New Build - SSD RAID Windows 7?

Hello all,

Been quite a while since I've been to these forums, but I was looking for some advice. For years I've been using the build as listed in my sig (for the most part; I added RAM, put bigger HD's in and replaced a failing video card).

So after watching for quite some time, I finally took the leap and ordered the following on NewEgg:

Case: AZZA Solano 1000
PSU: Antec TPQ-850 850W
CPU: Intel Core i7-860 (LGA 1156)
Mobo: ASUS P7P55D EVO (with ASUS Model PCIE GEN2 SATA6G Expansion Card)
Heatsink / Fan: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
Memory: G.SKILL ECO 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600
Video card: HIS H577FM1GD Radeon HD 5770 1GB
Monitor: SAMSUNG ToC T240HD Rose-Black 24"
Optical Drive: LITE-ON Black 24X SATA
Hard Drives: 2 x OCZ Vertex Turbo OCZSSD2-1VTXT30G (and SilverStone SDP08 3.5" to 2 x 2.5" Bay Converter)
2 x Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM

Going to go with on-board sound, or possibly move my Audigy 2 Platinum into this machine, so I didn't order a new sound card.

Now, my questions are about my hard drives. My plan is to install the two SSD's in a RAID 0 (striped) setup and install Windows as well as my programs to that "drive". I've read some about tweaking Windows settings, flashing firmware, but not a lot of it addresses a clean install or SSD RAID. I have never used Windows 7 and I've been running a motherboard coming up on 8 years old, so I'm not up to speed on new BIOS settings. What adjustments / tweaks will I want to make to get this going correctly from the get-go? Also, how can I flash my firmware before installing Windows? (I'm still running XP, which would want me to have a SATA driver had I not slipstreamed one in).

Also, the 2 TB hard drives, I was planning on running them mirrored and using them for data. I've never run SATA 1. Anything to watch out for? Is it overkill?

Have a few days before the parts arrive but I was hoping for feedback so I could get this box running as smoothly as possible. Your help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Sean

Do you understand the possible downsides to running Raid 0?

If one drive OR the mobo controller so much as burps....you lose everything on both drives..

You won't see any speed benefits by using RAID 0 with SSD's.
Even with mechanical drives the benefit is not worth the risk.

SSD RAID is doable and the Vertex Turbos already have the necessary firmware. See: http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/ '2nd gen SSDs' for all the info you'll need. I'd set up the 2x1TB drives in RAID 1 and partition it with a 30GB partition to back up the SSD array and the rest as one more partition.
Basically, install Win 7 and the mobo drivers on the SSD array and then check these items: defrag for the SSD array is off (Win 7 should do this automatically). Set indexing off for the SSD array. See if you want to use SuperFetch and PreFetch. Turn off Hibernate and Sleep mode; TRIM works during idle cpu cycles. Once you've a clean install use Acronis True Image to clone the SSD array to the 30GB partiton on the RAID 1 array. I use Acronis True Image Home 2010 and it has never failed me.

Without derailing the thread, does SSD RAID 0 have the performance overhead that regular RAID 0 does? I stopped bothering with RAID 0 long ago because while the transfer speeds look cute in benchmarks, the increased latency made the whole thing pretty pointless for a system drive IMO.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Soul Assassin

Without derailing the thread, does SSD RAID 0 have the performance overhead that regular RAID 0 does? I stopped bothering with RAID 0 long ago because while the transfer speeds look cute in benchmarks, the increased latency made the whole thing pretty pointless for a system drive IMO.

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How about 350MB/s at .1 ms, that's microseconds. How's that for latency :D

Edit: that's for a 2 drive array. I've seen benchmarks at ~580MB/s on a 4 drive array. It takes me longer to BIOS Post than boot into Win 7 -- now that's fast!

Why take the risk of using raid 0 when the speed difference is negligible for ssd drives?
All you are saving is a bit of controller time because the seek/transfer will be virtually the same for separate volumes as it is for raid 0. What you lose in controller time for separate volumes may be totally offset by the time needed for the raid calculations in the driver and/or firmware.

I've been using RAID 0 on my current setup for years, first with the original 120GB HD's I bought, then with the 250's I currently have, and never once had an issue. I periodically back up my data onto an external hard drive, but never once have had an issue. But yes I understand the risk involved, which is why I like OS-Wiz's idea of making a backup partition on the mechanical drives. Either way I'd only be putting Windows and programs on the SSD's, so my data would be protected on the RAID 1 setup.

As for Acronis 2010, I just looked for it online and found it getting some really horrible reviews, though they mostly seemed support related?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SeanJuan

I've been using RAID 0 on my current setup for years, first with the original 120GB HD's I bought, then with the 250's I currently have, and never once had an issue. I periodically back up my data onto an external hard drive, but never once have had an issue. But yes I understand the risk involved, which is why I like OS-Wiz's idea of making a backup partition on the mechanical drives. Either way I'd only be putting Windows and programs on the SSD's, so my data would be protected on the RAID 1 setup.

As for Acronis 2010, I just looked for it online and found it getting some really horrible reviews, though they mostly seemed support related?

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Don't know where you got that info about Acronis. First, they are the best in their field and have an excellent forum site. Highly recommend! Of course, you could use the free cloning app in Win 7, I used it once in Vista just playing around and it worked.

Well thank you very much for the info, and the link to the OCZ forums. I had tried going to them before I posted, but the site was down. I'll be sure to give an update when the parts arrive and I put it all together.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SeanJuan

Well thank you very much for the info, and the link to the OCZ forums. I had tried going to them before I posted, but the site was down. I'll be sure to give an update when the parts arrive and I put it all together.

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Here's probably the best thread ove at OCZ forum I've found for handling OCZ SSDs: http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/fo...ad.php?t=67056

Acronis Forum: http://forum.acronis.com/