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    Momentus XT 750gb vs two 500gb 7200rpm in raid 0

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by spybenj, Jul 18, 2012.

  1. spybenj

    spybenj Notebook Deity

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    What would be faster?

    Just a Momentus XT 750gb, or two 500gb standard 7200rpm drives in raid 0?

    And would a normally 750gb drive with a 50gb ssd for caching be the fastest?
     
  2. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

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    Even a (smallish) 32GB SSD for caching plus a 5400 RPM (1TB, for example) would be faster than any other configuration you list (except if this will be used for video editing...).
     
  3. Abidderman

    Abidderman Notebook Deity

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    I don't know about the caching as I have not tried it, but if you use the SSD for the OS and use a HDD for storage, it will give you the best speed along with room for data.

    As to the SSD, is it a SSD or a mSata? Larger SSD's give both better performance and room for programs and overprovisioning.

    Do you have dual bays, a HDD bay and mSata or drive bay and a caddy replacing the ODD? If mSata and it is a cost issue, then someone that has used both caching and OS for the mSata can answer. If dual drive bays, then a larger size 2.5" SSD (128GB or larger) and HDD would be best. I replaced my ODD with a caddy for the HDD and use an external ODD on the rare occasion I need an ODD. I put my OS and most used/needed programs on the SSD, and use the HDD for storage.

    Short answer, SSD and HDD would be faster. Which of the 2 in your sig will this be in?
     
  4. Abidderman

    Abidderman Notebook Deity

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    Tiller, is caching on SSD faster than OS and HDD? I know you deal with this all the time, but I have never tried caching yet. Thanks in advance.
     
  5. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

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    For 'normal' workloads, yes caching is faster overall than having the O/S on the SSD and the data on the HDD - for specific types of workloads (video editing being a major one) then caching will be slower, overall and RAID0 of two 7200 RPM drives will be faster (sustained).

    If the OP could let us know what the specific use of this system will be, we can make more helpful suggestions.
     
  6. Abidderman

    Abidderman Notebook Deity

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    Thanks for the reply. I have not tried caching, but I will look into it.
     
  7. jclausius

    jclausius Notebook Virtuoso

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    Faster at doing what? Faster at reading files over and over again? Faster at random reads? Faster at writing? What kinds of applications are in use? What kinds of files? What are average file sizes? Average size of required reads/writes?

    A lot more info is needed to answer this question.
     
  8. trvelbug

    trvelbug Notebook Prophet

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    Isnt ssd caching only available with ivy bridge mother boards?

    Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
     
  9. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

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    On laptops, maybe, but on desktop, the Z68 chipset which is SNB supports SRT. However, i suppose you could go for a third party caching algorithm.