Small Capacity SSDs in RAID 0

[jmaner33]

Howdy,

I am planning on grabbing up two ADATA SP550 120 GB SSDs and putting them in RAID.0 to help speed up my system which is currently dependent on a Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB. I've heard some saying that two smaller capacity drives in RAID isn't worth it though.

I plan to put Windows on these drives, as well as some of my most frequently used steam games and other applications. I am not incredibly concerned about write speed as I'm not a content creator. The total price of the two drives is around $70 via Newegg, and the read speed in RAID should be pushing 1Gb/s if my understanding of RAID.0 is correct. I'm sure the speeds will drop as I occupy more the of the storage, but the jump from a HDD should be more than noticeable.

My question is whether or not I should go through with this purchase. Is it really worth purchasing two smaller drives and putting them in RAID.0, or should I purchase a larger capacity drive for the same price? Please keep in mind that I will not only be putting my OS on these drives.

Thanks

 

[saint19]

Hi and welcome to Tom's forum.

Here are 3 options that I would prefer:

1) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148948
2) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4RE2Z37712
3) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820156066

Crucial is a very solid brand and 240-256GB is enough for OS and programs (not games)

 

[Gnuffi]

dont bother RAID 0 ssds no gain,
either you do 1 drive with OS and the other with games/stuff
or you do 1 bigger drive and they "share" the drive
personally i do 1 ssd for OS(which doesnt have to be big 120gb more than plenty) and 1 ssd for steam/games,
(120gb would require you to delete games after completion/finish since it would fill up fast, so either 240gb or bigger, or use 120gb then link games that dont benefit as much from ssd to a HDD)
there is no point in RAID 0 ssd's whatsoever, especially for gaming and common consumer use, no upside, only the potential downside (which isnt exactly huge but with no upside unlike raid 0 hhd, you leave yourself with only a downside)

 

[jmaner33]

dont bother RAID 0 ssds no gain,
either you do 1 drive with OS and the other with games/stuff
or you do 1 bigger drive and they "share" the drive
personally i do 1 ssd for OS(which doesnt have to be big 120gb more than plenty) and 1 ssd for steam/games,
(120gb would require you to delete games after completion/finish since it would fill up fast, so either 240gb or bigger, or use 120gb then link games that dont benefit as much from ssd to a HDD)
there is no point in RAID 0 ssd's whatsoever, especially for gaming and common consumer use, no upside, only the potential downside (which isnt exactly huge but with no upside unlike raid 0 hhd, you leave yourself with only a downside)

I don't plan on putting ALL of my games on SSD(s), only my most frequently played. OS shouldn't be more than 20-30GB (windows 7 ultimate, maybe windows 10 in the future). That leaves 200GB for games, which is more than enough. And I just can't buy the fact that you say SSDs in RAID.0 don't have speed benefit. If they didn't, people wouldn't do it as frequently as they do and rave about it. There is quite a bit of information from reliable sources stating the benefits of SSDs in RAID. And I have a pretty set budget at no more than $70-80 because I'm going to be receiving a gift card for graduation and have already lined up the other things I would like to buy and am really set on them. I just happened to have some extra money in my budget and was ready to make the jump to SSDs. So a 120GB and 240GB isn't really an option for me.

 

[Gnuffi]

I don't plan on putting ALL of my games on SSD(s), only my most frequently played. OS shouldn't be more than 20-30GB (windows 7 ultimate, maybe windows 10 .

my win 7 pro takes up 40gb and i currently just cant get it smaller, win 10 takes like 8gb i think so yea doesnt need to be that big

And I just can't buy the fact that you say SSDs in RAID.0 don't have speed benefit. If they didn't, people wouldn't do it as frequently as they do and rave about it.

placebo effect my friend, misunderstandings and such
raid 0 ssd has absolutely 0 effect on most tasks and is exactly why i stopped bothering since for my needs (gaming primarily) it does nothing, and you'd need some serious monster workloads that would benefit from it
doesnt even boot faster

 

[saint19]

dont bother RAID 0 ssds no gain,
either you do 1 drive with OS and the other with games/stuff
or you do 1 bigger drive and they "share" the drive
personally i do 1 ssd for OS(which doesnt have to be big 120gb more than plenty) and 1 ssd for steam/games,
(120gb would require you to delete games after completion/finish since it would fill up fast, so either 240gb or bigger, or use 120gb then link games that dont benefit as much from ssd to a HDD)
there is no point in RAID 0 ssd's whatsoever, especially for gaming and common consumer use, no upside, only the potential downside (which isnt exactly huge but with no upside unlike raid 0 hhd, you leave yourself with only a downside)

I don't plan on putting ALL of my games on SSD(s), only my most frequently played. OS shouldn't be more than 20-30GB (windows 7 ultimate, maybe windows 10 in the future). That leaves 200GB for games, which is more than enough. And I just can't buy the fact that you say SSDs in RAID.0 don't have speed benefit. If they didn't, people wouldn't do it as frequently as they do and rave about it. There is quite a bit of information from reliable sources stating the benefits of SSDs in RAID. And I have a pretty set budget at no more than $70-80 because I'm going to be receiving a gift card for graduation and have already lined up the other things I would like to buy and am really set on them. I just happened to have some extra money in my budget and was ready to make the jump to SSDs. So a 120GB and 240GB isn't really an option for me.

In a real world scenario an SSD RAID 0 for OS and programs is a waste of money.

 

[Gnuffi]

Side not on the placebo effect regarding

And I just can't buy the fact that you say SSDs in RAID.0 don't have speed benefit. If they didn't, people wouldn't do it as frequently as they do and rave about it.

those are typical teh same type of people that will tell you to guy buy an M.2 ssd or a PCIe ssd (or even crazier RAID 0 the PCIe ssds)as it would "blow your load times away"
when infact.. and check this, for gaming, and 99.9999% of common consumer use and task, there is 0! real world impact from sata 3 ssd to M.2 or even PCIe ssd
we(the common folk) simply just dont do anything that utilize those speeds