Questions about RAM and Raid 0

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DKrebo87

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
153
Hi guys, just looking for some advice for setting up my new SSDs in Raid 0 that will be used just for gaming storage, without having to re-install my OS on my boot SSD drive.

My Rig:

Asus P8Z77-V LK Mobo
Intel IB i5-3570k @ 4.2GHz
Noctua DH-14 CPU Cooler
MSI 980 4G Gaming GPU
16GB GSkill 8GB x 2 1600MHz CL-10 DDR3
Windows 8.1
2 TB Seagate HDD
2 ~120GB SSDs (Intel and Crucial)
Asus Optical Drive
Asus 27" 1440p Display

I just purchased 2 Samsung EVO 250GB SSDs looking to set them up in RAID 0, I came across this link explaining how to set up a RAID post OS Installation (http://tinyurl.com/o8f7v6f). Has anyone had any experience using this or a similar method? Does anyone have input as to whether it could be a bad approach? Is there any other advice or more efficient options available?

I also have a question about RAM. Would it be recommended to upgrade to either GSkill Trident 1600MHz CL-7 or Corsair Vengeance Pro 2133MHz CL-9 RAM for upcoming games like Witcher 3 etc...I've read that higher frequency and/or lower CL helps with Min Frames. Just with "Next-Gen" here, being at 1440p I want to get the smoothest possible experience for this game (Witcher 3) specifically, but also for future titles. Any advice as far as my RAM goes, I've read 1600MHz with CL-10 isn't that good overall, so I'm just looking for my best options. Also will my i5-3570k and motherboard handle RAM with higher voltage than 1.5V?

Any opinions or advice is greatly appreciated in advance!

Thanks
 
Just a heads up: Raid + SSD is one of those topics that just seems to breed contentiousness.

I am not clear about your new SSD, did you buy TWO new drives? Or you bought a second drive, which is what I am thinking.

Setting up any new raid involves a format. With raid 0 every other block of data is on the other drive. You would need to back up and restore the entire volume. A subject I am not knowledgeable with.

Are you planning to use the onboard raid? If so be prepared to turn it on it bios and look up how to configure it before you start. If your planning to use the Windows Raid functions that will likely be even slower the the one built into bios.

Also keep in mind that while on board raid works, it does not necessarily go fast.

If your going to want to get decent Raid 0 speeds you may need to buy a pci-e raid controller. I use an LSI one I am happy with.

Unless you have all intell drives and an intell controller with recent firmware you may not be able to get trim to work and this can lead to significant performance degradation over time.

As for your ram question, someoen with more knowledge then I will need to respond to that.
 
I destroyed the memory controller in an I7-3960X running at 1.7V. Intel recommends no more than 1.6V, but every CPU is different so take your chances if you don't care about losing the proc.
 
I bought 2 new drives, it was cheaper to buy 2 - 250GBs rather than 1 - 500GB, they are the 850 EVO Series by Samsung. If I go with Raid 0 I'd be doing it through my bios, ideally with only the new SSDs, I don't really want the hassle of cloning or moving data around on my current drives. At this point I'm leaning towards just leaving them as individual drives, I don't want it to turn into a big headache if something were to go wrong with the sata drivers, I'd have to buy Acronis or the likes to clone and back-up to be safe. As far as the RAM I don't think it's worth the ~$200 to get a few more MIN FRAMES, if I see people getting more significant gains once the games out I'll just upgrade my RAM then.
 
Elf_Boy said:
If your going to want to get decent Raid 0 speeds you may need to buy a pci-e raid controller.
Click to expand...

hahaha... no. RAID-5 or 6, sure, but for RAID-0 with a small number of disks, nothing's going to beat Intel onboard.

And don't bother upgrading that RAM.

And running >1.5V is fine but don't run 1.65V or more. I wouldn't even run 1.65V itself. I typically advise people with 1.65V RAM to attempt undervolting at 1.6V or so.
 
DKrebo87 said:
I bought 2 new drives, it was cheaper to buy 2 - 250GBs rather than 1 - 500GB, they are the 850 EVO Series by Samsung. If I go with Raid 0 I'd be doing it through my bios, ideally with only the new SSDs, I don't really want the hassle of cloning or moving data around on my current drives. At this point I'm leaning towards just leaving them as individual drives, I don't want it to turn into a big headache if something were to go wrong with the sata drivers, I'd have to buy Acronis or the likes to clone and back-up to be safe. As far as the RAM I don't think it's worth the ~$200 to get a few more MIN FRAMES, if I see people getting more significant gains once the games out I'll just upgrade my RAM then.
Click to expand...

If the new drives are just going to be used as a games installation directory, why not just use them individually without the RAID? Games are typically not hard drive speed limited (the faster drives may load levels faster, but generally have little impact on framerates). If they are Steam games, Steam even lets you use multiple directories to store your games in your Library, so you could simply tell Steam to install some to one drive and some to another.

I have switched my PCs from IDE or AHCI to RAID in the past. There was a registry edit that was necessary in Windows 7, then a reboot, switch from IDE/AHCI to RAID and then boot up the PC all the way. I did this for my boot drive before, but I imagine it may still be necessary for data drives since Windows will still need to know to load the RAID controller driver on boot.
 
MrCaffeineX said:
I have switched my PCs from IDE or AHCI to RAID in the past. There was a registry edit that was necessary in Windows 7, then a reboot, switch from IDE/AHCI to RAID and then boot up the PC all the way. I did this for my boot drive before, but I imagine it may still be necessary for data drives since Windows will still need to know to load the RAID controller driver on boot.
Click to expand...

regedit is to switch to AHCI

To switch to RAID on Intel, you use RAIDFix, which is much more user-friendly as well.
 
@ dandragonrage have you used RAIDFix, and would you recommend me using RAID 0 over AHCI for SSDs that will only be used for storage?
 
Last edited:
DKrebo87 said:
@ dandragonrage have you used RAIDFix, and would you recommend me using RAID 0 over AHCI for SSDs that will only be used for storage?
Click to expand...

I have used it a few times. It works fine (at least on Win7). Install the latest Intel RST driver once you're up and running on the RAID driver that RAIDFix installs (and after you turned on RAID mode in the BIOS).

For having an actual RAID-0 array, eh, it can help a good bit with sequential reads but probably not so much with short random reads. I'm not against it but it's not going to help much in most things.
 
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