Is Raid 0 worth it?

[sn2x]

I got a good deal on two 850 EVOs(500 GBx2, ended up around $240 combined) and was going to put them in RAID 0 and put Windows 10 on it, but after searching online a lot of people seem to think that doing this would be a bad idea...

If I did it I would be using the Intel RAID that is supported by my motherboard...

 

[Folterknecht]

It's indeed a bad idea.

You only gain in seq. read/write with no other device in your PC able to reach these numbers, while at the same time putting your whole OS (and data) on that raid volume at risk. Power goes out at the wrong moment? Say goodbye to your OS ... .

 

[Kursah]

NO... a single SSD is fine IMHO. The issue with RAID0 is if one drive fails you lose ALL of your data on both drives as every other bit is written to the other drive. Part of how the speed increase works. I have also seen and experienced increases in seek times with RAID 0 SSD setups...part of the SSD's "instant" access magic is finding the data you want instantly (or close to it for our needs at the moment).

Honestly, you'll increase your risk of failure and really not gain too much in noticeable performance aside from load times in games... and really a single SSD for gaming should handle that well. I went from over a minute on Star Citizen to seconds on my Samsung 850 EVO for example. Non-RAID.

IF you insist on RAID 0, at LEAST hook your PC up to a decent UPS so your data has enough time to finish writing in the case of a power outage. Also, this doesn't negate the possibility one of the drives fails for whatever reason(s).

You could consider doing a RAID 1, which would be mirrored...so if one drive fails, the other one picks up right away. That would be the only thing I'd do in your situation if you insist on a dual-SSD RAID array. Though I've lost data from failed arrays, I deal with so many various arrays for work as well... I see no point in going purely for performance when there's so much risk involved that totally negates it. You could add a 3rd drive and do a RAID5, you'll lose about 30% of your storage space...but one drive can fail and you can keep running, replace the failed drive and rebuild your array. Not sure if your Intel RAID will support that or not. I prefer to use a dedicated card for RAID or sometimes I'll use Linux software RAID.

My experience and opinions reflect what I'd do though...others may recommend different. You can always try for yourself. You could also consider using one drive for Windows + programs (maybe dual boot Linux as well) and the other drive for games.

 

[sn2x]

I see, looks like I'll be doing two separate volumes. Thanks.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Only time ill RAID0 ssds if its for games. For the OS ill just do a single ssd or m.2. Nothing inherently wrong about putting ssds in RAID though. Just got to consider what you want to store on it.

 

[AsRock]

Only time ill RAID0 ssds if its for games. For the OS ill just do a single ssd or m.2. Nothing inherently wrong about putting ssds in RAID though. Just got to consider what you want to store on it.

LOL, some times i will put some games on a HDD due to loading to fast to be able to read whats on the loading screen in time lol, Skyrim is one that's guilty of it.


But no need to raided drives, well not yet. Then there is the risk of losing every thing is one fails,

 

[MxPhenom 216]

LOL, some times i will put some games on a HDD due to loading to fast to be able to read whats on the loading screen in time lol, Skyrim is one that's guilty of it.


But no need to raided drives, well not yet. Then there is the risk of losing every thing is one fails,

With as many mods as I have on Skyrim, using a HDD just takes too damn long to load.

 

[AsRock]

With as many mods as I have on Skyrim, using a HDD just takes too damn long to load.

I have around 50 and only takes a moment, although i am on my 3rd time around with the game now so it's on a SSD . No need to read the tips or what ever. Thinking about it one worse for it was Dragon Age 3.

 

[INSTG8R]

Well I have everything pretty much RAID0 in my rig. My OS is on 2 850 EVO's and my Games Array is 2 WD Blacks. As for loss I have a 1TB with my backup stuff. If I lost my OS array I just lost my OS not a big deal. Games are Steam, Origin, Uplay, GOG again nothing that can't be replaced That said my WD Blacks have been going strong well over 5yrs now easy they used to my OS array .

 

[MxPhenom 216]

I have around 50 and only takes a moment, although i am on my 3rd time around with the game now so it's on a SSD . No need to read the tips or what ever. Thinking about it one worse for it was Dragon Age 3.

I have close to 150.

 

[AsRock]

LOL, i have no need for that many.

 

[FYFI13]

And then there's another issue: most integrated/cheap RAID controllers do not support TRIM function which is necessary for solid state drives.

 

[FR@NK]

And then there's another issue: most integrated/cheap RAID controllers do not support TRIM function which is necessary for solid state drives.

Trim is supported on the raid controller within the intel chipsets. At first it wasnt but now they have updated drivers that passthrough trim commands.

 

[hat]

SSD RAID is next to useless, unless you're either putting your OS on RAID 1 and you're extra worried about your drive dying and don't want to go through reinstalling, or you run a webserver or some other important data that benefits from being on an SSD, and can't be lost.

RAID0 was great with traditional HDDs, because it reduced the bottleneck caused by hard drives. SSDs are really good where hard drives aren't, that is, random reads/writes and access time (think OS drive). They're also better at sequential reads/writes, but they're so good because they stay strong where hard drives would crumble. RAID0 helped hard drives in this area with two hard drives working on the same task instead of just one, thereby improving those pitiful random reads and access times, but SSDs still win over RAID0 HDDs by a large margin here.

In your situation though, RAID0 would simply be more convenient to have one large drive rather than two smaller drives with which to split up your OS, programs and games? over... but it will become a lot less convenient should something bad happen to one of the drives, all your data goes away then.

 

[FYFI13]

Trim is supported on the raid controller within the intel chipsets. At first it wasnt but now they have updated drivers that passthrough trim commands.

For me it didn't work on Asus Z97 M Plus. Latest BIOS, latest drivers.

 

[t_ski]

Trim is supported on the raid controller within the intel chipsets. At first it wasnt but now they have updated drivers that passthrough trim commands.

I was doing this on x79 a while back. I've since moved on to m.2 and don't need raid0.

Although Windows did not necessarily boot as fast as I hoped in Raid0, other programs did load faster. I was never worried about failure, as I back up my rig every night and stored important files on a separate drive. If you are firm in a backup schedule and can live with the possibility of failure, it's fun to play with. It's also great for using a cache for streaming and other things that need fast writes, which are usually edited and off-loaded to other storage later.

 

[FR@NK]

For me it didn't work on Asus Z97 M Plus. Latest BIOS, latest drivers.

How did you confirm it wasnt working? Did you use fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify?

 

[FYFI13]

How did you confirm it wasnt working? Did you use fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify?

At first i noticed that performance dropped nearly twice and then i ran "fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify" command which confirmed TRIM is disabled.

 

[lorraine walsh]

I love the speed of a RAID 0 array. The thing is, SSD drives offer better performance for about the same price as two WD Black drives. Of course, the SSD is not going to offer the space as the two WDs. If you have the money, an SSD drive is the way to go.

 

[Champ]

I'd only use raid 0 with HDDs. That's the only way it seems worth it to me. I have no load time issues with mine. But I did make one crash like a dummy before and had to reconfigurate. Live and learn.

 

[Komshija]

Generally speaking, RAID 0 is a bad thing. If one of your HDD's or SSD's dies, you will loose all data. RAID 1 has more sense, but it's better to get an external HDD and backup your data. It's almost impossible that primary drive and external HDD fail at the same time.

 

[INSTG8R]

Generally speaking, RAID 0 is a bad thing. If one of your HDD's or SSD's dies, you will loose all data. RAID 1 has more sense, but it's better to get an external HDD and backup your data. It's almost impossible that primary drive and external HDD fail at the same time.

Meh my 2 1TB WD Blacks would disagree At least 5yrs going. Were my main drive for years and now my dedicated gaming array. My 1TB Seagate I use for storage is the one drive I have that is "going" I'm gonna grab a 1TB WD Blue to replace it next pay cheque as THAT drive I would worry about losing.

 

[FYFI13]

Meh my 2 1TB WD Blacks would disagree At least 5yrs going. Were my main drive for years and now my dedicated gaming array. My 1TB Seagate I use for storage is the one drive I have that is "going" I'm gonna grab a 1TB WD Blue to replace it next pay cheque as THAT drive I would worry about losing.

My WD Velociraptor 1TB would disagree. One of them died while in raid 0, second one still going strong. All i lost was game installs, thanks to Steam and 240Mbit/s broadband everything was restored over the night.

Raid 0 can offer nice performance boosts but it's up to user to make backups of important data stored on those drives. Otherwise it's a ticking bomb.

 

[INSTG8R]

My WD Velociraptor 1TB would disagree. One of them died while in raid 0, second one still going strong. All i lost was game installs, thanks to Steam and 240Mbit/s broadband everything was restored over the night.

Raid 0 can offer nice performance boosts but it's up to user to make backups of important data stored on those drives. Otherwise it's a ticking bomb.

Oh I agree I'm just saying from my own experience I have yet to lose an array and I'm pretty slap dash with it. Also regarding yourself and you checking TRIM. I did a quick one on mine just to see(2 500GB EVO's) you sure your reading it right? 0=On

 

[EarthDog]

Yikes....

1. RAID IS NOT A BACKUP!!!!!
2. TRIM is supported in RAID and has been for a couple of generations on the Intel side...if it isn't working, there is an issue somewhere: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6161/...ssd-arrays-on-7series-motherboards-we-test-it
3. Do you need the speed and cannot afford an SSD or need the space? Then R0 a couple of HDDs.