3xHDD vs 2xHDD RAID-0

[ShePearl]

Hi folks.

I currently have three Seagate ST1000DM003 1TB HDD. And two of them are in RAID-0 configuration. I'm wondering if adding one extra into RAID-0 array would result in performance improvement ? (I have an external 2TB HDD for data backup). This is mainly a gaming PC.
And I'm using Samsung S830 128GB SSD for main Windows OS boot drive. Motherboard is AsRock Fatality Z77 Professional (Intel Z77 chipset).

Is there noticeable performance improvement between 2xHDD in RAID-0 and 3xHDD in RAID-0 ? Also, if three HDD are in RAID-0, would it result in more CPU overhead compared to two HDD in RAID-0 ?
(Perhaps, increased sequential transfer rate but decreased seek time / latency ??)

They're all connected to Intel chipset SATA ports. (in BIOS, I've disabled the 3rd party SATA chipset/port).

 

[drescherjm]

would it result in more CPU overhead compared to two HDD in RAID-0

The CPU overhead will be minimal. I doubt you will notice it at all.

I'm wondering if adding one extra into RAID-0 array would result in performance improvement ?

For large sequential reads and writes yes. For everything else (like 90% of normal desktop usage) probably not by much. I would not bother because of the added risk of loss. At 2 drives you are already at an expected annual failure rate of over 2%. Meaning there is at least a 2% chance that your array will fail this year.