10K SATA or: RAID 0 ATA 7200K

I already have a 7200rpm ATA133, what you think would make more sense in temrs of performance (and to extent perforamance/cost):

(1)- 10K SATA Drive (will need a SATA controller also, since I do not have one)

or

(2) Get A RAID 0 ATA controller + another 7200rpm drive and raid them..

My feeling is that option 2 is better, since it is less money, but very comparable performance to option 1..

---If that is true (option 1 is the way to go), what a good Controller for ATA RAID 0 do you recommend? Price?
Please HELP


Cheers...

Also, another question:
(3)- Do I need both drives to be identical in size to do RAID 0? In case I found a drive that is a good deal on sale, but not the same size as mine (mine is 80GB), will it still work?

Thanks in advance...

Since either way you need a controller, I'd go with option 2. The 10k sata's are nice, but a raid-0 of ide 133 will be just as fast if not faster especially if both are 8mb cache. Promise and Highpointe are the recommended companies for raid controller cards. No the drives don't have to be same size, definitely get same speed and cache size if possible (8mb preferable).

Thanks for the info..

Another question:
If one drive is 2MB cache (my current one), and the other is 8MB cache, will both operate at 2MB cache only?
What I mean is: If paying lil more for 8MB cache will make a difference for me while keepig my current 2MB cache?

Thanks in advance

If you're putting it in raid0, buying another 8mb cache drive just to replace the 2mb cache drive won't be very cost efficient . The 8mb vs 2mb difference isn't too noticeable.

And yes, the raid0 will run 2 times the slowest speed of your two drives.

And the difference between option1 and option2 is that the raptor will have a faster response time and the raid0 of ide drives will have a faster read/write speeds.


Or you could save up and get two raptors in raid

If your going one IDE go ahead and get an 8mb cache, the cache for your array will the total amount of the two drives since it's r/w to both drives at same time. You won't see any degradation in performance. Jlin is correct, the sata will have faster response and raid will have faster r/w.

Thanks eveybody for info..

I liked the idea that the total cache will be the added sum of both drives cache (I thought it is gonna be the smallest cache just like the slowest spinning drive)

But one thing I do not understand: What is the difference between 'Respose Time' and 'R/W Speed'? I though that if a drive have a higher response time (I think of it equivelent to spinning speed) it should also automatically have higher r/w speed..

Any clarifications, please?

Thanks in advance..

Also remember that if the drives aren't the same size the raid array while only be as big as 2*the smallest drive. The rest of the bigger drive will just be ignored and can't be used for anything else.

I'd go with the raid 0 array for the simple fact it won't bankrupt you in getting it. BTW I have a pair of 80 gig maxtors in raid 0 and would never go back to single drive config again.

Basically I believe the Single 10K SATA will be faster in accessing files and opening programs, doing every day sort of things.

The raided 7200RPM drives will be faster if you are handling large files, video editting, and the like.

Currently I have a maxtor 80GB + 160GB 7200 8mb in RAID0 (160GB capacity, going RAID wasn't planned, I just got a good free controller). I'm working towards a WD raptor RAID0; I bought a drive off a forum member and I'm waiting for my controller card to arrive on Wednesday. I need to get another drive yet, which will happen eventually.

I can say my current Maxtor array is nice. It seems like things are quicker than just using one drive. But it isn't a revolutionary difference. Programs install faster. I don't expect the single Raptor to be a revolutionary step from this either, but I will be able to share on Wednesday if you want to hear my opinion then.

Are you getting 36gb or 74gb raptors?

just curious

IMOG said:

Basically I believe the Single 10K SATA will be faster in accessing files and opening programs, doing every day sort of things.

The raided 7200RPM drives will be faster if you are handling large files, video editting, and the like.

Currently I have a maxtor 80GB + 160GB 7200 8mb in RAID0 (160GB capacity, going RAID wasn't planned, I just got a good free controller). I'm working towards a WD raptor RAID0; I bought a drive off a forum member and I'm waiting for my controller card to arrive on Wednesday. I need to get another drive yet, which will happen eventually.

I can say my current Maxtor array is nice. It seems like things are quicker than just using one drive. But it isn't a revolutionary difference. Programs install faster. I don't expect the single Raptor to be a revolutionary step from this either, but I will be able to share on Wednesday if you want to hear my opinion then.

Click to expand...

36GB... I considered the 74Giggers, but then I realized that theres no point to paying more for them when IDE storage is so cheap. Any immense amount of data doesn't get accessed frequently enough to justify putting it on the raptors.

I'm not going to frequently access 72GB of data, let alone access 148 GB's frequently. So I'll save the money with the smaller raptors... And have more money to put towards an A64.

Well, I jumped the gun and ordered two 36gb raptors from newegg.

*promise to myself* THIS IS THE LAST UPGRADE IN A LONG TIME DANG IT

jlin453 said:

Well, I jumped the gun and ordered two 36gb raptors from newegg.

*promise to myself* THIS IS THE LAST UPGRADE IN A LONG TIME DANG IT

Click to expand...

Hehehe... Good that you make promises to 'yourself', I make those promises to my wife

She really hates my upgrades

Cheers...