Raid 0 & Overclocking - Yes or No ???

[Valhalla]

Will RAID 0 on two 36Gb Raptors hold back my overclocking ability with the system? Or, is there a significant possibility of hard drive array corruption from pushing the overclock of various components? Your thoughts and opinions are appreciated...

I want to overclock safely, since this will be my 24/7 system, and I don't want problems (corruption, decreased OC'ing ability), but I do want as much safe performance as I can get. I'll either go with the two 36Gb Raptors in RAID 0, or return them and get a 74Gb Raptor to run alone.

My system will be using an A64 3000+ 0448 SPMW (0088 batch #) on a DFI nf4 Ultra-D motherboard (and I hope I got a sweet chip!). I'll be using an XP-120 GPU cooler with a 120x38mm fan putting out 87 cfm. I've also got an OCZ Powerstream 520 PS and four 512 sticks of Twinmos UTT AA4T memory(which I'll run the best two of - until Venice arrives). I'll run the 3.3V line at 3.6V off the power supply, as one OCZ guy recommended to keep heat down on the mosfet, and should be able to use up to 3.5V to see what the memory will do. I'm going to use an x800xl graphics card (Rosewill) and will add the best air cooling device I can find (suggestions?) and some copper OCZ RAM sinks, for as much OC'ing as the card will safely give. All this is going into a CM Stacker case.

My question is:
I've already got the two new 36Gb Raptors, which I paid about $85 a piece for after rebate. Also, two WD 160Gb ATA drives for file storage and ghost backups of the primary drive(s). I've read alot about RAID 0 on the desktop - still can't decide if it's worthwhile doing. Do you think I'm better off with one 74Gb Raptor vs. the RAID 0, looking at the components I have and what I would like to achieve performance-wise with my system? Or stay with the 2 36GB Raptors? What are my risks and benefits?

Thanks guys!

[HARDCORECLOCKER]

Will RAID 0 on two 36Gb Raptors hold back my overclocking ability with the system? Or, is there a significant possibility of hard drive array corruption from pushing the overclock of various components? Your thoughts and opinions are appreciated...

I want to overclock safely, since this will be my 24/7 system, and I don't want problems (corruption, decreased OC'ing ability), but I do want as much safe performance as I can get. I'll either go with the two 36Gb Raptors in RAID 0, or return them and get a 74Gb Raptor to run alone.

My system will be using an A64 3000+ 0448 SPMW (0088 batch #) on a DFI nf4 Ultra-D motherboard (and I hope I got a sweet chip!). I'll be using an XP-120 GPU cooler with a 120x38mm fan putting out 87 cfm. I've also got an OCZ Powerstream 520 PS and four 512 sticks of Twinmos UTT AA4T memory(which I'll run the best two of - until Venice arrives). I'll run the 3.3V line at 3.6V off the power supply, as one OCZ guy recommended to keep heat down on the mosfet, and should be able to use up to 3.5V to see what the memory will do. I'm going to use an x800xl graphics card (Rosewill) and will add the best air cooling device I can find (suggestions?) and some copper OCZ RAM sinks, for as much OC'ing as the card will safely give. All this is going into a CM Stacker case.

My question is:
I've already got the two new 36Gb Raptors, which I paid about $85 a piece for after rebate. Also, two WD 160Gb ATA drives for file storage and ghost backups of the primary drive(s). I've read alot about RAID 0 on the desktop - still can't decide if it's worthwhile doing. Do you think I'm better off with one 74Gb Raptor vs. the RAID 0, looking at the components I have and what I would like to achieve performance-wise with my system? Or stay with the 2 36GB Raptors? What are my risks and benefits?

Thanks guys!

:D Running RAID 0 all the time - never had a problem to OC my rig, even PIC in SIG is taken with RAID 0...... :D

:toast:

[Valhalla]

Thanks HARDCORECLOCKER...

So no problems with OC'ing... Have you had any problems with data corruption on the array or had to reinstall Windows - things like that?

[enzoR]

you'll only get problems if you run the PCI out of spec, so lock it and u'll be fine

[Valhalla]

Thanks enzoR...

Seems I read on the forum somewhere when OC'ing a processor too far, operating system corruption has occurred, neccessitating a re-install - I don't want to go there :rolleyes:

[EMC2]

Corruption usually occurs due to mem timings on the edge or HT link on edge ;)

[Valhalla]

Thanks EMC2...

So, if I want to try to burn in this UTT memory to get max performance from it, then I should set up one hard drive with a basic Windows install, and run the memory timings and voltage at the edge of errors showing up?
Then if there is a corruption problem due to the memory timings, I don't have a corrupted install of all my programs, etc...

[EMC2]

Exactly... and keep a ghost copy of the partition so if you do get corruption while tuning/burning-in, it's a quick recover phase :toast:

Although for *just* burning-in the UUT I always use T5 in memtest... no HD required... then "final" tuning in win ;)

[_Eduard_]

Keep your PCI speed below 35mhz and you'll be fine... also with DFI Nf3 250Gb don't use SATA1&2 because they don't work above ~240MHz FSB

[mnemonik23]

Exactly... and keep a ghost copy of the partition so if you do get corruption while tuning/burning-in, it's a quick recover phase :toast:

Although for *just* burning-in the UUT I always use T5 in memtest... no HD required... then "final" tuning in win ;)
Ghost and RAID? :rolleyes: unless you've got some crazy new ghost or figured out how to do it? :)
As far as I know you can't ghost a RAID or maybe I'm not up to date?
I heard that Acronics True Image should help - but I never tried it...

[EMC2]

Ghost and RAID? :rolleyes:

Always read in context... in Valhalla's post immediately before mine:


So, if I want to try to burn in this UTT memory to get max performance from it,then I should set up one hard drive with a basic Windows install, and run the memory timings and voltage at the edge of errors showing up?

Peace :toast:

[kiwi]

Setup RAID 0 on my NF4 a few days ago. No problems with overclocking so far.

[Rubescen]

Yes, I'd corrupted the raid array and the windows too many times in the past due to instable Overclocking, and like EMC2 said...most of the time it's due to memory timing when it happened, so now I use Powerquest Drive Image and Acronis True Image to "ghost" my entire Raid-0 before I attempt any overclocking, with the Acronis I can send the image across my home network to a file server, though I prefer to do it on local hdd as it only takes about 3min to make an image or restore about 6GB of stuff. :D

[masterofpuppets]

I wouldn't recommend running RAID for extreme overclocking, even if the PCI bus is locked at 33. If the memory timings are very tight, or the memory is unstable, it will transfer corrupted data to the disk. You can mirror the array with RAID01 but you will require 4 Raptors, and the mirror could get corrupted, so it's only really a safety net for device failure.

[Viss]

Running 2 36gb Raptors in raid0 from day 1 on the DFI, no issues whatsoever so far.

[Jamo]

i too havnt had any corruption problems yet with my raid 0 setup and i wouldnt go back either, i recently had a friends pc at my house for repair, it had a single sata hard drive and a similar spec to mine, i'd forgotten just how much difference raid makes with loading times and such like - it was like i was on a ata66 drive or something, file copying took ages, and the most telling thing i think was installing windows and sp2, there was a significant difference between the 2

[elec999]

Isnt there a sata lock to 100mhz.
Thanks

[EMC2]

Clarification comment - once a system is tuned, definitely Raid it... my comments to Valhalla were for while tuning and xtreme benching ;)

[xtrempinoy]

ive ran my RAID-0 since i got my DFI lanparty UT s754, i love it, im running 10x250mhz all day, but my motherboard has died recently and im just waiting for a replacement . but the raid partition is still working fine.

[Kunaak]

I've done up to 352, about 2 years ago, with a Asus K8V (KT800 chipset, not AGP or PCI locks) using a Promise 66 mhz PCI Raid Card, a Ti 4200, and 2 raptors.
even at 352, with no AGP and PCI locks, the 66mhz card, kept me solid from corrupting my raid set up at the time.

I have never had a problem with running raid, and overclocking.

[HaLDoL]

Ghost and RAID? :rolleyes: unless you've got some crazy new ghost or figured out how to do it? :)
As far as I know you can't ghost a RAID or maybe I'm not up to date?
I heard that Acronics True Image should help - but I never tried it...
Ghost and raid works with no problems.

[Frozendeath]

Been using 2 74gb raptors raided for 6 + months now. During that time I have had 1 single problem where the OS got corrupted and I needed to reinstall.

That problem was my fault, some of us couldn't wait until our chiller got cold enough, before attempting to boot, which caused quite a mess.

Anyway as others have said, just lock the PCI frequencies, and Clock On :D

[arctic-k20]

guys - what would the pros/cons be with using a partition on a 2 hard drive raid 0 setup?

ive currently got 2x 200gb seagate sata drives in raid 0 and when xp was installing i was so used to partitioning things i just did it out of habit......so my 400gb stripe is in half....will this affect performance?

[Valhalla]

Thanks to everybody for your advice!

It seems from the responses that most people haven't had problems with Raid0 and overclocking, but some have - up to and including corruption, lost data, and having to reinstall the operating system.

I think for my setup I may be inclined to return my two 36Gb Raptors and get a single 74Gb Raptor for my operating system and programs. I'll use the two 160Gb WD disks for data storage. I need to keep it simple for now...

The 74's have faster seek times and they appear to run as well as two 36's in Raid0 for the most part from what I've read. Other users have also said they are quieter than the 36's in use. Initial setup of the system with a single drive would appear to be easier and I'll have my hands full anyway with maximizing my processor, memory and graphics card performance on a fresh build.

I can always get a second 74 in the future and Raid them if I feel the need...

[graham_h]

never had an issue with my raptors.
3.8 is still good on air...... even in these extreme places..... :hm:

[saaya]

i moved this topic to the general hardware section in the hard drive sub section, ok? :)
please post in the right sections next time, if you dont know what thread fits in where best just shoot me a pm :toast:

and raid0 always reduces your max oc afaik... its just a few mhz, but it stresses the cpu and the system a little extra wich results in a slightly lower ok.

i would always test a speed without raid first and make sure its stable, and then try raido0 :)