I discovered I wasn't using my RAID 0 afterall

[skyguy414]

I bought a custom built computer about a year ago for the purposes of gaming. When I configured the computer, I called for 2 150 GB Raptor 10000RPMs to be set up in RAID0 and have my OS (Vista Home Premium 32bit) installed on it in the C:\. Additionally, I asked for another 250 GB 7200 RPM HD to be the D:\ for the purpose of using it for storage.

Well, during the last year I have been less than happy with the load times and other performance one would expect from a 10000RPM raptor RAID0 configuration. I discovered recently, that the company which put together my computer put the 7200 RPM (non RAID0) drive as my C:\ and the RAID0 as my D:\. I have been using the 7200 RPM non-raid 0 this entire time with Vista and all my games on it. Yes, I know I should have caught this a long time ago, so some of it is my fault.

After running HD Tune today, I was able to tell clearly the D:\ is running much faster than my C:\. (see benchmark tests below)
-----------------------
C:\ Hard Drive

HD Tune: WDC WD2500JS-60NCB1 Information

Firmware version : 10.0
Serial number :
Capacity : 232.9 GB (~250.1 GB)
Buffer size : n/a
Standard :
Supported mode :
Current mode :

S.M.A.R.T : no
48-bit Address : no
Read Look-Ahead : no
Write Cache : no
Host Protected Area : no
Device Configuration Overlay : no
Automatic Acoustic Management: no
Power Management : no
Advanced Power Management : no
Power-up in Standby : no
Security Mode : no
Firmware Upgradable : no

Partition : 1
Drive letter : C:\
Label :
Capacity : 238473 MB
Usage : 76.66%
Type : NTFS
Bootable : Yes

HD Tune: WDC WD2500JS-60NCB1 Benchmark

Transfer Rate Minimum : 18.2 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Maximum : 62.1 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Average : 50.8 MB/sec
Access Time : 18.8 ms
Burst Rate : 132.8 MB/sec
CPU Usage : 4.4%
----------------------------------------------------------------

D:\ Hard Drive

HD Tune: NVIDIA STRIPE 279.47G Information

Firmware version :
Serial number :
Capacity : 279.5 GB (~300.1 GB)
Buffer size : n/a
Standard :
Supported mode :
Current mode :

S.M.A.R.T : no
48-bit Address : no
Read Look-Ahead : no
Write Cache : no
Host Protected Area : no
Device Configuration Overlay : no
Automatic Acoustic Management: no
Power Management : no
Advanced Power Management : no
Power-up in Standby : no
Security Mode : no
Firmware Upgradable : no

Partition : 1
Drive letter : D:\
Label :
Capacity : 286176 MB
Usage : 2.28%
Type : NTFS
Bootable : No

HD Tune: NVIDIA STRIPE 279.47G Benchmark

Transfer Rate Minimum : 93.5 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Maximum : 163.9 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Average : 129.2 MB/sec
Access Time : 7.9 ms
Burst Rate : 105.4 MB/sec
CPU Usage : 12.7%
----------------------------------------------------------------
As you can see, my D:\ is getting much better bench marks.

I obviously want to be using my RAID 0 HD (which, unbeknowngst to me, has for the most part has been unused the last year). In the least, I plan to uninstall all my games and move them to my D:\.

My questions are, should I go through the hassle of moving Vista over to the other drive as well? Will load times and speed times for things like copying files really improve if I did that? And if I did do this, would it be best to do a whole restore of the computer and re-install vista on the other drive? Should I move my RAID0 to my C:\?

If I don't move Vista over to the RAID0 and just used it for my games, is there any drawback? And finally, do you have any other suggestions with my configuration as long as I am going through all the hassle of backing up everything and moving it all?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[mancowicp]

I guess it depends on how much time you want to spend on fixing it. You could do a back up and then restore it on to the raid 0. Or another thing you can do move your apps to the raid 0 and then move vista’s paging files to the raid 0 this would help quite a bit. And may be easier depending on how much stuff you want to move. Also Microsoft recommends for performance reasons to have paging files and the OS on 2 different hard drives

I would personally just move the apps and paging files over. If you move the whole OS over your boot times would be faster. And a few other small benefits but not much.

If your board.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/197379

 

[skyguy414]

I guess it depends on how much time you want to spend on fixing it. You could do a back up and then restore it on to the raid 0. Or another thing you can do move your apps to the raid 0 and then move vista’s paging files to the raid 0 this would help quite a bit. And may be easier depending on how much stuff you want to move. Also Microsoft recommends for performance reasons to have paging files and the OS on 2 different hard drives

I would personally just move the apps and paging files over. If you move the whole OS over your boot times would be faster. And a few other small benefits but not much.

If your board.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/197379

Thanks for your quick reply. I am willing to take as much time as necessary if it is worth it in the end. Most of my stuff is backed up on a seperate external HD anyways. I appreciate your suggestions and will look into it. I am also contacting the company who sold me the computer to see why it was set up the way it is in the first place.

In the mean time, if anyone else has anything to add, I am interested to hear it.

 

[MadHacker]

using PQmagic or simular partion cloning tools you may just have to copy your boot partion from your slow drive to the faster raid0 drive and set it up as your boot drive.
shouldn't take to long to do.