SSD RAID or single

[DunyaKingdom]

I was wondering how much performance would I get if I decide to try RAID 0 using two Samsung 850 EVO 120GB compared to a single 250GB Samsung SSD.

I only have a WD Black 1TB and I'm planning to buy my first SSD but I don't know which one should I get, 2x 120GB or a single 250GB.

 

[USAFRet]

Single 250GB
Read this all the way through: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-raid-benchmark,3485.html

 

[theyeti87]

You won't see any performance gains with a SSD RAID0 because of the bottleneck that is the SATA controller. Best to stick to a single SSD.

 

[USAFRet]

Plus, a single 250GB is much cheaper than 2 x 120GB.

 

[pasow]

120GB SSD's are normally to slow compared to their 250GB counterparts to be worth RAIDing. I have a pair of OCZ Vertex 4 256GB SSD's in RAID0 spitting out over 800MB/s read wright performance. However unless you’re in a scenario where you’re getting the drives for cheaper than just the single large one, or need faster than SATA performance. Then i recommend against going RAID on SSD's. The chance of failures higher and not all SSD's are good for RAID. (not to mention, not all chip sets can pass TRIM through RAID, so your SSD's are likely to run in dirty mode for their entire life)

just go for the single 250GB SSD and save your self some trouble.

 

[USAFRet]

120GB SSD's are normally to slow compared to their 250GB counterparts to be worth RAIDing. I have a pair of OCZ Vertex 4 256GB SSD's in RAID0 spitting out over 800MB/s read wright performance. However unless you’re in a scenario where you’re getting the drives for cheaper than just the single large one, or need faster than SATA performance. Then i recommend against going RAID on SSD's. The chance of failures higher and not all SSD's are good for RAID. (not to mention, not all chip sets can pass TRIM through RAID, so your SSD's are likely to run in dirty mode for their entire life)

just go for the single 250GB SSD and save your self some trouble.

Question for you:
You're seeing that read/write performance in benchmarks. Do you actually notice a difference in actual use?

For instance...saving a large file, or using applications?

 

[pasow]

120GB SSD's are normally to slow compared to their 250GB counterparts to be worth RAIDing. I have a pair of OCZ Vertex 4 256GB SSD's in RAID0 spitting out over 800MB/s read wright performance. However unless you’re in a scenario where you’re getting the drives for cheaper than just the single large one, or need faster than SATA performance. Then i recommend against going RAID on SSD's. The chance of failures higher and not all SSD's are good for RAID. (not to mention, not all chip sets can pass TRIM through RAID, so your SSD's are likely to run in dirty mode for their entire life)

just go for the single 250GB SSD and save your self some trouble.

Question for you:
You're seeing that read/write performance in benchmarks. Do you actually notice a difference in actual use?

For instance...saving a large file, or using applications?

Back when I was doing a lot of video work and dealing with gigabyte large PSD's, it helped and I could tell the difference. But these days I would be served just fine by a single drive, perhaps even better. I can still duplicate a folder at ridiculous speeds, but software wise, I’m not doing anything that warrants it any more. A large influence in my original purchase of these was the savings of going with two 256GB drives over a single 512GB drive in 2012. but these days, i wouldn't bother with running a RAID of SSD's. there's no price incentive, and if you want faster than SATA speed then go for NVMe.

 

[USAFRet]

OK, thanks.