Is Raptor SATA really worth it?

[CaptHandsome]

I know RAID SATA is ridiculously fast, but is it worth it to get just one by itself?

[BipolarBill]

That depends on your needs. Actually, a single is sometimes faster than RAID 0 because the motherboard chipset cannot pass all of the data that comes off the drives fast enough.

[Bigjakkstaffa]

Im porbably gonna get beaten like a ginger step-child for saying this, but i dont see the benefits of SATA over IDE, from what ive read the speed increase inst earth shattering and has little real effect in most apps (indeed, a 6 second decrease in load times for Photoshop was the biggest talking point)

As a result i personally dont see the point in spending the extea money on SATA, especially if you dont have hardware support for it ATM and are looking at having to get an SATA controller or new mobo just to accomodate it

--Jakk:t

[dajogejr]

Jakk...why would we beat up on you??

Ok...I'm speaking from experience here...
I've had my A7N8X Dlxe for almost a year now...2500 OC'd to 3200, and 2X 512MB Crucial PC3200.

Started on a Maxtor 60GB IDE w/ 2MB Cache.

Moved to a single Raptor, and...just this last monday, put my second Raptor in and RAID 0'd it...

I use my trusty ol Maxtor or the Ghost image, data files, email, etc....

Now..that being said...
One Raptor is fine, and you will see a notable difference in loading, games...programs, etc. Is size or speed important to you? The drives are pricey for the GB...

But, I agree with Jakk...I don't think it's the SATA that makes these things fly...it's a combo of SATA, 10K RPM, and 8MB Cache.

Unless you're into video editing, or another program(s) that is very intensive for writing to the drive, don't waste your money on a RAID 0 setup. I did it because I wanted to setup my own RAID 0 for home, and I've always used RAID 3 and 5 for work servers. I wanted to see just how fast was fast...

Don't get me wrong, I love it...but, as long as you can deal with the small size of the old 36GB...or even the price of the new 74GB...I think one is worth it.

Not two, for RAID...though.

Oh, and don't forget...you have a small SATA cable, not those messy, wide IDE ribbons...as well as primary and secondary channels. No need for master or slave....

Just my .02...here. I'd be happy to answer or assist if you have more questions....

Don't ask me for benchies...I do them occasionally...but, I'm a seat of the pants, day in day out use type of tester!!

Oh...edit. BTW...I've been using XP Pro from day 1, on each drive configuration...

[CaptHandsome]

This kinda what Ive been thinking Jakk, especially because of the lack of space (74's are tooooo expensive).

Daj, space is definately more important. 36GB just isnt enough. Thank you very much guys, I just put the order i for my WD 80GB SE 8mb.

Oh, and don't forget...you have a small SATA cable, not those messy, wide IDE ribbons

Along w/the WD, comes spankin new Green UV Round cables. Arent I lucky!! :p

[Bigjakkstaffa]

Yup, im of the 'more space' school of thought, despite HDD's beig one of the slowest components in computer systems. I just dont see the point of lashing out mega-bucks for something that is marginally fast and only half as big as the run of the mill IDE solution, for this reason i personally dont see the point in SCSI or SATA outside of the server environment, like i say though thats just IMO

--Jakk:t

[dajogejr]

Yep...I don't use but about 14 GB or so of my two raptors...so, GBs aren't as important...

Take a look at the WD JB 8MB Cache, and the new Hitachis with the 8MB Cache...both fine choices...

[CaptHandsome]

Mechanical media is going to be gone sooner than later. I imagine that we'll soon be seeing flash media in very large capacity. Until then, there's only so fast things can spin. Did anyone catch the show "Mythbusters" where they test the tolerances for CD's? Shattered a CD at 52X equivalent RPM on a drill motor or something.

[Ankun]

I saw that but I think the cd was spinning at ~15,000 rpm or so. Tad higher than 52x speed I think.

Anyway, as mentioned a few times before its really all about what you need, speed or storage. I recently bought a new hard drive and of course went IDE. For the things I do storage > speed, besides the fact that SATA is fairly new and will probably go down in price as well as up in size / speed..

[dajogejr]

It has gone down in price....but, size vs. size...no where near IDE...for the 10K raptors anyways...

[Recordlord]

I received an Asus a7v600 a while back. Not the fastest Mobo I have had but definately one of the most stable.

In the past I have always used IDE drives. Never giving in to the temptation of speed and the daisy chains of SCSI. (AMD 2500 - MSI 52x CD - Sony DVD - ATI 9600 - 512 GEIL Gold Dragon PC 3200) With 2 SATA Seagate HDDs in place and raid drivers in hand it was time to install XPpro. Booted pc - hit F2 when asked for raid drivers - slapped in the 3.5 floppy stripped them- put XPpro in CD rom clicked quick format - install here? "yeah why not" went down stairs for a fried bologna sammich (I like mustard and sliced tomater - 6 minutes later "I am not bullshi++ing" Friggin' XPpro was waiting for me. Fastest install I have ever seen. Why wouldnt anyone go the SATA route?? They are the same money as IDE. I cant see the Raptors being any faster than these bad boys. If they are I dont need anything that fast.

[dajogejr]

I'd like to see Windows XP install fully in 6 minutes.
It takes an average of 45 on IDE hard drives, including format, checking the disk, etc.
My Raptors in RAID 0 tool about 30% less.

I'd like to see a couple 7200RPM drives do all that in 6 minutes...

[Thundershaft]

Me too Me too

to address ppls issues about HD speed and space..
36X2 GB raid 0 for a total of 72GB as the OS drive is not bad
OS drives are for pure speed

if u motherboard has SATA.. Chances are.. u brought the Delux version and have PATA on it..
that is where my storage Drives sit =) (PURE STORAGE)

Dual Raptors... seek time and speed.. u get an extra frame or two.. or faster diablo ii exp load.. or faster Warcraft 3 loads..
it is just a luxary item =) (THAT I LOVE AND ENJOY)

But those babies defag FAST though =)

WINDOW XP... in 6 minutes?.. very hard to believe.. unless u installing off the HD.. :confused: that still hard to believe

By the Way, I REGHOST my raptors in 6 minutes =)

[stevty2889]

I also have a pair of raptors in raid 0. It really did make a huge improvement in speed. More than I would have ever expected.

[mobo57]

I ran HD tach on my Maxtor 120 gig ata133 8 meg and then on my raptors I just finally got set up in a Raid 0 config (thanks BpB), results are are below. Though the benchmarks show the raptors are about 1/3 faster, I can tell you that in certain applications, such as loading game files like UTII Awakening, it is a LOT faster.

[mobo57]

And the max: