Which setup would be faster?

I'm trying to figure decide which would be faster between these two setups:

1: 2 x 36GB Raptors in RAID 0

or

2: 3 x Seagate 80GB 7200.10 in RAID 0

This will be a gaming/multimedia rig.

The extra space the the 3 x 80GB config will provide doesn't matter to me at all, nor does the theoretic decrease in reliability. Just looking for fast boot times, and fast game loads, etc.

Please gimme some food for though!

Thanks in advance.

The Raptors will be faster for your gaming setup as the higher STR of the 3 Seagates in RAID won't offer the benefits that the much lower seek times the Raptors will give you. Matter of fact, 2 Raptors would even be better than 3.

7200RPM drives on Raid-0 can't touch Raid-0 Raptors even if they tried (2 drive Raid-0, that is). You won't get nearly as much storage space but the flipside is virtually instant load times for windows, games, and files. Other downside is price too. One thing I would recomend is, if you want to go with the Raptors, get the two 36Gb Raptors (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136054, $99.99 a piece) and get an 80Gb (preferibly 7200RPM, like one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16822135106,N82E16822145127,N82E16822148231) to back up the Raid-0 every now and then. However, the prices on the 74Gb Raptors have gone down as well (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136033, $159.99 a piece with a $20 rebate) so if you want more storage space I'd recomend chucking out the extra $100 for the two bigger Raptors and a WD Caviar RE 160Gb (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136062, $59.99 a piece) for backups. Good luck on the build, and let us know how it turns out!!!

-Mobious-

Yea I already have a 160GB drive to backup the two 36GB raptors.

So is there any instance where the 3 80GB Seagates could beat the 2 Raptors? Perhaps certain types of synthetic benchmarks?

Well, I suppose if you were transfering large files over gigabyte lan onto a server's RAID array, then the 3 80's with higher sustained transfer rates would be better.

without question the raptors.

Another vote for the Raptors

Why is 3 raptors in raid 0 slower than 2 raptors in RAID 0?

And what about 4 raptors in RAID 0 is that slower still?

I was wondering the same. Seems completely wrong that 2 raptors would be faster than three. I know for sure it's wrong with regular sata drives...

Mycobacteria said:

Why is 3 raptors in raid 0 slower than 2 raptors in RAID 0?

And what about 4 raptors in RAID 0 is that slower still?

Click to expand...

It's not "slower", it's just not "quicker". By that I mean 3 Raptors will give you the higher STR(sustained transfer rate) but will seek files no faster than 2 drives, if not a touch slower. With 3 drives you have to wait for all three to find parts of the file instead of two and while this may be 10ths of a microsecond, it's certainly not an advantage. The more drives you add to RAID0, the more you delay the seek times and by the time you add a fourth, the added STR is just not beneficial, especially for a gaming setup. If you do large file editing, storing, manipulating, etc., more drives do help much more.

Yea, I realized what you meant after I had posted. I ordered my two 36GB Raptors yesterday for my new build. Can't wait...