Crapy Raid Performance?

[NapalmV5]

try this program

http://nodesoft.com/DiskBench/Default.aspx

copy file with stopwatch, write benchs, batch file creations, actually measures speeds, not synthetic... great way to see differences between RAID10 and RAID5 and also different stripe sizes

alright! im on to it right now.. tnx!

[NapalmV5]

1024MB cache, 6x 74 16MB raptors, NCQ/TCQ + read/write cache enabled on Areca ARC1230



if only id have another 6x raptors..

[mesyn191]

holy

[NapalmV5]

^ tnx guys

8x at last..


4x4


Mr & Mrs. Smith DVD

[mesyn191]

whahahah, goddamn makes me wish I hadn't got these maxlines, sure they're cheap and have a 5 yr. warranty but performance on them vs. Raptors is mediocre at best.

Nice setup and thx for posting pics.

[Sanborn]

What are your guys final decisions on best size for games if I am a diehard gamer and play stuff like Prey, Company of Heros (beta), Dark messiah, BF2, and plan on playing stuff like Crysis and UT2k7??

and Ill be honest, I didn't read the last few pages of this.

[Grinch]

16K stripe

[Kilyin]

Stupid question time...

If I have an existing RAID 0 array with two 250 gig drives, is it possible to add a third 250 gig to the array without losing everything?

[Grinch]

nope

[Quazi]

I have found a cluster size of 32K and a stripe size of 64K to give better overall performance results. Sure, your free space will shrink just a little, about 150MB on a 74GB HD, but, putting more data in a larger cluster keeps the seek head from having to do extra data searching than if you kept the cluster size to the default NTFS 4K size and the seek head having to jump from cluster to cluster eight times more frequently searching for the data to open and run whatever program you just double-clicked on. I have tried nearly every cluster and stripe size combination one can think of, probably reformatted & reinstalled my OS 25 times inside a year for various different reasons with test these cluster\stripe size combos being one of them. Give it a shot.

[_33]

I have found a cluster size of 32K and a stripe size of 64K to give better overall performance results. Sure, your free space will shrink just a little, about 150MB on a 74GB HD, but, putting more data in a larger cluster keeps the seek head from having to do extra data searching than if you kept the cluster size to the default NTFS 4K size and the seek head having to jump from cluster to cluster eight times more frequently searching for the data to open and run whatever program you just double-clicked on. I have tried nearly every cluster and stripe size combination one can think of, probably reformatted & reinstalled my OS 25 times inside a year for various different reasons with test these cluster\stripe size combos being one of them. Give it a shot.

Did you have to reinstall windows to define the cluster size? Or did you have to do anything special. I have no clue how to do it with partition magic 8. I tried and I had files packed (blue names) and unpacked them all and it still won't do it. Anyway, I abandonned the idea before you mention your setting and am intrigued on your process. I also have stripe size 64K and 250GB HDDs.

[alfaunits]

The above cluster seek idea is untrue. Neither NTFS nor FAT will seek more than needed times, so if the file is contiguious, 4K vs 32K cluster makes absolutely no difference diskwise.
If 64K cluster is best for you for OS/Games, then you have a crappy controller.
You CANNOT have the System partition with a cluster size other than 4K. (system = boot)
PQMagic has Change Cluster Size under Advanced to change the cluster size. AGAIN DO NOT CHANGE THE BOOT PARTITION'S CLUSTER SIZE.

[cmanser]

HI - I just built a Raid 0 Array and wanted to know where to find the "Enable Read Caching" and "Enable Command Queing" options. ( I actually want to disable them)

I have an Asus P5W DH w/ 2 Raptor X 150GB drives and I am using the Intel onboard Raid controller IHC7 - in Windows XP Pro.....any ideas?

I heard disabling these functions gives a SPEED BOOST and I want to squeeze all the speed out of these I can.

Thanks for any help.

I used Stripe size 16k - cluster size 4k.

[_33]

The above cluster seek idea is untrue. Neither NTFS nor FAT will seek more than needed times, so if the file is contiguious, 4K vs 32K cluster makes absolutely no difference diskwise.
If 64K cluster is best for you for OS/Games, then you have a crappy controller.
You CANNOT have the System partition with a cluster size other than 4K. (system = boot)
PQMagic has Change Cluster Size under Advanced to change the cluster size. AGAIN DO NOT CHANGE THE BOOT PARTITION'S CLUSTER SIZE.

So it's pointless to change cluster size from 4K to 16K or like you said 64K ? These are my figure with my 2 x RAID0 WD2500KS on NVRAID Lanparty NF4-D, 64K stripe and 4K cluster:

HD Tach - long.GIF

HD Tach - quick.GIF

ATTO.GIF

[cmanser]

The above cluster seek idea is untrue. Neither NTFS nor FAT will seek more than needed times, so if the file is contiguious, 4K vs 32K cluster makes absolutely no difference diskwise.
If 64K cluster is best for you for OS/Games, then you have a crappy controller.
You CANNOT have the System partition with a cluster size other than 4K. (system = boot)
PQMagic has Change Cluster Size under Advanced to change the cluster size. AGAIN DO NOT CHANGE THE BOOT PARTITION'S CLUSTER SIZE.

He said 64k stripe and 32k cluster - not 64k cluster. Oh well...

Also, you can have a system/boot partition with other cluster sizes - as stated earlier in this thread (GREAT thread by the way) you just can't do it using a slipstreamed WinXP SP2 disk - use SP1 or no SP WinXP disk for loading the OS using any cluster size you want and you can upgrade to SP2 later with no problems at all.

[_33]

He said 64k stripe and 32k cluster - not 64k cluster. Oh well...

Also, you can have a system/boot partition with other cluster sizes - as stated earlier in this thread (GREAT thread by the way) you just can't do it using a slipstreamed WinXP SP2 disk - use SP1 or no SP WinXP disk for loading the OS using any cluster size you want and you can upgrade to SP2 later with no problems at all.

Will PM 8 be able to change cluster size even in my current situation of having SP2 installed and all that chizz? Because it would be quite nice if I could change it without having to reinstall everything. Having faster write times is definately something I am looking for (moving files would be faster). Yea, so as the article points out, 32K clusters seem optimal, but I wouldn't say it's the best for all HDD models and sizes (concluded by reading this thread from the start). Anyway, I'm just looking for a last thing to try before reinstalling everything.

Enable read cache: That can be found it your system, peripheral list and you then choose your ATA/ATAPI controller and define it from there per SATA port enumerated in Primary Channel and Secondary Channel. Each port can be set seperately there and you can disable read cache there. Enabled, makes the drives run slower in RAID0 for absolutely pointless reason. WARNING: Do not disable write cache, it is hugely slow in writes if you do.

Thanks.

[cmanser]

Will PM 8 be able to change cluster size even in my current situation of having SP2 installed and all that chizz? Because it would be quite nice if I could change it without having to reinstall everything. Having faster write times is definately something I am looking for (moving files would be faster). Yea, so as the article points out, 32K clusters seem optimal, but I wouldn't say it's the best for all HDD models and sizes (concluded by reading this thread from the start). Anyway, I'm just looking for a last thing to try before reinstalling everything.

Enable read cache: That can be found it your system, peripheral list and you then choose your ATA/ATAPI controller and define it from there per SATA port enumerated in Primary Channel and Secondary Channel. Each port can be set seperately there and you can disable read cache there. Enabled, makes the drives run slower in RAID0 for absolutely pointless reason. WARNING: Do not disable write cache, it is hugely slow in writes if you do.

Thanks.

I know changing the stripe size and I believe changing the cluster size requires formatting of the drives as far as I know ( I could be wrong on the cluster but I believe you have to reformat). I have not used PM 8 but people on here say you can change cluster size using this.

The method I have used to change cluster size it have another drive as the Win XP OS drive - boot into windows and using "disk management" under the computer management in control panel - format it there and you can choose the cluster size (it calls it allocation size or something different).

Thanks for the info on Read cache - I am using an Intel chipset motherboard and when I go into the primary and sec controllers there is no setting for this. It is driving me crazy - anyone using the P5W DH know how to adjust NCQ and/or read caching?