Opinions? Two Intel SSD x25's in Raid0

I was curious if anyone here had first hand experience with these SSD drives, and possibly how then perform in a raid0 setup? I'm looking at getting a ssd and was curious if these guys would be a good way to go. I've read alot of positive reviews about them, just curious if anyone here had experience with them.

Being my first SSD, anything I should look out for? Updating firmware, that sorta thing?

These are going to go into a 6860fx that I currently have a raid0 setup.

 

If you can handle the limited capacity then yeah it will be one blazing fast RAID array. It will set up just like the array you have now but with like 4 times the sequential speeds and 50-500 times the randoms.

Now saying that, i typically advocate against that unless you just need the massive capabilities (most dont) and recommend a good SSD as your OS/program drive and a large HDD for storage. For most users an Intel SSD is going to blow even RAIDed Velcioraptors away so RAIDing the SSD's is typically going t put things in the real of "its so fast i cant tell the difference anymore"

 

Yes I agree the limited capacity is unfortunate, however I feel with external storage two 40gb drives in raid0 should be extremely fast and good enough for the os and programs.

Thanks for the reply, I appreciated the feedback.

Another thing I was curious about, I've seen tests where the ssd becomes slower with read and write times as the drive fills up with data. Anyone here experienced this? Naturally keeping the os and programs thinner will help this out.

 

I think you would be better off with 1 Intel 80GB Gen 2 over their 40GB solutions. If i remember correctly their 40GB drives (while cheap) are a bit crippled in ability compared to the 80/160 GB drives.

Though i'll have to restudy on the 40GB intels as i havent looked at them for a good while now.

As to the drive slow down. Yes
All drives slow down the closer to full you get. Its just more noticed on the SSD's because how fast they are. If a Hard drive loses 30% of its speed you really cant tell much, but with a 30% loss to a SSD its much more pronounced.
That is what the trim function is ment to correct. It keeps the drive fresh and at almost new speeds.

 

As Kamin said its probably better to get the one intel 80gig gen 2 drive , when raiding SSD you will not notice a difference unless you are tranferring big files. I have a Supertalent ultradrive gx on the 7811 and its very fast and use a WD scorpio black as the storage drive and see no difference compared to my vertex raid setup on my desktop. Also like to add if you plan to raid any SDD the best would be using any idilinx SSD due to a tool called garbage collection which help keep the SSD from performance degredation, since trim does not wok on raid.

 

I vote for king of the hill right now, a single c300 128GB. I'd also say 7K500 for storage. I'd say the new momentus XT but we are talking storage. I am not sure since it is a read only 4GB NAND if you would really benefit from it. If you can stand the lower storage capacity maybe the 320 Black would be a good option as it has better writes.

I am still debating my own options. I am pretty sure a Raid0 SSD is not for me. at some point as mentioned, it will become too fast to really notice the difference.

 

If you wanted top i would recommend the Sandforce controler SSD's. With their speed and the insanely low write multiplication they look like top contenders. And if their documents are correct will last long after intel's drives suffer cell death.

Though either will last much longer than any computer they go in.


As to the C300 after reading up on it (as i had never heard about it until a couple of days ago) i would say stay away. It looks nice on paper but is a very large unknown right now

 

There is slim to no benefit when using SSD in Raid0.

You're much better off getting the biggest and best SSD(s) you can find and just putting things on them.

My system now has an Intel X25 for Windows/Documents and a 500GB 7200.4 for everything else.

 

Very cool, thanks for the reply everyone. It does seem that an ssd for the os and programs and a hdd for storage may be a better option. The lack of storage size is a tough pill to swallow.

This is interesting, trim does not work in a raid setup? Any chance you have a link to the documentation that states this? I'm not doubting you, simply curious as this would be a big deciding factor if I did build a ssd array.

 

I can confirm what ritchwell said about raid 0 and trim. This is why I only bought one ssd. As for where you can find info check out Vertex, Agility, Turbo, Solid V2, Summit, Colossus and Z-Drive with Microsoft OS.
OCZ forum has tons of info about trim and raid 0 arrays. I agree with kamin, get one ssd and a large hdd. With that setup you get the best of both worlds :yes:
Good luck on what you choose

 

Googles is your friend but here is a link from anandtech when they raided 2 intel 40gig v. Intel X25-V in RAID-0: Faster than X25-M G2 for $250? - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

Just like to add if i was buying an SSD right now I would look into my budget on what SSD would give me the best bang for the buck. The newer SSD are amazing but the 2nd gen SSD have dropped in price or they have a big rebate since the release of the Sandforce controller SSD(3rd gen)and I tend to see alot of deals on them on newegg shellshocker.

FYI window 7 ultimate only occupies around 14gigs

 

I've got the same computer and RAID setup you do right now. I plan on getting the new Seagate Momentus XT hybrid drive for use in a new laptop (unless you get one of the extreme gaming systems, the new models are all single drive systems) and using my existing drives in an external RAID config. You can buy an expresscard with dual eSATA (or maybe USB3?) ports now which will do RAID.

The Momentus XT is by far the best performance/dollar value on the market right now. Search Youtube for it, and you can find performance comparisons of the drive to various alternatives. Anandtech also did a review on the drive that showed much improved performance over traditional HDD's for app loading and gaming applications.

For data transfer purposes, you won't be able to use a normal SSD to full capacity as you would be limited by the weakest link in the chain (your external RAID array). I've found that a 7K500 drive is a good performance match for a pair of 5K320's in RAID 0.

 

Thanks alot for that link. It was eyeopening. Based on what I've been reading and everyone's opinions here, I may simply go with a single 80gb ssd and use one of my wd scorpio's for storage.

Though after doing some reading, I want an slc ssd over the mlc ones. Intel's x25-e has almost twice the write performance over the x25-m, though also twice the price.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

 

i Got 2 ssd intel x25 v2 80 giga in raid0
160 giga is enough for me (i just play some games).

If i need to store lots of movies/pictures, i go for an external HDD 500 giga.

 

Very sick. I ended up going with the 80g x25m g2. I'm gunna use that for the os and programs and my 320gb scorpio for storage. Should be pretty quick I'm hoping.

 

Get an 80GB and pair it with a 500GB Momentus XT (when they're put up for sale).

 

If you're putting in OS and programs in the SSD, then the hybrid drive is a waste of money for storage. You can get a 750GB 5400RPM drive for cheaper than that and won't suffer any difference in performance.

 

As storage only the XT doesn't make much sense but it could make some. The problem primarily is the SSD section wants to cache frequently used files. normally in storage drives you do not have this scenario.

However if you use the drive for all your user folders, desktop, downloads, music, pictues, etc. then the files will be cached a bit more and the hybrid section makes more sence. Then as you obtain files they automatically go to the storage hybrid drive too.

The XT's SSD section isn't as fast as a true full SSD drive but it would be way faster than just moving the user files to a dedicated HDD only.

 

With 80GB, personally, it's more than enough room for 50/50 split to OS/programs and current/actively used files. My current OS/programs is under 23GB.

 

I feel the same way, and I'm confident I won't have any issues with space for the os and programs.

SSD should be here today. I'm excited

 

You won't have any issues, the funny thing is many people argument against ssd is price and space, but most have never even tried or experience it 1st hand. i have been using SSD for about a year already when i 1st bought two 30gig vertex(now I have ssd in 5 systems), I was like i hope i have enough space. So i installed windows 7 rc and did all the tweaks needed to run efficiently. Since then i have windows 7 ultimate and only use about 19.4 gig of the 60 I have and really learn how to utilize its space and manage my hdd for all its programs.

 

Good call on the 80gb Intel G2, super fast drive, you wont be disappointed.