Is RAID even worth it?

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MidniteShadow

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#1 MidniteShadow
Member since 2003 • 2250 Posts

Im rebuilding a new Rig for future DX11 and such. I was thinking of Raid-0 2 1 TB 7200 HDs, Western Digital. But I will be using my computer for mostly evrything, from Gaming, Video Editing, Rendering, Internet, and so on. Is it worth RAIDing? or skip it?

Also Is it a good idea to have 2 HDs, 1 for OS and the other for storage. Friend told me about this. But Ive heard its best to partition the 1st drive for your OS. Example, 1st drive is a 500 GB, is it good to partition it into 2 parts, says 20 GB partition just for the OS itself, leaving 480 left for programs and such on that one Drive. Never partitioned on a RAID configuration though. TY in advance.

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NLahren

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#2 NLahren
Member since 2009 • 1927 Posts
buy a big hdd and install an app that can create patitions and do it then
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MidniteShadow

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#3 MidniteShadow
Member since 2003 • 2250 Posts
Well I just heard from a friend its better to have 2 HDs, one HD for installing the OS and programs while the 2nd handles storage, pics, vids, etc.
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Luminouslight

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#4 Luminouslight
Member since 2007 • 6397 Posts
Raid 0 will certainly be faster than the single HDD solution, but keep in mind if one of the Hard Drives fails, then you will loose all your data.
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ProudLarry

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#5 ProudLarry
Member since 2004 • 13511 Posts
Well I just heard from a friend its better to have 2 HDs, one HD for installing the OS and programs while the 2nd handles storage, pics, vids, etc.MidniteShadow
That all comes down to personal opinion. Some people like to use one small solid state drive and put their OS on there so they can get stupid fast boot-up times. Then have a second HDD for storage. But if you're not willing to spend the extra money on a SSD, then I don't much see the point in complicating things with two HDDs. But RAID 0 doesn't have anything to do with this. RAID 0 essentially turns 2 HDDs into 1.
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MidniteShadow

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#6 MidniteShadow
Member since 2003 • 2250 Posts
Thanks ProudLarry, I am familiar with Raid-0 but dunno how much a performance boost it gives to be worth it. I know Boot times are significantly faster. And I kinda dont wanna risk my two HDs hehe. SSDs are too exspensive still.
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dbaron26

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#7 dbaron26
Member since 2009 • 158 Posts

Raid0 is faster but if 1 drive dies everything is lost.

If money is no object, SSD for OS and games, big ol regular drive for storage.

Money is scarce, a Raptor for OS and games, not nearly as fast as an SSD but still nice.

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deathseeker41

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#8 deathseeker41
Member since 2004 • 819 Posts
Most likely you have an onboard RAID chip (FakeRAID), so all of the RAID calculations will be pushed onto the CPU. Only really good performance gains will be noticed if you shell out 100$+ for an actual RAID card. Personally, I'd just get an SSD with a 1TB+ WD Caviar Black storage drive.
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MidniteShadow

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#9 MidniteShadow
Member since 2003 • 2250 Posts
Most likely you have an onboard RAID chip (FakeRAID), so all of the RAID calculations will be pushed onto the CPU. Only really good performance gains will be noticed if you shell out 100$+ for an actual RAID card. Personally, I'd just get an SSD with a 1TB+ WD Caviar Black storage drive.deathseeker41
Thanks for the tip :), was thinking that. So no RAID then, dont have a dedicated RAID card, so dead end there. Ill just normally install.
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rock_solid

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#10 rock_solid
Member since 2003 • 5122 Posts
i think raid is awesome. i do raid 0 and it's faster for sure. raid 1 was cool too