[HELP] 256GB Raid0 or 128GB + 128GB. Which is a better solution for my scenario?

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Naweed Reza

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Nov 6, 2015
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YO guys,

So i'm locking down my laptop choice on the MSI GT72 G 831
It comes with a 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD standard and i plan to add another 128GB SSD from XoticPC itself upon checkout

The big question is, Should i Raid0 both the SSD's or keep every drive separate with the OS on the first SSD?

My scenario is, I'll be installing a lot of games on the HDD but so far only one on the SSD which is GTA V (60+ GB and counting because of updates)
My main objective for installing GTA V on the SSD is that i want to take advantage of the faster load times as the game has a huge amount of data to sift through

Which would be a smarter choice and why?

256GB Raid0 (OS and select games) + HDD (all games and data)
OR
128GB (OS) + 128GB (select games) + 1TB HDD (all games and data) ?

I also heard that updating the BIOS will break the Raid0 of the 2 ssd's which requires re-raiding and reinstallation of os

Please let me know the reason why and suggestions you guys can make towards my purchasing decision. I plan on purchasing in 2 days or so
:)

Update: I was told by Xotic PC that raiding would require reinstallation of windows which would make me lose the MSI factory image as well. Worth it?
 
Solution
Solandri
Internally, a SSD is a bunch of flash dies operating in parallel like a giant RAID 0 array. The 128 GB SSDs usually use half the number of flash dies/lanes as the 256GB and larger SSDs. So all you're doing is by RAID0-ing 2x128 GB SSDs is creating externally what a 256GB SSD is internally.

The RAID 0 will still be slower though as the smallest file size on a single drive is 4k. So you're basically turning a 4k read/write on the 256 GB SSD into two parallel 4k read/writes on the 2x128 GB SSDs, which the RAID software then has to piece together into a single 4k file. The extra overhead of that last step makes it slower than a 256GB SSD which can read/write 4k natively.

The only real benefit to RAID 0 on 256+ GB SSDs is higher...
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Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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Feb 29, 2016
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RAID 0 is useless, so keep them separate if you jave to go with that config.
question is, are you sure the laptop has 2 m.2 slots so you can add another ssd? I would be surprised.
Honestly, what you should do is buy the laptop withour any ssd and add a 256 gig m.2 ssd. This would be more performant and less hassle. You can get the m.2 850 EVO if you're on a budget, but best would be the samsung 950 pro m2. NVMe pcie x4
 
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kanewolf

kanewolf

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Rather than PM me,
I will post your question here "Are you advising me to avoid raid0 because of data loss and OS hassle? Didnt quite understand the reply, sorry"

Yes, I am advising AGAINST RAID 0 for your OS disk. There is no performance gain and you have twice the risk of data loss because of hardware problems. There are thousands of posts on this board with RAID 0 problems. JUST AVOID IT.

I agree @Hlsgsz, if you want 256GB SSD, then buy it with a 256GB disk. Don't try to retrofit it.
 
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Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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Agreed, plus, i really don't think they make laptops with two m.2 slots. I may be wrong tho..
 
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Naweed Reza

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The MSI GT72 has a m.2 slot which is pretty impressive, 2 for NVme and 2 for sata III I think

But that seems to make sense i guess, thanks a lot for the input :D
I'll keep the discussion open for now just to see others views on this scenario
 
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Naweed Reza

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Thanks a lot for your input, I think i'll check out the 256GB options XoticPC have otherwise, i'll most probably go for the 128GB for OS and 128GB for games that require the speed
 
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Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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It's probably just one slot taht accepts either sata or nvme
 
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Solandri

Solandri

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Internally, a SSD is a bunch of flash dies operating in parallel like a giant RAID 0 array. The 128 GB SSDs usually use half the number of flash dies/lanes as the 256GB and larger SSDs. So all you're doing is by RAID0-ing 2x128 GB SSDs is creating externally what a 256GB SSD is internally.

The RAID 0 will still be slower though as the smallest file size on a single drive is 4k. So you're basically turning a 4k read/write on the 256 GB SSD into two parallel 4k read/writes on the 2x128 GB SSDs, which the RAID software then has to piece together into a single 4k file. The extra overhead of that last step makes it slower than a 256GB SSD which can read/write 4k natively.

The only real benefit to RAID 0 on 256+ GB SSDs is higher sequential read/write speeds, which are really only relevant to certain specialized tasks like real-time video editing. The only time sequential speeds come into play for most users is when you're copying movies from one SSD to another. For RAID 0 to impact that, you'd have to be copying movies from a RAID 0 array to another RAID 0 array or a NVM/PCIe SSD. For 99.999% of people, that's never going to happen.
 
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Solution
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Naweed Reza

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The MSI GT72 has a 2.5" HDD slot and 4 SSD slots which means you get 5 storage options for a laptop which is pretty cool for when i need it for the future
 
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Naweed Reza

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Hmm, makes sense. I've been suggested to get a single 256GB ssd instead but sadly thats not within my budget.
My current choice is adding 128GB and selecting Raid0 or not Raid when checking out of XoticPC.
I'll keep this discussion open for a day or two to see what else info i can get from the community. Thanks for the reply tho :D

So far i know the issue with having Raid0 on this laptop is flashing a new BIOS will reset the bios to defaults(losing raid), and that i lose my MSI Factory Image since windows has to be reinstalled after Raid-ing
 
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Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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Ah, cool stuff. Thumbs up to MSI.
But how is it beyond your budget to get a 256gb ssd? If you buy the laptop in a variant that only has the hdd and no ssds it should be cheaper as to cover the difference between a 128 and 256 gb ssd, no?
 
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Naweed Reza

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The laptop comes with 128GB +1TB HDD stock for 1550$ (My budget is around 1500 so this makes it very tight)

The Additional 128GB SSD is $10 [On sale] so i was planning to nab that deal. Then came my thoughts of Raid or not since i can't afford a full 256GB ssd.

Sadly the other two SSD slots are NVme so 128GB for those two are wayy pricier
 
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Hlsgsz

Hlsgsz

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If its $10 then hell yeah. Check to see if the NVMe ports are not also compatible with sata.
 
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