Need some VelociRaptor advise.

MadMan112 · Nov 6, 2008

I decided to get me a new VelociRaptor.
I got a Raptor now but it's the old one (74GB) and I heard even a 640GB from WD is faster then the old Raptors.
I was always happy with it but I want more speed!

Now I have 2 choices, the Western Digital WD3000GLFS and the Western Digital WD3000HLFS.
Is the only difference the heat sink around it? Will it fit in a normal HDD bracket (Coolermaster Centurion 534 case)?

And is it really worth it to get 2 of them and put them in RAID0?
I'm such a person that wants Vista to boot pretty quickly and I do game alot so it must have a good loading time.

And another question about RAID0...
Will it stay 300GB or will it add up and be 600GB?
I've never tried RAID0 but I head good things about it so I would like to test it.

If you need the info, I'll be using a Gigabyte mobo (EX38-DQ6).
I also heard a offboard controller will increase performance?

tuskenraider · Nov 6, 2008

MadMan112 said:
I decided to get me a new VelociRaptor.
I got a Raptor now but it's the old one (74GB) and I heard even a 640GB from WD is faster then the old Raptors.
I was always happy with it but I want more speed!

Now I have 2 choices, the Western Digital WD3000GLFS and the Western Digital WD3000HLFS.
Is the only difference the heat sink around it? Will it fit in a normal HDD bracket (Coolermaster Centurion 534 case)? The difference is one is backplane ready for server environments the other isn't. Both have the heat sink a will fit in your case as a normal 3.5" drive.

And is it really worth it to get 2 of them and put them in RAID0? Depends on wealth and perception. I'd get 2 150's personally.
I'm such a person that wants Vista to boot pretty quickly and I do game alot so it must have a good loading time.

And another question about RAID0...
Will it stay 300GB or will it add up and be 600GB? 600.
I've never tried RAID0 but I head good things about it so I would like to test it.

If you need the info, I'll be using a Gigabyte mobo (EX38-DQ6).
I also heard a offboard controller will increase performance? For RAID0, not really. [/quote]

SeanBest · Nov 6, 2008

I love my single Velociraptor, not which I have though, wicked fast, I'd bet 2 in RAID0 is even faster, pricey though.

MadMan112 · Nov 7, 2008

Hmm, will there be a big difference between 2x 150gb or 2x 300gb?

Blazing fire · Nov 7, 2008

MadMan112 said:
Hmm, will there be a big difference between 2x 150gb or 2x 300gb?

Doubt so. Let's get theoretical. Assuming they both have 1 platter, for every cm the head moves in the 300gb HDD, it would need 2cm on the 150gb HDD. Thus, the head need not move as much on the 300gb compared to the 150gb, providing better read and write speeds. But can the head read the smaller spacing of the 300gb as fast as the 150gb?

MadMan112 · Nov 7, 2008

Yeah you're right, probably won't even see the difference except in benchmarks.

What if I put 2 Samsung 1TB SpinPoint F1's in RAID0.
What's the difference between those in RAID0 and the VelociRaptor?

jason4207 · Nov 7, 2008

The VR 150 is single platter, and the VR 300 has 2 platters. They are both pretty much the same speed, but I think the 150 might have a small advantage.

The main reason people would probably go for the 150's is that 2 of them in RAID0 gives you 300GB which is plenty for most peoples OS/programs. Its best practice to keep your data on another drive that isn't in RAID0.

I went w/ a single 300GB VR since the cost/GB on the 150's is rather high, and I didn't want anymore RAID0 incidents. I may eventually get another 300GB and RAID0, though, since I have started imaging my OS drive to my file server, so recovery should be quick if I have a problem. Depends on how fast the SSDs come down in price.

Using some larger drives in RAID0 like the F1's, or the WD 640's will give you plenty of throughput speed, but the larger 7200rpm drives just can't compete w/ the VR 10,000rpm seek times. The VR's will give you a snappier feel overall.

The problem w/ having huge drives in RAID0, though, is that you'll want to keep your data on them, and RAID0 is not an ideal situation if you have stuff you don't want to lose. If you have more drives to backup your data (and do so regularly) then you'll be fine. You can also set up Matrix RIAD, and slice out a RAID0 for your OS (100+GB depending on your needs), and then RAID1 the rest of the space for your data. If your RAID0 fails the RAID1 should still be intact, and your data should be safe. It is still a good idea to have an external backup as well, though.

BranNutz · Nov 7, 2008

2x150GB Raid0 64k Stripe

MadMan112 · Nov 7, 2008

@jason4207, Yeah you're right, it's not so smart to get 2TB just for booting and such.
I do have other disks I dump my movies, games ect on and 300GB is more then enough for a OS disk.

Blazing fire · Nov 7, 2008

jason4207 said:
The VR 150 is single platter, and the VR 300 has 2 platters. They are both pretty much the same speed, but I think the 150 might have a small advantage.

Could you explain please?

Quick69GTO · Nov 8, 2008

Holy Smokes BranNutz! That's fast!
I still have two seven year old 36gig Raptors in RAID 0 and your two smaller VRs smoke 'em.
Time for me to spend some cash. I wonder how two VRs will do on an old Asus A8N-E/ 4200+ socket 939 combo?

jason4207 · Nov 8, 2008

Blazing fire said:
Could you explain please?

I seem to remember reading a review that compared multiple drives, and the 150 VR had a VERY small advantage over the 300 VR in some benchmarks. I can't seem to find it now.

They should pretty much be equal, though. The difference, if it does exist, is negligible.

Blazing fire · Nov 8, 2008

jason4207 said:
I seem to remember reading a review that compared multiple drives, and the 150 VR had a VERY small advantage over the 300 VR in some benchmarks. I can't seem to find it now.

They should pretty much be equal, though. The difference, if it does exist, is negligible.

Ah from a review. I have to agree with your second point though.

Need some VelociRaptor advise.

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