RAID 0 Question

Kratos119 · Sep 17, 2014

So, I currently have a SSD with windows 8.1 installed on it and a separate 2TB HDD with my games, movies, and other stuff on it. I want to purchase another 2TB HDD and setup RAID 0 between my 2 HDDs without uninstalling windows. I'm super green when it comes to this stuff so I'm not sure what else you may need to know about my setup for you to be able to help. I've tried reading around, but I can't quite find how to handle my specific scenario. My motherboard is a GA-Z87-D3HP. Thanks!

UPDATE: Thanks, I eventually plan on getting a huge SSD for my games, but I'm waiting until I can get $0.30/GB. In the meantime, my girlfriend does a lot of video editing, I have a ton of games and movies that are taking up space. I thought RAID0 would be a fun solution than JABOD because of the performance increase, but I think I'll probably just slap in a 2/3TB HHD media drive and keep my games and other rando programs on my current HDD. Thanks again!

4745454b · Sep 17, 2014

Why would you AID0 your storage?

To my knowledge most controllers can't create an AID0 array AND keep the data. The data is destroyed while creating the array. You'd have to back it up, create the array, and then move the data back on so that it can get properly striped. I'm not a fan of AID0 however and I wouldn't bother with it. Movies and "other stuff" doesn't need speed, and if you want your games to load faster just get another SSD. I have my OS sitting on one, my steam folder sitting on another, and then two 4TB drives for general storage. My OS is fast, my games are even faster, and I have plenty of space to store whatever else I want/need.

ronintexas · Sep 17, 2014

Windows 8.1 supports Storage Spaces - much easier to get this done: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-set-up-storage-spaces-in-windows-81.html

photonboy · Sep 17, 2014

Hi,

1) I also do NOT recommend using RAID0 for your secondary drives. For one thing, it's less reliable. It will also power up both drives every time you access data on the RAID0 setup which you might notice from a noise point of view.

While it will be faster, that's only significant for games and even then it won't be any where near 2x the speed for loading a new game or game level. Even an SSD is only about 2x the speed on average as there are other things going on (stuff being optimized with the CPU and GPU).

2) RAID0 setup:
You would need another drive to transfer the data to. Again, I don't recommend it but it would go like THIS:
a) Move data to a 3rd HDD or buy another 2TB HDD and keep the data on original
b) Setup the 2xRAID0 array in the BIOS (all data is wiped)
c) COPY all the data back from the single drive to the RAID0 array from within Windows.

Other:
1) I also found out the hard way that different RAID setups don't work together. My motherboard failed so I got a replacement, but I had to use either Intel or some other instead of Gigabyte for example, but my RAID0 setup would not talk to the new controller so I lost all my data.

2) A larger capacity drive such as a 3TB drive will run faster on average than a single 2TB drive. For example, if both were similar in the main details then data on the OUTER EDGE will be accessed at the same rate. For both drives, it will drop to almost exactly HALF THE SPEED on the inner edge.

When the 3TB is at the 2TB full mark though it can be accessed faster than a single 2TB at the same point due to the rotational speed of the platter. It gets a bit complicated, but personally I can't get around the reliability aspect at all for RAID0 so it's a non-issue anyway.

I am creating a RAID1 array for my dad but that's just the same data on all drives to protect his files. Basically the opposite of RAID0.

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RAID 0 Question

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