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Read speed - Disk solution needed

S

scottd34

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 3, 2005
Messages
69
I have currently several older ATA133 disks sitting around. I am building up a new box using a 3800+ A64 and a 7900GT with Vanguard ( Link to VG:SOH ) in mind. I am an MMO player primarily however I do also do some RTS games, maybe BF2 with some friends.

With vanguard being a seamless world similar to WOW, read speed is going to most likely be important.. at least if my experiences with WOW and reading a ton of data into memory as I moved around the game world prove to be similar. That game especially when moving around between continnents and initial loading would sit and crank for a bit before settling down, really causing a lot of studder.

With that in mind, would a SATA3.0 GB drive be best, or would something in a raid 1 be better. Personally I do not need a lot of space for files, since I have a file server for that. I just need enough to get some large games and win installed. We are talking 25-30 gb (and that is a lot more then normal for my current drive usage).
 
A WD2500KS or a Raptor would be good choices. Especially in your situation - not a lot of files, need fast access - a higher-cost, lower-capacity disk makes sense.

 
I agree with U_M. A raptor is definately your best bet. Get the 74g or the 150g model since the 36g is realisticly too slow now.

FYI: The main advantage the raptor has over other drives is rotational speed. Its a 10,000 rpm drive vs. a 7,200 rpm drive for all the rest of the desktop drives. Makes a large difference in latency and access times. Speeds transfers quite a bit too.

Check www.storagereview.com for WOW benchmarks if you need too.
 
I was thinking raptor myself.. however I wasnt sure if raid was needed for decent performance or if a single would do. I checked out storage review and the wow reviews are interesting. never thought to look for those specifically!
 
scottd34 said:
I was thinking raptor myself.. however I wasnt sure if raid was needed for decent performance or if a single would do. I checked out storage review and the wow reviews are interesting. never thought to look for those specifically!
Click to expand...

Raid for the desktop is *ALMOST NEVER* a good idea...

exceptions to this would be anything requiring raid 1,3,5 for backup \ redundancy... HD Video editing comes to mind... For anything else just run the biggest raptor you can afford. If you've got more money then buy 2 but DON'T raid them. Unless you don't mind losing you data with no warning. In that case, go ahead... just have another drive for backup.
 
I have a file server and backups for important stuff. I am looking at the raptors and will figure out what i want to do. Since it seems as if raid 1 might be overkill I can go with 1 of the 150 gig, and I can always do a mirror later if I change my mind.
 
scottd34 said:
I have a file server and backups for important stuff. I am looking at the raptors and will figure out what i want to do. Since it seems as if raid 1 might be overkill I can go with 1 of the 150 gig, and I can always do a mirror later if I change my mind.
Click to expand...

If it matters, Dell is selling a 160g version of the raptor for a great price. I've got a couple of them around here and I love the extra space...
 
Some version of software raid 1 (linuxdoes it i think) have algorithms that minimize seeking, might be worth looking into. I remember load tiems in Lineage 2, going into a town was like 1 min of slideshow gameplay :)
 
newegg wants 315 for the WD1500AHFD version. the 72 gig are quite a bit cheaper. might go with a 72 gig, not sure yet.. ill have to price around. i was never fond of dell's customer service, so i stopped shopping there a while ago, but ill have to check it out.

my linux boxes work out well when i had them recording, playing and all that at the same time setup with mythtv. so good point there. loading wow was like that for the first couple of minutes, and now it takes everquest a while to zone too. ah well, hopefully this upgrade will make vanguard run nice :D
 
dekard said:
FYI: The main advantage the raptor has over other drives is rotational speed.
Click to expand...
And a server-class actuator. And well-tuned firmware (at least with respect to speed).

Make sure you get the 740ADFD not the 740GD. It's newer, and a good deal faster.

 
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