- Feb 26, 2010
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Which is better to use, as both are available on my Asus P6T mobo:
A. Asus Drive Xpert: to use in Super Speed Mode
B. Intel Matrix ICH10R southbridge chip: to use RAID 0 (stripping).
What I want to do is install my OS (Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit) under one of these configurations, for faster application launches.
I have a total of 3 hard drives;
1-OS Drive; Windows 7 HP 64
2-My Documents; everything from docs,music,videos,downloads,emails.
3-Back up drive: where Windows or Norton backs up my files regularly.
These are all indentical hard drives, and I can get another.
Which would you use? And why?
Things to consider:
Ease of set up - BIOS or drivers, before or after OS install
Reliabilty - crashes under one more than the other?
Actual read/write speed differences.
Keep it simple, but I am PC savy.
Added question 03/12/2010 @ 12:00 MST.
What if I use Drive Xpert for my OS, and RAID 0 for My Documents?
Not worried about back up, as I have a back up drive.
So I would need 5 drives: 2-OS (Drive Xpert), 2-My Documents (RAID 0), and 1-Back Up drive.
Just want to know how to speed (up the) launch my applications.
Is it worth the cost of 2 more hard drives? Say 2-160GB WD Blue for OS (<$50ea.), or 2-500GB Seagate 7200.9 (<$60ea.) for any use.
Added Comment 03/12/2010 @ 19:13 MST.
Well, it appears that, after reading my manual (who does that?), that Drive Xpert in NOT recommend for the OS. But it was refering to using Drive Xpert within Windows. I can set it up in the BIOS, and install the driver upon WIndows install? I have that. Still, it sounds like RAID is better, more options, settings within the BIOS (not OS), blah, blah, blah.
BTW, does WIndows 7 have the ICH10R RAID driver already? I didn't install it, but it's in my device manager. Maybe it was part of the chipset driver update?
Anyway, isn't 500GB a waste for a OS/Program Files drive? And if I RAID 0 two of 'em, that 1TB just for OS and applications. That seems like (way) overkill.
I'll reasearch what the optimal size for an OS drive should be. The smallest, readily available SATA II drives I've seen are 160GB. If I partion it into 2, for dual boot, that's 80GB each. That seems more like it. But then if I RAID 0 them, we're back to 160GB per partition. Still, better than 500GB........
I see that Windows 7 needs only 20GB, plus all my Programs, 40GB seems okay...but my OS Drive has 46GB installed, so maybe 80GB.
Added Comment 03/14/2010 @ 15:00 MDST:
Well, with only 1 comment, and alot of research, I decided to go with RAID 0 only, with my OS drive(s) only. I got a 1TB drive for back ups, and configured the others as: 2-500GB as RAID 0 for OS/Program Files, 1-500GB as ACHI for My Documents, 1-1TB as ACHI for Backs. Thus, 4 drives, 2 of 'em under RAID. I also partitined the RAID drives, into 2 parts, for another OS.
So far, OS loads and stuff seem faster. I know the OS install was fast(er)!
I keep y'all updated.
Thank You THG!!
A. Asus Drive Xpert: to use in Super Speed Mode
B. Intel Matrix ICH10R southbridge chip: to use RAID 0 (stripping).
What I want to do is install my OS (Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit) under one of these configurations, for faster application launches.
I have a total of 3 hard drives;
1-OS Drive; Windows 7 HP 64
2-My Documents; everything from docs,music,videos,downloads,emails.
3-Back up drive: where Windows or Norton backs up my files regularly.
These are all indentical hard drives, and I can get another.
Which would you use? And why?
Things to consider:
Ease of set up - BIOS or drivers, before or after OS install
Reliabilty - crashes under one more than the other?
Actual read/write speed differences.
Keep it simple, but I am PC savy.
Added question 03/12/2010 @ 12:00 MST.
What if I use Drive Xpert for my OS, and RAID 0 for My Documents?
Not worried about back up, as I have a back up drive.
So I would need 5 drives: 2-OS (Drive Xpert), 2-My Documents (RAID 0), and 1-Back Up drive.
Just want to know how to speed (up the) launch my applications.
Is it worth the cost of 2 more hard drives? Say 2-160GB WD Blue for OS (<$50ea.), or 2-500GB Seagate 7200.9 (<$60ea.) for any use.
Added Comment 03/12/2010 @ 19:13 MST.
Well, it appears that, after reading my manual (who does that?), that Drive Xpert in NOT recommend for the OS. But it was refering to using Drive Xpert within Windows. I can set it up in the BIOS, and install the driver upon WIndows install? I have that. Still, it sounds like RAID is better, more options, settings within the BIOS (not OS), blah, blah, blah.
BTW, does WIndows 7 have the ICH10R RAID driver already? I didn't install it, but it's in my device manager. Maybe it was part of the chipset driver update?
Anyway, isn't 500GB a waste for a OS/Program Files drive? And if I RAID 0 two of 'em, that 1TB just for OS and applications. That seems like (way) overkill.
I'll reasearch what the optimal size for an OS drive should be. The smallest, readily available SATA II drives I've seen are 160GB. If I partion it into 2, for dual boot, that's 80GB each. That seems more like it. But then if I RAID 0 them, we're back to 160GB per partition. Still, better than 500GB........
I see that Windows 7 needs only 20GB, plus all my Programs, 40GB seems okay...but my OS Drive has 46GB installed, so maybe 80GB.
Added Comment 03/14/2010 @ 15:00 MDST:
Well, with only 1 comment, and alot of research, I decided to go with RAID 0 only, with my OS drive(s) only. I got a 1TB drive for back ups, and configured the others as: 2-500GB as RAID 0 for OS/Program Files, 1-500GB as ACHI for My Documents, 1-1TB as ACHI for Backs. Thus, 4 drives, 2 of 'em under RAID. I also partitined the RAID drives, into 2 parts, for another OS.
So far, OS loads and stuff seem faster. I know the OS install was fast(er)!
I keep y'all updated.
Thank You THG!!
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