Cheap RAID Ravages WD Raptor

Features
By Patrick Schmid
published

Test Setup

Setup For Low Level Benchmarks

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System Hardware
Processors2x Intel Xeon Processor (Nocona core)3.6 GHz, FSB800, 1 MB L2 Cache
PlatformAsus NCL-DS (Socket 604)Intel E7520 chipset, BIOS 1005
RAMCorsair CM72DD512AR-400 (DDR2-400 ECC, reg.)2x 512 MB, CL3-3-3-10 timings
System Hard DriveWestern Digital Caviar WD1200JB120 GB, 7,200 RPM, 8 MB cache, UltraATA/100
Mass Storage Controller(s)Intel 82801EB UltraATA/100 Controller (ICH5)Silicon Image Sil3124, PCI-X
Network ControllerBroadcom BCM5721 On-Board Gigabit Ethernet NIC
Graphics CardOn-Board graphicsATI RageXL, 8 MB
Benchmarks
Performance Measurementsc’t h2benchw 3.6
I/O PerformanceIOMeter 2003.05.10Fileserver BenchmarkWebserver BenchmarkDatabase BenchmarkWorkstation Benchmark
Software and Drivers
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, Service Pack 1
Platform DriversIntel Chipset Installation Utility 7.0.0.1025
Graphics DriverDefault Windows Graphics Driver

Setup For SYSmark2004 SE

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System Hardware
ProcessorIntel Core 2 Extreme X6800 (Conroe 65 nm, 2.93 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache)
MotherboardGigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 2.0Chipset : Intel 965P, BIOS : F9
Common Hardware
RAM2x 1024 MB DDR2-1111 (CL 4.0-4-4-12)Corsair CM2X1024-8888C4D XMS6403v1.1
Graphics CardHIS X1900XTX IceQ3GPU : ATI Radeon X1900XTX (650 MHz)RAM : 512 MB GDDR3 (1550 MHz)
Hard Drive I150 GB, 10,000 RPM, 8 MB Cache, SATA/150Western Digital WD1500ADFD
Hard Drive II400 GB, 7,200 RPM, 16 MB Cache, SATA/300Western Digital WD4000KD
DVD-ROMGigabyte GO-D1600C (16x)
Software
ATI DriversCatalyst Suite 7.1
Intel Chipset DriversSoftware Installation Utility 8.1.1.1010
Intel RAID DriversMatrix Storage Manager 6.2.1.1002
DirectXVersion : 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Operating SystemWindows XP, Build 2600 SP2
Benchmarks and Settings
SYSmarkVersion 2004 Second EditionOfficial Run
Patrick Schmid
1 Comment Comment from the forums
  • malveaux
    Great review. This is a very important issue for some people. For me, I don't like getting the most expensive new edge tech when I can get less expensive options. RAID is a very simple technology, but it happens to work better because like all things, more heads do better than one in a thinking contest.

    I would have been really impressed if you guys took 4 drives at 7200rpm and low sizes, like 80gig drives, and did a RAID 0 with 4 drives and compared that speed with them. The access time would have been the same, but for the cost, the read and write would have been retarded high and made it look silly.

    Then again, your electricity bill may be the difference in the cost, lol.
    Reply