3 way raid0 hdd vs sdd

[a101817]

Hi,

I've recently built a pc, but now im looking for a relatively cheap upgrade ($100~) for my hard drive speeds, which is the biggest bottleneck in my system. I was originally thinking of a raid0 array with another samsung spinpoint f3 but was dismayed that i would have to erase all of my data and reinstall windows to do so :/

However, my roommate recommended a sdd, however ssd's arent cheap and many on newegg, especially the sdd's with a sataIII interface had many bad reviews complaining about instability and BSODS. So my question is if a raid 0 array is n(X) read and write speed for drives, than i could raid0 two or even three hard drives for 3X speed? Also how would the performance stack up against a 60gb mushkin callisto ssd (the only drive with alot of positive reviews in the 100 dollar range) in terms of real world performance? The cost for 2 more 1TB hard drives is about 100 dollars and the mushkin is also about 100 dollars. Correct me if im wrong, I'm not familiar with hard drives.

the callisto sdd http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226151
the spinpoint f3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=spinpoint%20f3
a fast sdd i thought was good until i saw the reviews http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233194

 

[hang-the-9]

Raid 0 does not double the performance, nor does a raid with 3 disks tripple it. It does however double and tripple the risk of data loss. Just get one good fast drive (which you already have), and be happy. You will always have a bottleneck somewhere, and it will probably be the storage.

If you use RAID0, you also will pretty much "need" to get another drive for backups also, unless you want to take risks with your files. So you can also get an SSD that costs the same as 2 new hard-drives. Or 3 if you wanted to setup 3 drives in RAID0. So if you are planning on using RAID0 on 2-3 drives, you can look at SSDs in the $200+ range as you'll need the extra disks, plus a backup disk.

 

[Dereck47]

3 HDDs in RAID-0 may have Sequential Read & Sequential Write speeds that are close to the speeds of a single, low priced SSD, but you might not realize what is one of the biggest advantage SSDs have over HDDs: Access Time (or Latency).

Access Time is what you notice in real world usage when you open a browser or double-click an icon to run/open software. Even the cheapest SSDs have an Access Time of about 0.1 ms. That’s why programs have that "Zippyness" or "Snappyness" when you run/open them with a SSD.

I Googled a benchmark of 2 Spinpoint F3s in RAID-0 (couldn’t find 3 in RAID) and the Access Time for that 1 sample was 13.8 ms. So a wild guess of 3 in RAID-0 would be between 12.0 and 10.0 ms. That’s still a hundred times slower than a SSD.

The SSD you linked to is sold out. You can get a Crucial M4 from the same site for $5 more.

Here’s a link that explains HDD Access Time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_time

 

[a101817]

3 HDDs in RAID-0 may have Sequential Read & Sequential Write speeds that are close to the speeds of a single, low priced SSD, but you might not realize what is one of the biggest advantage SSDs have over HDDs: Access Time (or Latency).

Access Time is what you notice in real world usage when you open a browser or double-click an icon to run/open software. Even the cheapest SSDs have an Access Time of about 0.1 ms. That’s why programs have that "Zippyness" or "Snappyness" when you run/open them with a SSD.

I Googled a benchmark of 2 Spinpoint F3s in RAID-0 (couldn’t find 3 in RAID) and the Access Time for that 1 sample was 13.8 ms. So a wild guess of 3 in RAID-0 would be between 12.0 and 10.0 ms. That’s still a hundred times slower than a SSD.

The SSD you linked to is sold out. You can get a Crucial M4 from the same site for $5 more.

Here’s a link that explains HDD Access Time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_time

Thanks for the help, im going to buy either the patriot pyro or the mushkin callisto when they coem back in stock

 

[a101817]

Best answer selected by a101817.