Dilemma: Raid 0 150gb raptors or get an SSD

guitarguy6

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Hi, I have a decent i7 setup that I'm looking to speed up a bit. Would you guys recommend getting Raid 0 150gb raptors or should I get a 60gb SSD? I like the extra space of the raptors but am mostly just looking to speed up windows and game load times. I can get a 60gb ocz vertex 2 for $109 or $160 for the 2 raptors. Any input would be appreciated.

Cheers
 
I have yet to go the SSD route myself and mass appeal seems to indicate that is the better choice compared to mechanical drives like the raptors. For me SSD's just do not offer enough capacity, my game rig, which is pretty much all it gets used for other than some art stuff in photoshop. It has well over 300GB of loaded games that get played on a mostly regular basis by myself and my son so I do not want to have to re-download and or/install on a regular basis. It never gets shut down so start up and shut down times are not important, but game loads would be. Once they drop to $1/GB I'll maybe bite at that time.
 
SSD hands down. However I would avoid the Vertex 2 SSDs since there is a bit of a hub-bub about Sandforce SSDs being capable of only half their rated specs in real world usage. Thread on that issue here:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1564216

My argument to this has always been that in the real world the difference is so small that we probably cant tell the difference anyhow.. This being said half the spec of a sandforce vs intel

Leave read speeds of 142.5 for the sandforce vs 250 for the intel, definitely gives the edge to intel

But write speeds of 137.5 for the sandforce vs 70 for the intel.. That definitely leans the other direction..

math aside I went from 2x intels (x18m 80gb's) in raid 0 to a single x25v 40gb & although every benchmark I run tells me I am way slower now.. I don't feel it..

At this point with SSD's I would say get whatever is best price per GB of the intel's, Sandforce's, & the Crucial c300's.. Benchmarks may tell you one is faster then the other, but when you use them you wont be able to feel it. (there is also other good drives out there, but these are the ones easy to pick out where you know you will get a good drive)
 
My argument to this has always been that in the real world the difference is so small that we probably cant tell the difference anyhow.. This being said half the spec of a sandforce vs intel

As a person who has only gotten one Intel SSD for a friend's build, I honestly cannot agree or disagree with that statement without my own personal experience. Just too many different experiences there. In the thread I linked above, there was one person (Old Hippie) who had experiences with Sandforce and Intel SSDs and he did note that there was a noticeable real world difference between a Sandforce and Intel.
 
As a person who has only gotten one Intel SSD for a friend's build, I honestly cannot agree or disagree with that statement without my own personal experience. Just too many different experiences there. In the thread I linked above, there was one person (Old Hippie) who had experiences with Sandforce and Intel SSDs and he did note that there was a noticeable real world difference between a Sandforce and Intel.

well if thats the case I will know soon enough.. My 90gb Vertex 2 shipped earlier today.. I also just skimmed that 5 page thread you linked.. honestly most of it was 1 person making claims of performance based off of benchmarks they never provided.. Atleast not that I saw skimming over it..

Any what way about it though going to a SSD is the answer to the OP.. As far as which to get, well most are good, few are crap so like I said best GB/$ ratio.. Especially if it means a jump in size. The more you can get on your drive the less you have loading off of a traditional mechanical drive the more your gonna get the advantages of an SSD (this is the reason I am getting the 90gb vertex 2 over my current 40gb x25v).
 
well if thats the case I will know soon enough.. My 90gb Vertex 2 shipped earlier today.. I also just skimmed that 5 page thread you linked.. honestly most of it was 1 person making claims of performance based off of benchmarks they never provided.. Atleast not that I saw skimming over it..
One of the posts in that asked a question if someone honestly tell the difference between an Sandforce and an Intel. Old Hippie said yes he could. From his past posts in the Data Storage subforum, I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. Just a nugget of personal experience

Any what way about it though going to a SSD is the answer to the OP..
I concur.
 
One of the posts in that asked a question if someone honestly tell the difference between an Sandforce and an Intel. Old Hippie said yes he could. From his past posts in the Data Storage subforum, I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. Just a nugget of personal experience

Yea Old Hippies posts are typically pretty sound. I am expecting my new drive to fall somewhere in between my last 2 setups for performance. & since I cant tell the difference between the 2 of them even though on paper it was a HUGE difference I am not expecting to see a difference other then being able to install more then Win7 & SC2 that I am stuck with ATM.
 
I'm definitely going SSD after reading some articles and reviewing these posts. The only dilemma know is if I should save up a bit more and get 120gb SSD. From every benchmark I saw the 60GB's have much lower read/write speeds than the larger capacity drives.
 
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