Raid 0 on P-6860 FX Laptop with 2 WD Scorpio's?

Hey Guys,

I was wondering if I would be able to set up two WD Scorpio's on Raid Level 0 on my Gateway P-6860 FX. I am planning on buying the same hard drive that came with the P-6860 FX and loading it into the empty slot bay.

Would this allow me to get 640 GB on raid zero or are there some incompatibility issues I should know about?

Also, how would I go about setting up raid 0 once I install the second hard drive. Would it be done through bios, or the operating system? I cannot find much information about how to set up raid 0 on my FX, If anybody knows of any links or could give me directions I would really appreciate it.

 

Yes. This is a common thing. All you have to do is enable RAID in the BIOS and install the OS(Preferably Vista due to built-in AHCI /RAID driver support) to your huge, fast 640gb drive. All in all, a very easy task.

If you have any issues, we'll be glad to help.

 

596 GB after formatting!

and yes, it is a common thing. dook and i both are running WD scorpio's (mine are the 5400 rpms, dont know about Dooks though)

as for setting up the raid, you still got your user manual? its in there.

 

yes,RAID0 it's very easy to complete,if not,plz read your computer's instruction book. Mine is 250+250,because my coputer is 6831

 

Yeps its pretty easy to do.

I cant run RAID because i'm using linux and i'm to lazy to set it up. So i just got the 7200rpm drives to make up for it...but after seeing some of the HDtune results from people with the 5400rpm drives i'm sorely tempted to go through the hassle.

 

You can raid two different brands also. Here on the forums some people think it is possible with only two identical HDs but I have a 320 Seagate and a 320 Hitachi running on raid right now and my test score s are not any different from those twin drives. One thing to keep in mind, the specs should match. size and the buffer and the rpm should match.

 

Actually with the type of RAID that the FX series uses you can RAID just about anything together.

You could technically RAID your 320gb drive with a 80GB drive if you want to...unfortunately your only going to get 80+80 gb worth of space out of the deal so its basically a waste.

Its just always a good idea to have everything an exact match. Plus the reason your results are different is because the WD is the fastest 5400rpm 320gb drive on the market currently. Your actually losing speed having it matched to the hitachi (though not anything really noticeable)

I'm still waiting for the 400gb Samsungs... 2 platter 400gb drives makes me think about computer components in ways that should be illegal

 

LOL, i think it's safe to say you might be a computer molester, lol. What about a clean vista install, what would be the steps:
1) Install hard drive
2) Clean Vista Install
3) Bios Change
I have a refurbished unit that didn't come with a users manual, is everything explained in the manual

 

fot setting up the RAID? yeah, its in the user manual...pg 52. user manual

 

Your going to want to do the bios change BEFORE the fresh install because you loose everything on the hard drives when you go into RAID. Also make sure to make your gateway recovery disc that way you get all your drivers backed up. Or you can do like me and backup the whole recovery partition and put it back after your done (by making a new recovery partition in your raid setup).

 

Sorry for the questions man but i'm a noob and I dont want to mess up my laptop.
I have the vista disc but how would i go about doing a fresh install? after I change the bios, would I just put in the Vista disc and reformat the entire hard drive. Then what would happen to my computer because all the drivers for the keyboard, mouse, etc. would be deleted, so how would i even install new drivers if i am unable to use the keyboard or the mouse.

I want to know how you guys did this step by step so that i wont run into a problem. thanks in advance

 

Just make sure you created your Gateway Divers disk BEFORE you setup RAID. You will have two disks, the Gateway Branded recovery disk which contains the OS only and the drivers disk you created. Once you re-install the OS(Yes, just put the disc in, tell it to boot from it and follow the prompts) and are at your desktop, just insert the drivers disc you made and start the driver install. It really is pretty smooth sailing and you should have no issues.