View Full Version : RaptorX vs Raid 0
SkyGod
10-28-2006, 01:03 PM
I currently have 2 WD 80gb hs's in Raid 0 (they are eide drives and I'm using a highpoint pci raid controller). I'm considering ditching them and getting a raptorX 150gb instead. Is the raptor X going to be faster then 2 HD's in raid 0?
Thanks!
nn_step
10-28-2006, 01:05 PM
in access times, hell yes. but it honestly depends on what you are doing alot of.
But generally speaking the raptor is faster than most 7.2k Raid setups
SkyGod
10-28-2006, 01:42 PM
I just play games and general computing, eventually I'll probably get a second and set up a raid array. I just didn't want to drop 250$ and take a step back in performance
Nanometer
10-28-2006, 02:13 PM
Depends. It won't be faster than the older Raptors in RAID-0. And it wont be faster than many of the newer 16Meg cache HDDs in RAID-0. When I say faster, I'm talking about general, not really access times or bandwidth.
SkyGod
10-28-2006, 05:22 PM
well considering I have 2 old eide 80gb drives /w 8megs a piece cache I guess I'll be better off
Steensen
10-29-2006, 03:39 AM
You'll get a better performance with the Raptor, than with your RAI0 setuo, in everything than your boot time.
Serra
10-30-2006, 08:16 AM
RaptorX = Fast Access Time
RAID-0 = Better total I/O
The difference will be that when you first go to get your bits and bytes from your hard drive the Raptor will find it faster, so for small-file and occasional work, the Raptor will be the faster drive. For larger files / bootup when the hard drives are already spun up and just reading data, the RAID stripe should be notably better.
So the best for you depends on your usage. If you don't mind having a slightly longer bootup and you don't do any huge file work (or your hard drives aren't the main bottleneck if you do) then the Raptor would definitely be better. Otherwise, the RAID set.
There are some access patterns that are not sped up by raid-0 at all. Namely small reads after random seeks.
Small reads after random seeks is what you have for most program start (when it assembled the executable, the shared libs, config files, viruses etc). This workload is actually better sped up with RAID-1.
However, starting a game is often not like other programs, since large files with textures, meshes or other game data might be loaded sequentially.
So, in a word, it depends. All RAID levels have weaknesses and since the typical home user (or industrial user for that matter) has no clue what his actual access pattern is things are difficult to evaluate.
A faster harddrive is a faster harddrive and you don't need to think about any of this stuff. Also keep in mind raid-0 has twice the risk.
nn_step
10-30-2006, 01:15 PM
uOpt has a point, sadly there is no little application that keeps track of you for a month or so and then suggests what activity you do the most.... :(
SkyGod
10-30-2006, 01:39 PM
I actually originally set up my raid 0 when I was doing lots of video editing in college, so it made since to have raid 0, maybe its not really worth it any longer. I've been rather fortunate and haven't ever had a hard drive go bad in my 15 years of computing, but I've hear plenty of horror stories. Maybe I'll get a raptor X and if that doesn't seem fast enough I can always get another and go back to raid 0. I'm getting ready to do a big upgrade this next coming month, and I've had my 2 hd's for about 3 years, I'd like sata and ncq and all that jazz.
JoeBar
10-30-2006, 01:45 PM
For me raid 0 is dead. I've used it for several years with several drives and finally decided to give it up. My reason are the junk onboard raid solutions, the added cost of upgrading two drives, the added fuss of rebuilding the raid array when changing controller and last but most important the doubtfull performance benefits.
I've changed from a 2x36.7 Raptor raid 0 array, to a single 74 raptor and i found it to be better performing to the things i do most, apart from boot up time. But how many times u restart your pc a day? Also the decision of getting either a 7200 raid 0 array or a single raptor, mainly due to the added cost, is by far wrong...
To me all this raid misleading info by many hw sites only brings more $$$ to hd maker's pockets. Raid (and by any means not raid 0) is mainly for servers and their usual applications.
SkyGod
10-30-2006, 04:10 PM
Also the decision of getting either a 7200 raid 0 array or a single raptor, mainly due to the added cost, is by far wrong...
I'm a little confused, what is wrong? can you elaborate please?
JoeBar
10-31-2006, 12:57 PM
A raptor is a better choise than a raid 0 array with 7200 drives.
Yoxxy
10-31-2006, 01:06 PM
2x 7200 drives will have a higher throughput on most occasions but access time is better on the raptor. Best bet is if you can get 1 raptors than by another in the future and get the best of both worlds :)
osiris999
10-31-2006, 07:14 PM
i would get the raptor
SkyGod
10-31-2006, 07:41 PM
raptor it will be :)
Speederlander
11-13-2006, 12:24 AM
For me raid 0 is dead. I've used it for several years with several drives and finally decided to give it up. My reason are the junk onboard raid solutions, the added cost of upgrading two drives, the added fuss of rebuilding the raid array when changing controller and last but most important the doubtfull performance benefits.
I've changed from a 2x36.7 Raptor raid 0 array, to a single 74 raptor and i found it to be better performing to the things i do most, apart from boot up time. But how many times u restart your pc a day? Also the decision of getting either a 7200 raid 0 array or a single raptor, mainly due to the added cost, is by far wrong...
To me all this raid misleading info by many hw sites only brings more $$$ to hd maker's pockets. Raid (and by any means not raid 0) is mainly for servers and their usual applications.
I agree.
slykid
11-13-2006, 02:43 AM
a lot of clarification here, i think i'm gonna go with a raptor
epion2985
11-13-2006, 04:27 AM
Dont get the 150g one. Get 2 70g once and drop then in raid0. Read this thread, good information:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=445800
ripken204
11-25-2006, 07:33 AM
i also have a few questions on this.
i want to get a new hdd and im thinking of the raptor x.
this will be purely for gaming.
i do not want to go raid only b/c i dont want to have to worry about it crashing and i just dont want an extra hdd. 2x74 raptors cost more than 1x150 also.
as for loading time for raid, my load time for visa is ~15sec and im perfectly fine with that, im sure a raptor would make it faster anyways.