Possible HD Configurations - First Build

[AJAX]

I recently just bought the components for a new computer (got some good advice on the forums too) and a peer suggested that I add two additional striped 10000 rpm drives in addition to my two 300 GB 7200 rpm HDs (the second is simply going to mirror the first). He suggested I put my programs on the striped 10000 drives and all my data on the 7200 drives. I have three questions:

1. Is the performance difference noticable and worthwhile in such a configuration with SATA 10000 rpm drives at a minimum of $100 each?

2. Would it just be as worthwhile or cost effective to do the same thing with 2 7200 rpm drives?

3. In addition to mirroring, will my motherboard support such a configuration? The Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 Motherboard specification states that it supports RAID 0, 1, JBOD (2 ports with RAID function supported by GIGABYTE SATA2).

Thanks in advance.

 

[jitpublisher]

1. There is a small speed advantage with a striped set. Windows will boot a "little" faster, programs and games will load a "little" faster. Other than that, a striped RAID set on a desktop PC won't do much more for you performance wise.
Is it worth it? That is up to you. Some say nay, others say yay. I like running RAID 0, it does seem faster to me. If you RAID 2 10,000 rpm drives, the actual seek time will be slightly slower than 1 drive by itself, but you will be able to move more "bulk" information at one time. Thus, your speedier game loads.

2. I would not recommend using a striped set of drives in RAID to store critical data, unless you back them up frequently. It is too easy for a striped set to fail in some way, and lose all you data. That is why he recommended putting your programs only on the striped set, and not critical data.


I have personally have never had a striped set of Drives in RAID 0 fail on my home desktop.
Matter of fact, never had a drive on my home PC fail at all.
I have had RAID arrays fail on servers at the office. I think twice in about 9 years if my memory serves me correct.

 

[AJAX]

In regards to my second question, I wanted to clarify. I would not be using the 2 7200 rpm 300 GB drives that I purchased. Rather, I was asking if whether two new 7200 rpm drives would be more cost effective than the two new 10000 rpm drives.