The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    2 SSDs in RAID 0??

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by NotebookNeophyte, Dec 21, 2011.

  1. NotebookNeophyte

    NotebookNeophyte Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    145
    Messages:
    401
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    I am not savvy enough to know the answer to this question...I am going to be configuring a new laptop soon and I want to have the quickest HD setup.....would it make sense to get 2 SSDs and set them to RAID 0 or would it be sufficient to have a single SSD for the boot drive and a conventional 7200RPM platter for storage? Thanks for any help you may give me!
     
    NotebookNeophyte, Dec 21, 2011
    #1
  2. Baka

    Baka (・ω・)

    Reputations:
    2,228
    Messages:
    2,111
    Likes Received:
    20
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Baka suggest single SSD for boot drive and a huuuuuge Hard Drive for storage. A simple SSD is fast enough for booting and for commonly use softwares ._.
     
    Baka, Dec 22, 2011
    #2
  3. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,389
    Messages:
    10,552
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    456
    If you don't need the capacity of a SSD/HDD solution or have a budget, SSD in RAID0 will give you maximum performance. I'm not sure if it will support TRIM yet but Intel is working on a way for that to be supported in RAID.
     
    sgogeta4, Dec 22, 2011
    #3
  4. MidnightSun

    MidnightSun Emodicon

    Reputations:
    6,668
    Messages:
    8,224
    Likes Received:
    231
    Trophy Points:
    231
    With the latest revision of the Intel Rapid Storage drivers, I believe SSD RAID TRIM is now supported.

    I can say with 99% certainty, however, that such a setup will be overkill for you. One SSD is plenty fast enough already. Stick with a large power-friendly 5400RPM (or 7200RPM if you really wish, but it'll make little difference) conventional HDD for your secondary, non-OS drive.
     
    MidnightSun, Dec 22, 2011
    #4
  5. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    4,982
    Messages:
    34,001
    Likes Received:
    1,415
    Trophy Points:
    581
    I think a SSD/HDD combo is the better choice. While it's true that a SSD in RAID will give you the best performance, typical notebook usage doesn't put that much of load on the controller, which means you're not likely to notice a difference. The real benefit of SSDs is the near instantaneous seek times, which won't change if you have RAID.
     
    ZaZ, Dec 22, 2011
    #5
  6. jclausius

    jclausius Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    6,160
    Messages:
    3,265
    Likes Received:
    2,573
    Trophy Points:
    231
    At the time of my post, Trim is NOT supported, not even in the alpha stage driver in Intel's RST, but it supposedly is coming.

    Lot's of things to think about - increased read/write times, but also write amplification issues due to lack of TRIM (possibly causing you to Secure Erase [SE] the SSD depending on usage), greatly increasing your chances of catastrophic data loss ( but everyone is backing things up, right? ).

    You may want to look at this thread for more info - http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-0-sata-2-x2-ssds-vs-single-ssd-sata-3-a.html
     
    jclausius, Dec 22, 2011
    #6
  7. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

    Reputations:
    5,413
    Messages:
    10,711
    Likes Received:
    1,204
    Trophy Points:
    581
    I'd say it all depends on what you are doing? Gaming, normal tasks (emails, essays) do not warrant RAID 0 SSDs. And also yes it does increase your read/write speeds, but once you hit a certain level of fast, doubling it makes for almost no gains. You are already getting .1 ms latency...

    If perhaps you were rendering and copying 8 GB DVD rips 24/7, yes you could consider RAID 0 SSDs.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Dec 22, 2011
    #7
  8. Qing Dao

    Qing Dao Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    1,600
    Messages:
    1,771
    Likes Received:
    304
    Trophy Points:
    101
    If you were getting a new desktop, I would say go for it. But in a laptop, idk.
     
    Qing Dao, Dec 22, 2011
    #8
  9. NotebookNeophyte

    NotebookNeophyte Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    145
    Messages:
    401
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Thanks everyone...I guess I'll with a SSD for boot...and a 7200RPM platter for storage...now I have to figure out which is the best SSD...lol
     
    NotebookNeophyte, Dec 23, 2011
    #9
  10. jclausius

    jclausius Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    6,160
    Messages:
    3,265
    Likes Received:
    2,573
    Trophy Points:
    231
    jclausius, Dec 23, 2011
    #10
  11. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    2,389
    Messages:
    10,552
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    456
    Don't think the 520 is out yet, but the 510 is based on the same controller as the M4.
     
    sgogeta4, Dec 25, 2011
    #11