Gaming setup?

[Hardass]

I run Steam and Origin programs and games. I have a Fresh Raid0 on 2x M4 256gb SSD. I have a 3rd M4 256gb available. Now should I install OS on the single and set up all game programs on the raid0? Or just put everything on the 2x raid0? Or setup differently??

[SteveRo]

My 24/7 machine, I have the OS on a raid (Areca, 4xR0) with docts and steam in separate partitions on a single drive set as pass through on the areca.
The single drive is no where near as fast as the raid but I can still take advantage of the controller capabilities offload from the main cpu and the 4GB cache. :)

[Da_maniaC]

If you want to work with the means at your disposal, i'd suggest:
- Putting all 3 drives in a single RAID0 array (and make a few partitions to sort your data).
- Backup images of said partitions on your preferred frequency on a seperate data drive

This would give you an increase in performance (and the best you are probably going to get unless you wanna spend a few hundred bucks on an expensive controller).
If all devices in the chain are SATAIII compliant you should end up with a nice increase in speed.

[Hardass]

Thanks.

[Da_maniaC]

You're welcome.

PS.

When you do create the new RAID array, be sure to test with a few stripe sizes.
Normally, the highest possible 4k QD1 random read speeds are obtained by using a 4K stripe size.
This tends to impact the sequential read/writes maginally, but 4K speeds (and actually everything in between, for example 5K or 12K speeds) are way more important then sequential performance....whether you get 950 MB/s or or 1185 MB/s sequentially really doesnt matter if youre getting higher 4K speeds that way.
Also be sure to test this with AS SSD for example, as opposed to CDM (this tends to color your results more positive then they really are).

[NEOAethyr]

I would raid all 3, as long as the drives are good.

But...
It's alot easier to install a os on a non-raided drive.
Like linux for example, or winxp.
Win7 or 8 no prob, but winxp/2k3 require a floppy drive and no one has that crap anymore (I mean in terms of being to hook one up).
And linux, you never know if the install cd was setup to check for raid or not.

I almost went and bought a refirb 60gig drive to raid with the one I got already, but decided against it because I may need to install win2k3 in the future.


I would raid at least the 2 of them though, one ssd by it's self isn't really all that fast, quick access times but avg transfer rates.

Stripe sizes...
Mmm, min I would use is 16k, that would ensure that 4k performance is never and issue that comes up.
That and picking your cluster sizes on your partitions.
I use 64k for both.
The itty bitty files aren't really important in terms of speed, it's the bigger ones you want to go fast.
Most of the files on an avg windows install are bigger then 32k, or 64k.
32k is a good # though.

On my setup, 64k stripe, 64k clusters.
Say for example I save a txt file on my desktop, say it's 1k.
That file will result in a 64k cluster which is written to a single drive in my array.
If the file were bigger then 64k, then it would be written to both drives.

Most peoples setup use the default 4k cluster size, horrible overhead but whatever.
I like to keep it somewhat simple, and fast as possible for larger files.
32k stripe in the medium, 64k is for larger files.

I recommend you research a bit on that, stripes and cluster sizes.
It's not a huge deal on ssd's, but it's still overhead on your cpu...

[Hardass]

Have never seen anything about cluster size when setting up a Raid array??

[NEOAethyr]

It's a software thing.
When you actually goto make partitions and format the filesystem, that's when you choose the cluster size.
Stripe size is set in the raid bios while cluster size is set when you format.
It can't be done from windows setup though, you have to doit from an installed os.

[DOA]

"It's alot easier to install a os on a non-raided drive." And who cares? Save 15 minutes up front and waste time for the life of the install.

I am doing this same thing right now, some thoughts...
Win 8 is not ready for prime time gaming, not many tweaks out and those that are have not been long term tested. Stick to Win7 Pro 64 for gaming.
An extra 15 minutes to get your raid right will pay off for the life of your machine, go the three disk raid.
Many games will run on a separate partition and need not be installed which really speeds up a trashed OS reinstall.
I use three partitions, boot, games, data and backup to an NAS.
For me texture loading is a bottleneck, I use 64K stripe and it helps. Hirez and big textures are part of modern gaming.

Let us know how it runs!

[SteveRo]

If using W7 - acronis workstation backup and recovery 11, acronis disk director 11 and at least 2 drives allows you to easily add storage drivers as you need them. :)
I am sure other disk tools provide the same capability.