To Raid or Not to Raid

[Fatguy3]

So, after years of thought, the new system has boiled down to:

2500+
1GB of BH5 memory and/or Geil pc3500
9800 Pro or XT

but, the only prob is this.

I can either get an 8rda3+ and only get 1 80GB SATA drive, as the mobo doesnt support RAID.

Or I could spend the extra $ and get a asus deluxe with RAID and 2 80GB SATA drives.

I game and web publish, and thats about it. So, is the money to get RAID gonna be worth it. I already know the answer, but Im looking for opnion.

Thanks in advance.
Peace.

[Beefy]

Go for it. :) or just get a 160G drive instead of 2 x 80GB drives.. More storage = good

[kane2g]

two of those 250GB ones would be better :devil:

[Darthtanion]

I game and web publish, and thats about it.

With the speed of current hard drives on the market, RAID isn't really worth the added expense unless you just want to do it. Since gaming generally doesn't require large file transfers, you will see nearly no real-world performance gains using a RAID setup. And considering the fact that SATA is still running through the PCI bus on several motherboards, you won't see any real gains using it over IDE drives either. Check the board you're looking at and see how it transfers the data.

Just my opinion, but I'm not even looking at SATA until the v2.0 hits the streets. There will be better controllers and faster speeds at that time. But then, it could all be moot if PCI-Express becomes a standard that is widely used.

[Fatguy3]

Thanks guys. For one I barely fill up my 20 GB hard drive now, so any more than 80 would be a waste. And I really only want to use SATA because of the cables, and since all the mobos I was looking at support it, why the hell not, better airflow rules. I think Ill just be going with the 8rda3+ with 1 HD, as that will save me about 100 dollars, and make my purchase of a 9800 alot more viable.

[kane2g]

cant fill 20gigs?
i got that much in a p0rn pics :D
I need 200Gig drive soon, just so i can DL more!:thumb:
Must be nice to have plenty of room on your HDD. All of my network is basically filled to capacity :)

[elrado1]

The 8rda3+ has RAID. I know I've had 2 of 'em. A third one is sitting here waiting for me to find the time to reinstall it.

Hopefully you can get a REV. 2.0. All of mine, including the latest replacement, were 1.1's. Some forums have reported voltage instability problems with the 1.1's. That may have been the problem I encountered. :cry:

[Fatguy3]

It does, well fashizzle, that messes up my whole plan. I didnt think it did, as newegg didnt list it, and I couldnt find it on the Epox website. But thats hot. Maybe I'll do RAID anyway.

[Beefy]

If you're gonna be gaming and such, then storage will become more important too.

I installed Armed and Dangerous on the weekend, and it's a 4.3GB install...

[Bitez]

Just bought the asus delux model m/b and alhtough i dont understand half of what it can do, it is sweet. supports raid - and i'm just tryin' to figure it all out, anyways well worth the money