more towards a different model/brand please?