Why do you have raptor HDs?

[miecz]

Why do you guys buy raptor hard drives? Is there some special benefit in having them? I read that you guys usually get 2 of them and distribute files on both. Can someone explain the ideal setup for a good computer?

 

[NEO3]

Raptors have 16mb of cache, and at 10.000rpm...make's them the best sata HD out there. If you pair them in raid-0 they are even better. I have a raid0 setup with 2x80gb hd(sata2 and ncq) that can do the job of one raptor.
The choice is up to you.

 

[chuckshissle]

I have 2x74Gb Raptor in Raid 0 for my OS and related programs and as well as my games. Faster boot and game loading time.

 

[FITCamaro]

I have 2x74Gb Raptor in Raid 0 for my OS and related programs and as well as my games. Faster boot and game loading time.

Yeah and if one dies you're screwed.


I have two 74GB Raptors but only because I bought them for $75 each. I wouldn't pay $150 for 74GB of space. Not when I can get 500GB (2x250) for the same price now.

 

[chuckshissle]

You're right but with my experience with Wester Digital, I trust them HDs. I have been using them from the beginning of my first build and none have failed me so far or given my any problems.

Well, I got 250Gb WD HD for storage and backup in case this problem happens.

 

[zyberwoof]

Using two drives together is called RAID. Click here for detailed information on RAID. The types of RAID that are most commonly and easily done are level 0 and level 1.

Think of hard drives like secretaries. Having two or more secretaries can provide great results in different ways.
- RAID 0 is like having two (or more) secretaries work together to get things done faster. Depending on the situation, the benifits may vary as to how much it benifits the office.
- RAID 1 is like having two secretaries copying each other and doing the same thing. Doing this may end up being a little bit slower than if only one person was doing it, but you gain something else in return. If one secretary has to call in sick, the other one will allow the office to keep right on trucking without missing a beat. Basically, if one of the two hard drives stops working, you don't loose any data and you do not have to reinstall anything.

A good setup for a computer is to have a lot of hard drive speed for you Windows installation and then a slower but much higher capacity hard drive for storage of things like games, movies, music, pictures, backup, ect.

A good example of this setup would be to have a raptor with Windows installed on it and a 250+ GB hard drive for storage. If you do not have anything that takes up very much room on your computer and 250 GB is way overkill then a 40 or 80 GB would be just fine for storage.

If you have a high budget then you could do something like having two raptors with RAID 0 for your windows installation.

One final recomendation is a to have a your infomation backedup. In the event that your storage drive is being filled with your storage needs, you may need another drive devoted for backup. In this case one more drive that is large enough to backup everything is not a bad idea.

 

[syn1kk]

Only people who need this kind of harddrive speed is video editing. The rest of us just like faster components =P .

Personnally I think everyone should be using raid 1 now. As he said you can get two 500gb drives for nothing! If you put that in raid 1 that means you dont have to worry about backing up 500gb of data. or when your data does die you just get another harddrive.

There is no reason for getting raid 0. Harddrives fail fast enough and often enough. But I guess all the people using raid 0 here dont use their comps for anything important cept games which are only a quick installation away.[/i]

 

[1Tanker]

Why do you guys buy raptor hard drives? Is there some special benefit in having them? I read that you guys usually get 2 of them and distribute files on both. Can someone explain the ideal setup for a good computer?

Raptors Main advantage is it's 10,000 RPM speed. This cuts down on rotational latency. This means less "wait time" when you read and or write data to/from the disk. All other desktop hard drives use either a 7,200RPM platter speed, or some older/low-end ones use 5,400 RPM's. The 7200RPM drives are faster than the 5400 drives, and so forth.

 

[clue69less]

I have 2x74Gb Raptor in Raid 0 for my OS and related programs and as well as my games. Faster boot and game loading time.

Yeah and if one dies you're screwed.

Screwed? As if it's some huge problem to replace a HD and reload the OS + programs? No, in my book, screwed is when you lose something that can't be replaced. Chuck's usage of RAID0 for OS+Apps has very little risk as long as he has copies of the software. The odds of a two-drive RAID0 going down is double that of a single identical drive. For a drive like the Raptor, I wouldn't sweat it. Chuck's performance-oriented guy and I'd bet he'll build a new system before his array dies.

 

[NEO3]

There is no reason for getting raid 0. Harddrives fail fast enough and often enough. But I guess all the people using raid 0 here dont use their comps for anything important cept games which are only a quick installation away.[/i]

Since the old days of pata5400 drives I use raid and never had problems with it. Now HDs are much better and safer, but still backup is important and I save mine in dual layer media. I never had the need of large files stored since I use my pc at home for renders and so.

 

[jap0nes]

I have 2x74Gb Raptor in Raid 0 for my OS and related programs and as well as my games. Faster boot and game loading time.

hmmm yeah, but how much is faster? a couple seconds? games load instantaneously?
i have this doubt, if the extra price you pay for a raptor justify a couple seconds less in boot or loading times

 

[clue69less]

I have 2x74Gb Raptor in Raid 0 for my OS and related programs and as well as my games. Faster boot and game loading time.

hmmm yeah, but how much is faster? a couple seconds? games load instantaneously?

Plenty of benchmarks are available on Toms, Anandtech, etc., if you need quantitative satisfaction.

i have this doubt, if the extra price you pay for a raptor justify a couple seconds less in boot or loading times

That is YOUR value assessment. I therefore recommend that you do not buy Raptors and RAID them. To those of us that DO value the performance advantage (and especially to those that have a need for speed) are fortunate to be able to make such judgements for ourselves, unimpeded by the ramblings of jap0nes.

 

[jap0nes]

Plenty of benchmarks are available on Toms, Anandtech, etc., if you need quantitative satisfaction.

plenty of benchmarks show that in REAL LIFE APPLICATIONS, a raptor is just like 10 seconds faster to boot windows, or 15 seconds faster to load a game. I was asking Chuckhissle, not you, by the way, if he feels much of a difference on raptors. Also, benchmarks are made using high-end components, with fresh installs for example. I was asking him how it performs in real life usage.

To those of us that DO value the performance advantage (and especially to those that have a need for speed) are fortunate to be able to make such judgements for ourselves, unimpeded by the ramblings of jap0nes.

Excuse me? Did i make this question to you? No?
Anyway, you're in part right. This is my value assessment, as saying that a raptor is worth is someone else's. The problem is that everybody who has, or is intending to buy a raptor says it is faster. It's obviously faster, but by how much? Nobody says that, they only say it's a 10k rpm and whatever, but what does that mean in real life?
Benchmarks around show a huge advantage in synthetic benchmarks, but a tiny one in real life applications, that's why i asked Chuckhissle, not you, if it's really good.

 

[foshizzle]

Well, as always with technology is the diminishing rate of return for your dollar the higher you go up the spending ladder...ummm or however that goes...

I have two 74gb Raptors in RAID 0 and I can tell you that they are really fast. I can hardly stand to use anyone else's computer because it's just so dang slow in comparison (especially when I have to BOOT someone else's computer...) However, when I was just using one Raptor it was still really fast. When I upped to RAID 0 I noticed a an imrovement but whether or not it was worth the $175 would be up to the user. In my case, I'm always glad for increased performance and willing to pay for it.

If you are on a tight budget I would still totally recommend either a 36gb or 74gb Raptor for OS and Apps/Games and you will notice a difference in your boot time, game loading time, and overall 'snappiness' of the computer.

Check out some benchmarks that are out there and you'll see exactly the difference and then can determine if RAID 0 is worth the money to you.

 

[syn1kk]

Getting raptors or getting raid 0 is a matter of preference I think so it probably can not be debated reallly. lol.

Raid 0: Some see the extra money/time of raid 0 to be worth it. I do not see it to be worth it.

raptor: some see the extra money worth it... i do not. Performance increase is not really worthwhile...

Personally though I store lots of important files and need them... so raid 1.

-------------

p.s. And just for the record just because harddrive technology gets older does not mean they are more reliable. There is no way to make harddrives more reliable even if you manufacture the perfect harddrive it will break eventually because there is so many moving parts that are moving soo fast. I can't wait till harddrives become obsolete and it is all solid state storage.

 

[foshizzle]

I can't wait till harddrives become obsolete and it is all solid state storage.

I second that!

 

[FITCamaro]

Screwed? As if it's some huge problem to replace a HD and reload the OS + programs? No, in my book, screwed is when you lose something that can't be replaced. Chuck's usage of RAID0 for OS+Apps has very little risk as long as he has copies of the software. The odds of a two-drive RAID0 going down is double that of a single identical drive. For a drive like the Raptor, I wouldn't sweat it. Chuck's performance-oriented guy and I'd bet he'll build a new system before his array dies.

Umm. Yes. It is. Your Windows license key is only good for one use with an OEM product. Sure you can get around it by backing up the OS install or saving the activation file elsewhere. Most people don't do this though. I'm not saying its a huge risk, I have a 320GB storage RAID0 array myself, but I would never run Windows on a RAID0. I can deal with loosing my data. But its a PITA to have my OS die too. Thats about a day to a day and a half to reinstall everything and get it all updated and what not.

Oh and I don't know about you but I don't throw away my hard drives when I build a new system. They go into the new computer and are used for the same task usually. I have an 80GB that I've had in 3 different computers for my OS.

As far as the guy who said you can get 500GB hard drives for nothing now. I wouldn't go that far. 500GB drives are $200-215. Thats not nothing to most of us. Its not a bad price, but not cheap. Now 250GB drives. Those are only $75-80 each now so getting two of them and doing RAID 1 would be pretty inexpensive and cost less than 1 500GB drive. Half the capacity but also less than half the price.

 

[clue69less]

I was asking Chuckhissle, not you, by the way, if he feels much of a difference on raptors.

If you wanted to exclude others from possible commentary, then perhaps an email or PM would have been more effective. This is a forum where anyone can reply to any post. Your feeble attempts at censorship were a waste of time.

Excuse me? Did i make this question to you? No?

See above. You appear to have a poor understanding of forum function.

Anyway, you're in part right. This is my value assessment, as saying that a raptor is worth is someone else's.

Of course I'm right. No surprise there.

The problem is that everybody who has, or is intending to buy a raptor says it is faster. It's obviously faster, but by how much? Nobody says that, they only say it's a 10k rpm and whatever, but what does that mean in real life?

This is an incorrect statement. I have provided specific real world RAID0 Raptor info in other threads.

that's why i asked Chuckhissle, not you, if it's really good.

You need to learn the difference between an email and a forum. Regardless of how you may view yourself as a powerful censor, it don't work that way. Around here, you're just adept at proving your tendencies to post baseless opinions while attempting to bully and censor people. Don't waste your time trying to push me around. If you want to have a private conversation with Chuck, then got to PM or email and don't waste forum bandwidth.

 

[clue69less]

There is no way to make harddrives more reliable

This ignores some significant advances made over the last decade - and development is ongoing, particularly for mobile devices.

 

[clue69less]

Screwed? As if it's some huge problem to replace a HD and reload the OS + programs? No, in my book, screwed is when you lose something that can't be replaced. Chuck's usage of RAID0 for OS+Apps has very little risk as long as he has copies of the software. The odds of a two-drive RAID0 going down is double that of a single identical drive. For a drive like the Raptor, I wouldn't sweat it. Chuck's performance-oriented guy and I'd bet he'll build a new system before his array dies.

Umm. Yes. It is. Your Windows license key is only good for one use with an OEM product. Sure you can get around it by backing up the OS install or saving the activation file elsewhere. Most people don't do this though. I'm not saying its a huge risk, I have a 320GB storage RAID0 array myself, but I would never run Windows on a RAID0. I can deal with loosing my data. But its a PITA to have my OS die too. Thats about a day to a day and a half to reinstall everything and get it all updated and what not.

Odd, I had to reinstall XP a month ago and had no problems as you refer to. I didn't have to use any smoke or mirrors, no tricky schemes. And it didn't take me a day and a half. It took about 3 hours, including Windows update and game loading. Maybe it was faster for me because I was loading onto RAID0 Raptors? Ha!

 

[chuckshissle]

For the cost and performance 2x74Gb is not really a good deal. I see your point well in this. Matter of fact I did think of it before I got this setup. But being new to it I did first of to try out and see the benifits from it. I do have faster boot and load times. Windows XP HE boot time about 20s and games up to 5-10seconds depending on the game loading. Was it worth it I would say somewhat but not really to justify the cost. But having to load faster is better nonetheless.

 

[michaelahess]

Yup, very true, Fit is clueless, hehe, no pun intended.

RAID 0 is fine with newer hd's, they rarely fail if treated properly, unless they are maxtors (current crop sucks), and there is a noticable speed increase in windows performance, load times maybe, maybe not, depends on the game.

And the only time the oem xp license can't be used again, and I say can't with a grain of salt, is if the mb is replaced, I've dealt with MS on this issue numerous times.

Replaced a MB on an HP that was out of warranty and HP wouldn't support it even though they wouldn't repair it, called MS and they said it couldn't be done with an oem license I'd have to pay for a new copy (yeah, that's smart), did it and told them to go f themselves, also told them that's why people enjoy bootlegging their software, the two guys I spoke with just kinda stammered and hung up.

 

[NeonDeon]

Just get two 150Gig HD, use one for your OS and Programs. Use the other for back-up, storage of your mp3, photos, etc.

Nuff said.

 

[hball]

I have 2x74Gb Raptor in Raid 0 for my OS and related programs and as well as my games. Faster boot and game loading time.

Yeah and if one dies you're screwed.


I have two 74GB Raptors but only because I bought them for $75 each. I wouldn't pay $150 for 74GB of space. Not when I can get 500GB (2x250) for the same price now.



How many times does somebody have to point out the pitfalls of RAID 0. In the years I have had a computer, not counting Commodore and those others, but a real computer, I have not had one hard drive go bad on me. The RAID 0 warning about data security is completely lost on me, has no meaning. Further, it is no problem for me to reinstall the OS and programs and get going again if a HD ever did fail on me.

hball

 

[syn1kk]

This ignores some significant advances made over the last decade - and development is ongoing, particularly for mobile devices.

I know that mobile devices stop spinning harddrives when the accelerometors detect movement of the laptop, but other than that please elucidate me about technology that makes harddrives less prone to destroying themselves!

(more cache would mean less time spinning the drive so you could argue that is an improvement... umm... the new flash + harddrives essentially do this. but i cant think of anything else... they still self destruct fairly often.)