• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Who says that two raptors arent better than one? Part 2

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.
hey dom... since you're getting those 2x150's i think you should just mail me those 2x74gbs so i can throw them in my pc, it would help my sempy alot. haha
 
boris_37 said:
hey dom... since you're getting those 2x150's i think you should just mail me those 2x74gbs so i can throw them in my pc, it would help my sempy alot. haha
Click to expand...

hehe :p
I am sorry man. I wish I could. Although I do have a lot of high end toys and tech gadgets. I work my azz off for them and I am probably going to need to put up the 74's for sale in the classifieds when Raptor X 150 time comes. :)

Dom
 
Last edited:
Sir. BOBSONATOR said:
Great Thread, great Info!

Makes me want to buy 2 raptors now!!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments Bob. Look into the Raptor 150 as another option and then move up to a WD150 raid configuration when the money is available. :D

Dom
 
Hi

Really liked the article :cool:
I used a raid setup on my previous gaming system, I found the benefits to be minimal (as reported elsewhere) and not worthwhile. :bang head
So my new system got a single raptor, I have the on-board NV-raid so it looks like I might be upgrading as soon as money allows :)
I had thought for some time the limitation was in the controller and your post about trying the other on-board controller and Johan's comments appear to confirm this.

So I had a quick look on-line and found this
HTTP://WWW.computervideogear.com/sata/siig-pcie-sata-ii-raid-card.htm

I am sure there are others and this one does not appear to have on-board memory but it is a lot cheaper then the $2-300 mentioned.
Considering my normal attitude to on-board is to switch it off and install an add on card and this card appears affordable (if I can find it in the UK)
I would like to know your opinion on the possible pros/cons of a card like this (and Johan's if still around :))

Regards
Andy
 
Quoted from that product page:
Based on the Silicon Image SiI 3132 chipset, this SATA II PCI Express card optimizes the throughput of Hitachi SATA II hard drives!

...PCI Express 1-lane (x1) SATA II adapter works in any available PCI Express slot
Click to expand...
The Sil 3132 supports SATA II, so you have all the benefits of NCQ/higher burst rates there. It's also PCI-E, so you can avoid the PCI bandwidth limitations. The interface is only PCI-E 1x though, so your bandwidth ceiling with that is 500mb/s. It's a step up from a RAID card with a PCI interface, but it's still not a "true" hardware solution. A card like that isn't bad, but it's really no better than your integrated NV RAID.

Pros:
It's a decent software solution
Cons:
You're spending $50 for something that isn't an upgrade.
 
David said:
Splat.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the sticky David. I am sure this will help out a lot of people in the future when considering Raptors in Raid 0.

Kind regards,
Dominick
 
andywierd said:
I would like to know your opinion on the possible pros/cons of a card like this (and Johan's if still around :))

Regards
Andy
Click to expand...

I am with Johan on this one. I would not recommend spending money on a lower end PCI-E controller card when the NVRaid onboard solution is already on the mobo and fully capable of handling a 2 drive raid setup. If you have an NForce4 board, as I mentioned before: Steer away from the Silicon controller because of its 133 bus bottleneck and definitely use NVRaid.

For myself personally, the only way I would warrant any kind of controller card in Raid 0 would be for a thousand dollar SCSI U320 and 15,000rpm setup but unfortunately that may not come in my lifetime. hehe

Dom
 
Last edited:
For myself personally, the only way I would warrant any kind of controller card would be for a thousand dollar SCSI U320 and 15,000rpm setup but unfortunately that may not come in my lifetime. hehe
Click to expand...
If one really wants to run a RAID 5 array a true hardware controller with some cache can come in very handy. I'm not sure you'd see as much benefit between such a card and an onboard solution when running RAID 0, however, as it requires a lot less calculation. If JCLW was around I'm sure he could enlighten us a little on that specifically.
 
Like many people have already said, great job on the articles, Dom. I enjoyed reading them.

I put together the build in my sig just before i read your first article. It got me thinking ...hmm..maybe i should setup a raid 0 which i have never done before. I had 2 sata I maxtors still sitting in their boxes so i figured i try them first. Performance seemed ok.

All of sudden i have a need for more speed. I have one Raptor 150 when i initially bought all the other parts. Kept telling myself "you don't need another one" heh. ,cause they are expensive. The temptation was too great. Next thing i know, i'm pulling out my credit card and ordering another one. It should be here tomorrow. It's all your fault, man. :p j/k

I even contemplated 4 raptor 74's. heh I'm losing it. There really is no justification on my part for having that kind of setup. The idea sounds great tho.

Here's to many Raptor raid 0 setups :beer:
 
ffzen said:
Like many people have already said, great job on the articles, Dom. I enjoyed reading them.

I put together the build in my sig just before i read your first article. It got me thinking ...hmm..maybe i should setup a raid 0 which i have never done before. I had 2 sata I maxtors still sitting in their boxes so i figured i try them first. Performance seemed ok.

All of sudden i have a need for more speed. have one Raptor 150 when i initially bought all the other parts. Kept telling myself "you don't need another one" heh. ,cause they are expensive. The temptation was too great. Next thing i know, i'm pulling out my credit card and ordering another one. It should be here tomorrow. It's all your fault, man. :p j/k

I even contemplated 4 raptor 74's. heh I'm losing it. There really is no justification on my part for having that kind of setup. The idea sounds great tho.

Here's to many Raptor raid 0 setups :beer:
Click to expand...

If money is no object and you definitely want to go the Raptor route. I would have to say that 2+ Raptor 150's in Raid 0 would be the ultimate SATA raid configuration available on the market right now. Having been proven in a single drive configuration for having the latest technology and being the absolute fastest single drive you can buy, two of these puppies are going to plain old kick arse. I apologize for talking you into the raid setup. :p

Once again, thanks a bunch for the comments!

Dom
 
johan851 said:
Quoted from that product page:

The Sil 3132 supports SATA II, so you have all the benefits of NCQ/higher burst rates there. It's also PCI-E, so you can avoid the PCI bandwidth limitations. The interface is only PCI-E 1x though, so your bandwidth ceiling with that is 500mb/s. It's a step up from a RAID card with a PCI interface, but it's still not a "true" hardware solution. A card like that isn't bad, but it's really no better than your integrated NV RAID.

Pros:
It's a decent software solution
Cons:
You're spending $50 for something that isn't an upgrade.
Click to expand...

Can you give your suggestions ? :) What controller(pci-e) would be an upgrade compared with nvraid ?
 
Well, like I said, you won't see a lot of controller benefit with RAID 0. Controllers really start coming in handy when you're calculating parity information, as is the case with RAID 5.

If you really want to get something, here's a good hardware controller:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816115027

And here's something with onboard cache:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816131003

But unless you're running RAID 5, you're paying a lot of money for little to no performance gain.
 
Hey, I plan on getting a 2nd 74GB Raptor for my desktop also. I am planning on striping them and was wondering what striping size I should use? I noticed you use 16K but I was wondering whether you guys think I should use a larger striping size or a smaller one such as 16K. I mostly just browse using firefox, check e-mail and website, and play games. No video editing or stuff like that.

I was looking through my ASUS manual which talked about the NVRAID utility and choosing striping. It said choose low striping such as 16K for server usage and choose 128K for performance usage. Why'd you got with 16k?
 
roYal said:
Hey, I plan on getting a 2nd 74GB Raptor for my desktop also. I am planning on striping them and was wondering what striping size I should use? I noticed you use 16K but I was wondering whether you guys think I should use a larger striping size or a smaller one such as 16K. I mostly just browse using firefox, check e-mail and website, and play games. No video editing or stuff like that.

I was looking through my ASUS manual which talked about the NVRAID utility and choosing striping. It said choose low striping such as 16K for server usage and choose 128K for performance usage. Why'd you got with 16k?
Click to expand...

Again,
This is another debated issue and I will allow some others like Johan and JCLW to chime in. I chose 16k after doing massive research from others using the exact same setup and the results being beneficial. The moderator Krag has a similar experience with a 16k dual 74G setup.

Theoretically as stripe size increases, positioning performance increases and transfer performance decreases. Some argue that by decreasing stripe size to lets say 16k vs. 128k you will get much higher sustained transfer rates, which is true. About 15 to 20 MBps increase from my own testing. However, the other argument is that application performance decreases.

I found 16k to be a perfect balance for my own needs. Again, this will be a debated issue as well so I would like to hear the standpoint of others.

Good luck with your Raptor setup.
Dom
 
I chose 16k after doing massive research from others using the exact same setup and the results being beneficial.
Click to expand...
I'm not an expert on stripe sizes, but I do know that others tend to play with a lot of stuff, and always come back to 16k. It seems to be the most balanced option for general use.
 
16k stripe has always been the best performer for me for th elast 4 yrs. I do not move large files such as a server would do but peridically I download 500mb or so game demos and after the game is donloaded into the temp folder my oS then moves it into my download folder and my Raptors start bookin' and it takes seconds to move that whole file!

IMHO, 16k is the way to go.
 
Great Job!

I was looking for this thread, but in my stupidity didn't think to look up top in the stickies.

roYal: As with the others, I've found 16k works best for me.

Dom: Excelent job doing all the benchmarking. I did a little bit when I set up my Raptors, so I know what a pain it is to re-create arrays and install everything over and over. I see you keep talking about 2x 150G Raptors. What about 4x 74G? ;)

Out of curiosity, what firmware do your Raptors have? It's written on the outside of the drive, or most software utilities will tell you. Mine are all 00FLA1.

boundrose: I agree with Johan. The only way you're going to top your nV RAID solution is to use a top of the line SATA card (ie: Areca) or go SCSI/SAS.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

F
Favorite Audio Part
Replies
1
Views
101
Archer0915
Archer0915
magellan
Last Of Us Part 2: any good?
Replies
0
Views
235
magellan
magellan
mackerel
Relative IPC and efficiency of some Intel CPUs in Cinebench R15
Replies
3
Views
180
mackerel
mackerel
D
Liquid Metal Longevity - A Case Study
Replies
10
Views
1K
DaneH
D
AnEEsO
ZOTAC GTX 1080 TI AMP EXTREME CORE EDITION 139mhz Clock bug after Bios flash
Replies
5
Views
276
Kenrou
Kenrou
Back