Best Gaming HDD Config...

[chills225]

Hey Guys,

I have been tossing back and forth the idea of which config I want to go with as it relates to a gaming machine. With the recent tests of the different chipsets as it relates to the ICH7, ICH8, and 680i and which, if it is the best combo, RAID config to go with. The 680i chipset lacks in its RAID performance as compared to the ICH7 and 8 chipsets in most categories, but the 680i seems to be the best overall chipset to go with.

So my question is, what kind of HDD config are most gamers going with for gaming performance, or does it even matter. I was thinking RAID 0+1, then RAID 5, or just run it solo...I dont know, which is why I am asking...Definitely looking at the Raptor drives, 680i mobo, and a 8800GTX, with 2-4gb of ram....

 

[choirbass]

just go for the single 150GB raptor if your looking for increased hdd performance (or even the 74GB ADFD raptor, which offers marginally better performance than the 150GB, at about $100+ less)... ...for most games, a single hdd will offer virtually identical performance to an array of them in raid 0

 

[BuffaloFan]

RAID-0 provides extra speed in a 2-disk array. Quickly scan what happens with the other RAIDs, and you will see that they are not what you are looking for.

Is RAID-0 worth it? In my experience, YES.

Pretty much everything that requires disk reads/writes goes noticeably faster. The PC boots faster, Apps install faster, Apps load faster, and the disk-read lag that you get in games when going into new areas is vastly reduced.

As for messing around trying to squeaze every nanosecond of performance out of a system, I have run SATA Raptors in RAID-0 and SATA Seagates (currently) in RAID-0. The Raptors were okay, but I felt like I had blown cash unnecessarily because I was expecting to be blown away by performance, and wasn't. In reality, my Seagates in RAID-0 are very satisfying, and moving from Raptors to the Seagates was almost un-noticeable in the real-world . . . and I keep a finely tuned system and am highly critical of stuff like that.

best wishes,
mike