Raid 0 set up,newbie question

[ortoklaz]

I want to upgrade from single HDD to RAID 0+external to mirror raid (I've Never Done This Before),so obviously i got my story and some questions!
1-what's the procedure to install SATA RAID/AHCI driver using usb pen ?
2-what's the best size "Stripe Block:" for gamers?
3-is RAID 0 going to be a lot faster?
4-is it all worth doing it?

I appreciate your help,thank you !

 

[rofl_my_waffle]

First off you wouldn't be able to get real time mirror like RAID 10 using a different drive. But you can set a drive to backup the RAID 0 periodically through windows or a program.

You would need a RAID controller. Either you get an add-in card for RAID or use the one that should be available on your motherboard. I personally recommend using the ones on motherboards because RAID 0 isn't very complex to need expensive cards. To access your motherboard RAID controller you would probably need to go into the BIOS and set the drive controller to RAID. On startup you need to press a key combo, probably CTRL + I or CTRL + F. At that point you can setup your RAID 0 configuration.

Stripe size doesn't matter. 128kb is typical for RAID 0.

RAID 0 is a lot faster for sustained write/read. Random read/write and access time is typical. So you would notice large files like games and videos load faster but not necessarily programs launching faster.

Is it worth doing? If you are after FPS and a better game. Probably not since it won't give you that. If you want faster access to files then definitely because my RAID 0 gives 260mb/s sustained read. Performance that rivals SSDs. Though random read is still very far away, thats why I have an actual SSD for windows.

 

[ortoklaz]

I'm going to use software like CASPER 6 or ACRONIS to clone my RAID(backup) ,just want to know if i use USB pen instead of flopy(f6 procedure to load my SATA RAID/AHCI driver ) ,do i have to make my pen bootable or not ?
Thank you Rofl_My_Waffle.

 

[ortoklaz]

anybody?