20 mbs Burst Speed 2x 74 raptors

[magik20]

they are on a new install, raid 0 array.

Ran HD Tach right after the install was done and my speeds were in the low 20's

not good, my stripe size is 64 k

Motherboard = MSI K8N Diamond Plus, using the SI controller.

[drizzt81]

how do they fare independently?
drivers installed?
DMA mode correct?
cables ok?

[magik20]

didnt try independt

cables are new

drivers from MSI are right from the website so i think they are up to date

[Dan_D]

I would not have used the Silicon Image controller. Generally the NVRAID or Intel Matrix RAID controllers have better general performance. Also I have found that 16k stripe size works best for read and write scenarios. Giving you about the best balance of read and write performance.

In fact here are the results I got while using that same board. There are test results for both drive controllers.

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTAwNiw0LCw4MA==

The NVRAID controller had better overall performance and most importantly, it had lower CPU usage than the Silicon Image controller had.

These tests were performed using the 16k stripe size. Though you'd have to use IO Meter in order to get comparable test scores between your system and the test system I used.

[magik20]

hey Dan thanks for getting back to me

i would love ( based on ur results) switch to the NV controller, but sadly i have a 600 GB, 4 drive RAID 5 array on that controller.

Ok im stuck with the SI controller until i buy a add in RAID controller.

But i just ran HD tach on another system and found 1 of the drives i was using was dipping significally on the read write tests, and it also failed the WD diag tool.

im RMAing it, and right now im installing XP using a spare Raptor i had laying around.

Give me a few minutes and hopefully ill post the same results Dan has had on his board.

[magik20]

btw, on the 2 good RAPTORS i have, they both posted a 65 mb per second average, this was on a MSI K8NGM-V

i think it uses a NV chipset for SATA

[magik20]

ok just got XP back up, did some minimal driver installs and ran HD tach on my RAID 0 array again.

Got pretty much the same results around 20 MB / per second doing the quick test.

This is not good, im expecting around 90 or 100.....

changed cables just to be sure, that didnt help

[drizzt81]

what PSU are you using? Could it be frying your HDDs?

[magik20]

its a 480 watt OCZ, never had a problem with it before?

should i try hooking up another PSU just to run the drives?

[drizzt81]

my point is this: You installed raptors A + B -> one broke (say B)
independent testing of A+C show that they work fine.
install A+C -> same issues as before. if WD Diag gives you another error, then something in your PC must have a negative effect on your HDDs.

[magik20]

ok, did some more testing on the power side.

HAD these hooked up on the special SATA power connectors, with no other drives in the system ( the 4 RAID 5 drives were taken out) the results were the same.

Moved the RAID 0 array to 2 normal power connectors, still with no other drives in the system and had the SAME results....

so i guess i can say its not a power issue.

[magik20]

BTW thanks Driz for helping with this, its rather annoying

[Dan_D]

what PSU are you using? Could it be frying your HDDs?

Not likely. If the PSU were having issues, he'd likely have many other problems worse than this one first.

Drizzt81 makes a good point. His advice is sound.

BTW for comparison purposes, here are my results.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e129/8388756/HDTachResults.jpg

This is my own system using two 74GB Raptors in RAID-0 with a 16k stripe size. This is off my Tyan K8WE which uses the nForce Professional 2200/2050 chipset. Which for all intensive purposes is the same as your nForce 4 SLI.

[magik20]

well..... im using the SI3132 Controller, and its almost refusing to work.

Im reflashing this board now, if this doesnt work im gonna toss in the towel and move my drives over to the NVIDA controller i guess

ill have to buy a add in card to run my RAID 5 array

[drizzt81]

you did check the DMA mode, did you know?

[magik20]

its marked as DMA mode 6..

so that seems correct

[magik20]

ok its been 12 freaking hours of screwing with this.

My solution... if u wanna call it that, is just to install on the NV controller.

if im not hitting 200 burst on that controller this board is going straight in the garbage and im buying another ASUS.

[magik20]

in case anyone else has this problem

i also tried re-verting to the earliest BIOS verison MSI had listed.

no luck

[drizzt81]

wow, that stinks. Maybe your SI controller is defect. Looking at Dan's review, the difference between nForce and SI was ~2%, not 70%.

[magik20]

yea i agree.....

im gonna get ahold of MSI on monday and see if they would send me a replacement..

if not theres a ASUS board i have my eye on, it has 8 SATA ports... perfect