Is RAID worth it?

[Ashish34]

I'm building a new system, and I was wondering (for cost reason) whether creating a RAID is worth it if: 1) I already have a Seagate ST3120023A, w/ a response time of 9.4 ms... if i get another ST3120023A, would the speed gain be worth it OR 2) I get two Seagate ST3120026AS (SATA) w/ a resp. time of 8.5 ms and 8 meg cache be better... I mean I know the latter option is obviously better, but would it still be pretty fast w/ the first option? I guess what I'm asking is, is the extra money i'd have to spend on the 2 new drives ($262, newegg.com) justifiable instead of just spending $128 (newegg again) on another one of the slower drives (1st option)? Is the speed gain worth the extra money? tks...

~ApT~

 

[smitbret]

It's worth it if you can use it. Do you need a Photoshop scratchdisk or do you work with video editing a lot. Maybe CAD, etc. If it's just for general usage and gaming, no it's not worth it. Invest in a Western Digital JB drive or Maxtor Diamondmax with an 8mb cache instead. Saves the headaches that come with a RAID setup and it'll feel just as fast.
-Brett