RAID-0 options: NV RAID or Silicon Image 3114?

[EnderW]

I picked up a couple of 7200.9 160GB drives for a RAID-0 array to play around with.
I'm getting disappointing performance from the Silicon Image 3114 controller on my Asus A8N Premium board:

http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/5230/raid07hj.png

Should I try the NV RAID?
Ideas on why this is so slow?

[drizzt81]

I picked up a couple of 7200.9 160GB drives for a RAID-0 array to play around with.
I'm getting disappointing performance from the Silicon Image 3114 controller on my Asus A8N Premium board:
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/5230/raid07hj.png

Should I try the NV RAID? You should, just to see whether it makes a difference.

Ideas on why this is so slow?

maybe i am not the smartest person out there, but why are you complaining, seeing that your array just about maxes out the PCI bus to which your SI controller is most likely connected to: http://www.siliconimage.com/products/product.aspx?id=28&ptid=1

[TheMuffinMan]

So the nV-RAID is preferential to the SI-3114? I just acquired an A8N-SLI Deluxe and was asking myself this very question.

[drizzt81]

So the nV-RAID is preferential to the SI-3114? I just acquired an A8N-SLI Deluxe and was asking myself this very question.
it depends. I do not know how the CPU utilization compares or how well their drivers are, but from a bandwidth perspective: yes, the Chipset integrated solution is likely to have more bandwidth available than the PCI attached version.

[paradoxblue]

im using the nvidia raid for my dual 80's on raid 0. sata. and using the nvidia pata for 3x250 inr aid 5 :)

works pretty good fer me :D

[Vertigo Acid]

Yeah, there are nothing wrong with those numbers for a two drive SATA array....

[Brahmzy]

nV RAID IS indeed faster. This has been found and proven in multiple benchmarks.

[mikeblas]

nV RAID IS indeed faster. This has been found and proven in multiple benchmarks.
Proven? Or demonstrated?

[EnderW]

nV RAID IS indeed faster. This has been found and proven in multiple benchmarks.
really?
then why am I getting this?
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/3592/raid6oi.png

[uOpt]

That Sil 3112 and 3114 chip is too lame to even max out the 32bit/33MHz PCI bus.

The SATA in the NVidia chip is much better and not on the PCI bus. I don't know whether the firmware is up to the task, though.

[drizzt81]

really?
then why am I getting this?
my wild guess would be seagate:
http://forums.storagereview.net/index.php?showtopic=22435

[EnderW]

ok, I've had some very interesting results

after the NV RAID array, I hooked the drives up to my Broadcom BC4852 which currently has a 4 x WD3200JD RAID5 array
set the seagates up in a seperate RAID0 array on the controller and ran HD Tach - almost identical to the results on the NV RAID, all over the place
then I decided to test my RAID5 array - it was even worse, jumped all over the place
I was pretty sure the last time I had tested it, it was fine, so I deleted the RAID0 array and tested the RAID5 array again - this time it was fine

now I'm on my new Intel board, and tomorrow I'll try it with both the Silicon 3114 built into this board and the regular Intel RAID

[drizzt81]

so my wild guess may not be that far off? Look at the linked thread, it appears that seagate offers an improved firmware that will fix the performance problems.

[EnderW]

so my wild guess may not be that far off? Look at the linked thread, it appears that seagate offers an improved firmware that will fix the performance problems.
I skimmed through there and most of the stuff I saw was about the 500GB drives
but these are also 7200.9 drives, so maybe they have the same problem
now I'm wondering how my new RAID5 array of 6 x Seagate 300GB drives is gonna do
I am going to contact Seagate and see what they say

[EnderW]

ok, I got a firmware upgrade from Seagate for my 300GB drives
flashed all of them, but performance is still way below what it should be
setup is 4 disk RAID5 on BC4852


4 x Seagate 300GB RAID5
blue = 3AAH
red = 3AAE
http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/9794/segatecompare9mg.jpg


4 x WD3200JD RAID5
http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/4961/wdraid58ig.jpg


1 x Seagate 300GB, no RAID
all 4 drives have similiar scans in single mode
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/948/seagate300gbsingle8cw.jpg

[drizzt81]

considering that it almost doubled your average x-fer rate that doesn't sound too bad. though I clearly see that the performance is WAYYY sub par.

I was thinking: have you tried turning off TCQ on the raidcore? Not sure if it even is enabled, but who knows. *takes a shot in the dark*

[EnderW]

considering that it almost doubled your average x-fer rate that doesn't sound too bad. though I clearly see that the performance is WAYYY sub par.

I was thinking: have you tried turning off TCQ on the raidcore? Not sure if it even is enabled, but who knows. *takes a shot in the dark*
I don't see any mention of TCQ or NCQ in either the BIOS or the user's manuel

[drizzt81]

I don't see any mention of TCQ or NCQ in either the BIOS or the user's manuel
as i said "shot in the dark".

[LOCO LAPTOP]

sorry for asking a noob question, can i get a link to where i can download NVRAID to make a floopy? i have a A8N-SLI Delexe that im not useing because of the raid controler

[EnderW]

sorry for asking a noob question, can i get a link to where i can download NVRAID to make a floopy? i have a A8N-SLI Delexe that im not useing because of the raid controler
http://support.asus.com/default.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

[LOCO LAPTOP]

i looked and all it gives me silmage

[drizzt81]

nvidia.com

download the nForce (3/4/5) drivers and extract them only. Find the RAId or IDERAID or IDER driver directory. that is what you want, note you will need the OEMSETUP.TXT as well.