RAID 0 plus storage HD

[Hawtsauce]

Hello, I'm building a new PC and need some advice as far as HDs go.

My plan now is to buy 2 Western Digital Raptor 150GB 10,000 RPM Drives and set them up in a RAID-0, then on these install my OS and applications/games.

Then I would have a Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB 7200 RPM Drive for media and data storage.

I have a couple questions though, first, someone suggested the OS go on the storage HD and only applications/games go on the RAID-0 and said it would be faster, is that true?

Second, I was directed http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/3-5-hard-drive-charts/file-writing-performance,662.html?p=1817%2C1821%2C1802%2C1823%2C1813%2C1781%2C1815%2C1770%2C1847%2C1773%2C1798%2C1774%2C1782%2C1784%2C1808%2C1789%2C1819%2C1795%2C1820%2C1818%2C1792%2C1842%2C there and was surprised to see the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11's topping every list. The 500GB 7200.11 is $30 cheaper then the 150GB raptor on newegg, if they're really faster then those... would it be advisable to instead just get 3 Barracudas? Perhaps I'm missing something in that list.. The only problem I'm seeing is that a lot of the reviews on newegg are saying the Barracuda's are often DOA, but I figure thats a (relatively) quick and easy fix, especially with newegg.

Thanks.

 

[evongugg]

I own a 500 GB 7200.11. I've had it for more than a year without probelms.
The only advantage of the Raptor over the 7200.11's is faster access time.
If you really want RAID-0 get the 500 GB's. Save money and get faster performance.

 

[boonality]

RAID 0 only helps with writing huge files to disk so for gaming and stuff you won't notice the performance anyhow. You will be much happier saving your cash and just getting a pair of the 7200.11's and not raiding them, just use one for the OS and everything, and the other for whatever you want.