Solved SSD as boot, 2 HDD in raid 0

Griffscavern

New Member
Messages
18
Location
Oregon
Hi eightforums,

I know some will ask "Why?". Suffice it to say. Because I have wanted to do this for years. This will be the only PC in my house. I haven't had one for 4 or more years. I will have an external backup drive in case the array fails.

Is this the proper way to set this up on a brand new build? No data on any disks whatsoever. My idea is to have everything prepped so I can do this:

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/4275-user-profiles-relocate-another-partition-disk.html

Do I hook everything up to my computer (SSD and HDD's) and prepare the raid array. Then disconnect the 2 HDD and start the installation of the windows until I get to step 1.2 in the tutorial I linked?

Or:

Do I just hook up the SSD and leave the HDD's in their virgin state (unhooked) with the mobo settings in raid? Since the ssd will automatically be in ahci since there is no array yet. Install windows. Then download all drivers and updates. Then set up the array?

I have been looking everywhere to find the answers. Not much luck. Those are the only 2 ways I have been able to figure out on how to set it up.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 full version
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built Intel system
    CPU
    Intel 4790k
    Motherboard
    Asus Z-97 AR
    Memory
    8 (2 x 4) GB Gskill Ares 1600 mghz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus Strix GTX 970
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Still working out the details
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB. 2 Seagate Barracuda 1 TB HDd
    PSU
    EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX
    Case
    Raidmax Vampire full tower (black)
    Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
I personally would use the second option you mentioned. Install Windows on the SSD with the motherboard set to RAID, then later set up the array.

I also gave up using RAID a long time ago. The only RAID 1 I currently have is in a NAS. While RAID 0 benchmarks faster, I could not see any real world performance benefit. Just my opinion.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64 with Media Center, Windows 10 Pro x64, Windows 7 x64 Ultimate SP1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom System
    CPU
    INTEL Xeon E5-2670 LGA 2011
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA X79 UD5 v1.0 F13s
    Memory
    64GB (8 X 8 GB) G-Skill Ripjaws Z DDR3 2133 Quad Channel
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX 1060 SC 3 GB
    Sound Card
    Realtek Onboard ALC898
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung S27E310
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 PRO 256 GB SSD
    1 x 6TB WD 6003FZBX SATA
    13 x 3TB WD 30EFRX SATA
    PSU
    Seasonic X-1050
    Case
    Thermaltake Armor+
    Cooling
    INTEL BXRTS2011LC Liquid-cooled
    Keyboard
    Logitech G510s
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless Explorer Mouse
    Internet Speed
    7.0 Mb/s
    Browser
    IE 11, Chrome
    Antivirus
    ESET NOD32 11.1, Malwarebytes Pro 3.5.1
    Other Info
    ASUS RT-AC68U router
I personally would use the second option you mentioned. Install Windows on the SSD with the motherboard set to RAID, then later set up the array.

I also gave up using RAID a long time ago. The only RAID 1 I currently have is in a NAS. While RAID 0 benchmarks faster, I could not see any real world performance benefit. Just my opinion.

About the performance increase for the raid 0. You're probably right, but when I built my last comp 10 years ago. I really wanted to use it in conjunction with the new WD 10,000 rpm raptor drives that came out. Never got to, due to personal circumstances. Never got to finish the computer the way I wanted to. Never even got to put win XP on it. Still had Milenium edition and a 20 GB HDD. So it's just been a desire for me for a long time.

Thank you pbcopter. So that plan seems more feasible in your opinion? Also, one other thing. When setting up my system I should probably use GPT over MBR. Correct? My motherboard does support uefi and I will be using 8.1 OS.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 full version
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built Intel system
    CPU
    Intel 4790k
    Motherboard
    Asus Z-97 AR
    Memory
    8 (2 x 4) GB Gskill Ares 1600 mghz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus Strix GTX 970
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Still working out the details
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB. 2 Seagate Barracuda 1 TB HDd
    PSU
    EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX
    Case
    Raidmax Vampire full tower (black)
    Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
It's your computer, but there really isn't any reason to put your data at risk, especially when your reason is that you've always wanted to. Once you set up the array, there's nothing noticeable different as compared to a larger single disk. It looks and acts the same within Windows. You're essentially doubling the risk of data loss, because if one drive goes, the data on both is toast. It's a simple setting in the BIOS, and that's it, so there really nothing to have a desire to do. It also takes up two SATA ports, and more power from the PSU than a single drive.

Since you mention this will be your primary, there shouldn't be any desire to introduce potential instability. Use a single drive, and invest that extra money in a faster processor, an external back up drive, etc. Something far more useful. Using an SSD for your system drive is definitely the way to go.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-Z77-UD3H
    Memory
    16 GB Patriot Viper 3 DDR3-1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia 470 GTX
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Hard Drives
    Crucial M4 256 GB, WD WD20EFRX 2 TB
    PSU
    OCZ 700W
    Case
    Corsair 300R
    Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
It's your computer, but there really isn't any reason to put your data at risk, especially when your reason is that you've always wanted to. Once you set up the array, there's nothing noticeable different as compared to a larger single disk. It looks and acts the same within Windows. You're essentially doubling the risk of data loss, because if one drive goes, the data on both is toast. It's a simple setting in the BIOS, and that's it, so there really nothing to have a desire to do. It also takes up two SATA ports, and more power from the PSU than a single drive.

Since you mention this will be your primary, there shouldn't be any desire to introduce potential instability. Use a single drive, and invest that extra money in a faster processor, an external back up drive, etc. Something far more useful. Using an SSD for your system drive is definitely the way to go.

Thanks Deacon. Yeah as far as it goes, I'm still up in the air about actually doing it. Right now I'm in the planning stage. I'm just researching all of my options. Trying to have everything planned out, so that when I do set up my PC I will be completely ready to go. As soon as I get the funds together I will be purchasing the parts that I have pieced together on pcpartpicker. I have 3 or 4 different configurations saved as parts lists. Thanks for the input.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 full version
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built Intel system
    CPU
    Intel 4790k
    Motherboard
    Asus Z-97 AR
    Memory
    8 (2 x 4) GB Gskill Ares 1600 mghz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus Strix GTX 970
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Still working out the details
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB. 2 Seagate Barracuda 1 TB HDd
    PSU
    EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX
    Case
    Raidmax Vampire full tower (black)
    Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
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