120GB WD vs 2x80GB RAID0?

[Axle]

Hi, all

So I just got an NF7-S -w00!- (SATA raid, and I suppose I could use a $34 adapter to use IDE raid0?) to replace an Abit KR7A-133r, which was running 2x80GB (1 Seagate 2MB, and 1 Maxtor 8MB FDB) in RAID0.

Honestly, I found the raid quite speedy, but I don't know if it's worth the money to keep running these drives in RAID on the new board (and if the adapter's stable?)...

So I have this brand new (still shrink wrapped!) WD (SE?) 120GB Caviar drive, 8MB & everything- it was a good deal so I nabbed it.

My question, would I really notice a big difference in speed? Real world, I mean, benchs mean nothing to me (unless they're mem bandwidth ). Would it be worth the money in adapter(s)?

These two drives in RAID0 (I think I may have picked a lousy 32k/16k thing when I set them up) clock in at 20mb Sandra (ran the test more than a few times, it was 13 the frist couple)... There's probably a ram issue (some pretty tight timings for $20 Crutial 2.5 w/1700 @ 2.1), though I'm just too lazy to fix a system that'll be gone this weekend.

Hey thanks much, everyone, I really apprechiate it!!
Have a good night (or day!)

PS- next step, stea-err- weasel other 80GB Maxtor back from "adult" brother ;-)

 

[Quick69GTO]

Here are some quick tests I just did on my comparable systems using Hard Drive Speed from Steelbytes:
Iwill KA266-R MOBO w/1.2 Thunderbird
512meg DDR
SIS SIL0680 RAID Controller
Two 40gig 7200rpm IBM’s
Averaged 70 M/B per sec.

Gigabyte GA-7VA MOBO w/2100+ Palomino
512 DDR
WD1200JB
Averaged 50M/B per sec.

Judging from the above transfer rates between the two machines, RAID 0 is a marked improvement in speed over single drive setups.
And, by the way, the Iwill system is close to 3 years old.
As far as SATA is concerned, I have heard both good and bad when they are configured in RAID 0.
Do stay away from Sandra, though. It is not very inconsistent. Try Atto or HD speed.
I do have a question for you: Is your motherboard an Abit KF7-S?
I tried doing a search for “KFS-7” and came up with nothing.
If it is the above KF7-S, then your motherboard does not support SATA RAID (none of the KF7 boards do). Unless the adapter you talked about enables this feature.
Unless I’m wrong, you may have to use your old RAID setup on this board (if it is a KF7-S) in order to use RAID 0.

You have a brother like that too?
My little brother owes me a 60 gig.
I’ve been waiting for six months to get it back (actually he said a new one).
I guess I’ll have to remind him………..again.
Laters.

 

[Axle]

Ah, I'm a dope who needs to work on those typing skills! It's the new NF7-S nf2 board with onboard SATA RAID (as far as I can tell), but I think you can use adapters to get it to run normal raid(?), which looks the way to go...

Anyone have any luck using adapters to run IDE raid on an SATA raid board?

Thanks for the responce, GTO... that was quick! ;-D

T

 

[gtsimmo]

You will for sure need the IDE to SATA adapter if you plan to RAID, well unless you get a PCI RAID card, better choice IMHO for couple of reasons. One buying the two $25 adapter is about the cost of a promise ATA 133/100 RAID adapter. Second and better reason is that when you set up a RAID on a built in motherboard and you change motherboard you'll need to destroy and re-establish the RAID, in other word you'll lost all your data on the Array. With a PCI RAID card you wouldnt lost everything. You can leave the RAID intact because you are using the exact same controller and it isnt effected. A pci raid card is the preferred choice of many people who has experienced with RAID.

Anyhow back to your initial question. Yes you notice faster load times, not significantly faster but it'll save you some time. Especially if you got games that take awhile to load. Run the RAID 0 2 x 80 gb for you main disk and run your 120 gb too as a back up drive. It is highly recommended that you have a back up drive when you run in RAID 0 anyways.

 

[Axle]

That is an EXCELLENT point, gts I've been having huge headaches about getting data off my onboard RAID drives, a card would solve it all.

After checking out Tom's (I know, I know) reviews, I think the HighPoint Rocket 133 looks the best (that & I know Highpoint works pretty well, that's what's onboard with the KR7A-133r), but I'm a little confused between these two, any advice?

HighPoint 133S
HighPoint 133Sb

I've no idea what a 'Bios adapter' is, I'm inclined to go for the cheaper one?

Thanks again

Oh, knowledgeMicro- pretty good store by any chance?

 

[gtsimmo]

Hmm it says it's only one channel. But each channel should support 2 drives. However my concern here is that usually when you set up a RAID both drives should be on seperate channels and both on master.
I checked newegg and they got those controller but they dont list them as RAID controllers. I'll look into it some more.

If your not sure on the store check www.resellerrating.com

 

[repo man11]

Talk about confusing, the first one says Non-RAID RAID adapter!
I think both of those are basically IDe cards for older computers with slower IDE controllers/limited BIOS support for large drives.
I don't think you'll want a RAID card that you can get for $20.00 retail, unless it was some sort of super special blowout.
As Gt mentioned, you'll want one that has 2 channels.

Or you could pickup a standard Promise ATA100 card and make it into a RAID card, as shown here, http://www.tweakhardware.com/raid/ .

 

[gtsimmo]

I dont think those controllers are RAID controllers after checking highpoint's website. All their RAID controllers are named RocketRAID xxx and their vanillia controllers are name just Rocket xxx. Plus for product description it doesnt list RAID on the specification for those model. I would stay away and it also explains why their so cheap.

If you want to go with highpoint get either the RocketRAID 100 (45.99 newegg) or RocketRAID 133 (69.99 newegg). Both are Dual channel and support RAID 0, 1, 0/1 and JBOD, up to 4 devices. ATA 133 or 100 should'nt really matter with IDE drives because you wont be using that extra bandwidth anyways. $45.99 is a good price for the card considering two adapters would run you $50.

 

[Axle]

OK, I guess it did look a bit shady ;D. SO I'm looking at this one now, I guess, and for $52 it's not cheap.

:*-{ If only I'd a known. I just (like last week) sent off this exact Promise ATA100 card to my brother (yes, the same one who robbed my 80GB) because I had onboard 133, what did I need an old 100 card for??

Anyway, I apprechiate the help very very much, all, I know what card to get now & just have to see if I want to spend the money. Thanks again!

 

[zabomb4163]

you had a 50$raid card just laying around?

 

[repo man11]

No, he means he had a Promise IDE card that can be modded into a
RAID card like in the Tweak Hardware article I linked to.