SSD + Raid 0 HDD's???

[david2655]

Hi everyone, im a first time builder and ive done a lot of research, and i was thinking about what storage i want for my build. Its going to be for casual use, internet etc. and gaming. Ive narrowed it down to these:

1xHDD ~ £40

2xHDD's in raid 0 ~ £80

1xSSD(60gb boot drive/basic apps) + 1 HDD(storage) ~ £140

1xSSD(60gb boot drive/basic apps) + 2 HDD's in raid 0 ~ £180

the drives i was looking at were a samsung spinpoint F3 1TB for the HDD and a OCZ 60GB Agility 3 for the SSD.

Price isnt a massive issue, but i want the best value, if that makes sense so id like to hear your view and opinions!

oh, and i reckon i only need about 1TB of storage, im looking for comments based purely on comparing price-performance

 

[RetiredChief]

No heartburn with SSD + raid0 HDD setup. Remember Raid0 will only benifit working with large file types such as: DVD 1 gig vobs, Bluray video (upto 40 gigs for one file), CAD/CAM drawings, Large spreadsheet and Photes. Game maps may load slightly faster.

On SSD, Highly recommend a larger SSD. 60 May sound find, but may find downstream that it was a poor choice. Min size, 80 gigs - recommended size - 120->128 gig.

For SATA III SSDs - two choices really, the SF22xx based SSD and the Marvel Based SSDs. The SF22xx SSDs (ie Vertex3/agility III) are the fastest going by benchmarks, but in real life only 10->15% higher performance. Note 10-15% performance diff in day-to-day workload is normally not enought to notice. The Marvel based SSDs (C300, M4, Intel 510, also a Plextor model) are less probmatic (that is they have a lower "customer DISsatifaction").

And I put my money where my mouth is, Just ordered the crucial 128 gig M4.
Note (private rant): I own two 120 gig agility III - Never again will OCZ see the inside of my computer.

 

[david2655]

hmm, well based on that, i dont suppose a raid 0 setup is really worth it for my use. I suppose the question now is, is the SSD + HDD solution worth the massive price difference? eg. £40 HDD vs about £200 for a 120gb SSD + HDD????

 

[RetiredChief]

There in lies the the Real choice. Personnally, all My current systems (5 of them) use SSD + HDD. One in closet and one I took into work use raid0 HDD. Wife's system is two single HDD's - (May convert to SSD, but will be a real pain as I will have to clone from HDD, Clean install is not an option for her system.

Added: Really losey, the cost differential between here and England (have 3 brother-in-laws there. You Quoted a cost of 200 pounds (about $320) for a 120 gig Sata III drive. About an hour ago I just ordered the 128 Gig SATA III Crucial M4 for $212. The real diff is due primarilly to Taxes.

 

[david2655]

There in lies the the Real choice. Personnally, all My current systems (5 of them) use SSD + HDD. One in closet and one I took into work use raid0 HDD. Wife's system is two single HDD's - (May convert to SSD, but will be a real pain as I will have to clone from HDD, Clean install is not an option for her system.

Added: Really losey, the cost differential between here and England (have 3 brother-in-laws there. You Quoted a cost of 200 pounds (about $320) for a 120 gig Sata III drive. About an hour ago I just ordered the 128 Gig SATA III Crucial M4 for $212. The real diff is due primarilly to Taxes.

Damn, yeah the 128 gig crucial M4 is £170 here + £40 for the HDD, so i dont think i can really justify it, i might just go with a single HDD, i dunno yet, ill see what my budget is when i tally up the rest of the system. Any more opinions are appreciated

 

[RetiredChief]

didn't memtion what system uyo're looking at. If SB, take a look at the z68.
with the Z68 you can use upto a 64 gig SSD as a cache for the HDD. Intel makes a 40 gig drive (I think it's the 310) that is speacially for this purpose. It speeds up HDD performance upto 4x - Much better tan a raid0 setup. The Intel drive uses SLC, not the typical MLC.

 

[mekunekud]

didn't memtion what system uyo're looking at. If SB, take a look at the z68.
with the Z68 you can use upto a 64 gig SSD as a cache for the HDD. Intel makes a 40 gig drive (I think it's the 310) that is speacially for this purpose. It speeds up HDD performance upto 4x - Much better tan a raid0 setup. The Intel drive uses SLC, not the typical MLC.

How does it increase the performance in relation to recording via things like FRAPs and so on? I am looking into storage in a new PC and am currently looking at 1 or 2 2TB Samsung F4s. Would it be worth it to use a SSD on the system via SLC?

 

[RetiredChief]

See Link below. Talks about caching with Z68 MB and compares SLC vs F40 (MLC) also thik they show a 64 gig MLC drive.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4337/z68-ssd-caching-with-corsairs-f40-sandforce-ssd