2 ssd OS and 1 WD 1TB black HDD

cooler monster atcs840
core i7 920 D0
6 gig corsair xms3 dominator memory
gigabyte ex58-ud5 motherboard
xfx radeon 5870 gpu
2x30gig ocz agility ssds
1x1tb wd black HDD
corsair pro hx750 pwr supply
samsung 2233rz 120hz monitor
noctua nh-u12p sp cooler
windows 7 pro


I would like to set up a raid0 with the 2 ssds' for the OS and a couple of small apps, and the WD HDD for all else.
Do all the drives need to be in an array? Is it possible to partition the HDD and use it in raid 1? Any other ideas
on a configuration?

This is a brand new build, and while I've built a couple in the past I haven't used raid at all before.


oh ho .... and I really hate waiting for windows.

Yeah, you can RAID 0 the SSD drives but I would highly recommend that you NOT try to partition and/or include any part of the 1 TB drive as part of your RAID 0 array. You didn't specify which WD 1 TB drive you bought, but there is a potential problem with using a drive in a RAID array that is not a Raid Edition drive. It has to do with error correction. Error correction in a RAID array is performed in the RAID software and has a timeout factor. On a regular desktop drive, the error correction is performed by the drive and has a different timeout factor. The raid array timeout factor is less. If the time limit is exceeded it can cause a non-Raid certified drive to drop out of the array. Find out more here: http://www.wdc.com/en/library/sata/2579-001098.pdf

REAL WORLD...I've been using two 37 GB Raptor drives in a RAID ) for over 4 years now and haven't had any problems. I also built a system for a nephew using two WD Black 640 GB drives in a RAID ) and they're working just fine as well. KNOCK ON WOOD!!!

Your 2 SSD drive RAID array will be fast enough....but after you install the OS and have formatted the 1 TB drive, create a SYS or something similar folder with sub-folders for your swap file, temp files and Internet temp files on the 1 TB drive. This will help prevent your SSD drives from slowing down, which they have been known to do.

Hope this helps.