SSD RAID

[LavCat]

Ok, some thoughts even though you seem to have solved the current dilema... Additional information would help. What are your other constraints, such as, is this a laptop? What is the Mobo/raid controller?

Hardware vs Software Raid -- If you are relying on hardware raid controller, you should be able to consult the controller's manual for requirements (which still may be bendable). It would be more important on hardware raid to ensure the components be more similar, (e.g. seek time, size, and throughput). If you are using Software raid (interrupt driven), then I think the OS would be more forgiving of slight differences. You are using CPU to create a logical RAID volume from two logical disk volumes, and most systems these days are not CPU bound. The volumes would need to be the same size, but theoretically they may not be the entirety of the physical volumes (e.g. Disk 1 is ~40 GB with one ~40 GB partition, and Disk 2 is ~80 GB with two ~40GB logical partitions). Slowest common denominator would be your expected timings, and if Disk 1 and Disk 2 were very different, then I'd expect other sync problems.

Also...

Barring other constraints like size and money... I'd want to have the SSD volume(s) dedicated to serving OS functions alone (i.e. logical C: ), and relegate other applications to a larger (500MB to 1TB) traditional hard disk (i.e. logical D. One complaint I have with Microsoft OS's in general is that they make it too easy to co-mingle OS, Virtual Memory, application executables, data, cache, and temporary files all on the boot partition. It requires quite a bit of planning and discipline to keep a dedicated boot drive clear of non-OS junk (even including MS OS updates).

Then, for certain apps that may work better on SSD, I'd hack the registry to enable moving certain crucial files to the SSD volume (executables path would be the safest way, "C:\FastApps" then D: ). Thus, your application would be installed on the D:, and subsequent updates would update to D:, but you'd need to manually move the special performance executables to C:\FastApps. If the builds were consistent enough, you might even script the file copy process.

My motherboard is an Asus M4A79T Deluxe. The raid controller is the SB750 on the motherboard. Had I gotten another Intel X25-V I was going to first try software RAID. I've never used the SB750 for RAID, but I've had less than good results from cheap motherboard RAID hardware in the past.

In general I need all the CPU cycles I can get, but my logic is that if a thread is waiting for data, it's probably not doing that much processing.

Unlike cost, size is not much of a constraint. I have ten 5 1/2 inch drive bays. Which sounds like a lot, though I had to retire an older Seagate Hawk 50-pin SCSI drive to fit the new Intel 320 Series SSD. (I do have a free drive bay but I don't have any SATA cables long enough to reach it.)

My C: drive is my DOS partition (in addition to my Windows 7 system partition and XP boot partition). My Wasteland loading time and framerates are sufficient as they are. I see no point to using SSD for my Windows 7 boot partition either. For one thing I don't trust SSD reliablity as yet. The Cheetah 15K drives do well enough for Windows. Likewise for my non-WoW application partition.

What I might try is using the now surplus Intel X25-V as the paging drive. This seemed counter intuitive to me since the Intel X25-V write times are abysmal. However I recently came across a Microsoft blog post on Windows that said paging usage was forty times more reads than writes. The Microsoft person added: "In fact, given typical pagefile reference patterns and the favorable performance characteristics SSDs have on those patterns, there are few files better than the pagefile to place on an SSD." My paging volume is on another 15K Cheetah that most probably beats the Intel X25-V on writes, but the Intel X25-V should clearly win on reads. Reliablity of my paging drive is not an issue. I could then repurpose that Cheetah or save it for a backup.

I can report that so far the new Intel 320 Series has been a complete success for WoW.

As a quondam scientist/engineer I love to tinker, and I continue to look for ways to push WoW to 60 FPS. Ways that don't involve a lot of cost. My 720 BE is a dud for overclocking. While it is perfectly stable at stock it crashes within a day at the slightest CPU overclock. Extra voltage does not seem to help. (However the L3 cache overclocks quite well.) Perhaps when Bulldozer comes out the price of Thuban will come down and I can get an upgrade.

I'd also like to get more memory. I have two 2GB sticks. I can't put in more of the same type for two reasons: the CPU cooler blocks the first two RAM sockets and the particular memory modules are no longer made. I find the subject of memory a bit complicated (at least since the days when it was core). I certainly don't want slower timings than I have. If I could find lower profile modules I might be able to stick in four. Otherwise I could opt for two 4GB modules, though these tend to not have as good timings. Another option would be to find a smaller cooler that was at least as good. Water cooling is not something I'd consider -- just ask the folks in Fukushima.

While I still welcome thoughts on RAID, at the moment RAID is academic. I think the Intel 320 Series was the best solution for me. However I'd love to hear thoughts on a memory/cooler solution that would let me use 8 gigs, preferably at fast timings. Keep in mind that this is an AMD CPU system, not Intel.