14 replies to this topic

[duelistgamer]

Can anyone suggest a good RAID card that wont bottleneck recent SSDs?

It should be at least PCIE 2.0 x4 (for two drives), and obviously have SATA III native mode.

I want something that wont bottleneck, but wont cost much either.

I dont know if I will buy one, but if I do I want to have my options open. Thanks

[Challenger]

if you've got a decent recent motherboard then the onboard should be fine for raid 0.... If you want a DECENT raid card then you'll have to go for something like an Areca but you won't find one for below $500....

Tbh though if I were you i'd get a 30-60GB SSD for your OS then a larger SSD for games and stuff as RAID with SSDs for gaming atleast is kinda pointless.... Not sure about the iops hit with an onboard raid controller either...

[duelistgamer]

Challenger, on 24 October 2011 - 02:07 PM, said:

if you've got a decent recent motherboard then the onboard should be fine for raid 0.... If you want a DECENT raid card then you'll have to go for something like an Areca but you won't find one for below $500....

Tbh though if I were you i'd get a 30-60GB SSD for your OS then a larger SSD for games and stuff as RAID with SSDs for gaming atleast is kinda pointless.... Not sure about the iops hit with an onboard raid controller either...

My mobo's marvell 9128 SATA III controller is a joke (I have an Asus Rampage III Extreme), which is why I want a RAID card.

I've already ordered for two OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS 120GB Drives and I plan to do something like this:

http://www.trubritar...orage-tutorial/

Are Intel cards any good?

I dont want something that can connect many drives. Just need something that can handle two SATA III SSDs and provide at least 1200MB/s throughput combined in RAID 0.

[Challenger]

ah yea shame you don't have the intel 6gb raid controller on your board. TBH you'd have probably been better off with a revodrive if you are fixed on raid SSD. Have a go with the Marvell and see what throughput and iops you get with it and then think about getting a proper raid card if it is not up to scratch.

[duelistgamer]

Well the 9128 controller uses a single PCIe 2.0 link, or 312.5MB/s, so it will be worse than SATA II

The revo drives are more expensive. I paid less than $500 for two Vertex 3 max IOPS drives including priority shipping and customs deposit.

[Righthooks]

Do you plan on upgrading this coming year?

If you do, a RAID card may be a loss as an investment. Some of the newer and upcoming chipset boards have excellent returns on RAID 0 with SATA III.

Just my input.

-Hooks

[duelistgamer]

No mobo upgrade for the next few years im afraid.

Otherwise I wouldnt consider a RAID Card

[Righthooks]

duelistgamer, on 25 October 2011 - 10:09 AM, said:

No mobo upgrade for the next few years im afraid.

Otherwise I wouldnt consider a RAID Card

I have little experience with newer PCI-E controllers. I have not required a separate RAID controller since around the nForce launch. I would look at "areca" controllers, they were the best back then...probably still are now.

-Hooks

[duelistgamer]

I've read a comparision on Tom's Hardware. Of the four, the two good ones were in the excess of $500.(Areca and LSI 8 port PCIE 2.0 x8 interface SAS)

Is intel good?

[Righthooks]

duelistgamer, on 25 October 2011 - 10:40 AM, said:

I've read a comparision on Tom's Hardware. Of the four, the two good ones were in the excess of $500.(Areca and LSI 8 port PCIE 2.0 x8 interface SAS)

Is intel good?

Does the following do anything for you? http://www.newegg.co...N82E16816103229 It has a 6Gb/s threshold, and damn decent features for RAID 0 for the price.

-Hooks

[duelistgamer]

no

http://www.tomshardw...er,3028-16.html

this is the economy version of the 4-port variant of that card.

Edited by duelistgamer, 25 October 2011 - 11:51 AM.

[Righthooks]

duelistgamer, on 25 October 2011 - 11:50 AM, said:

no

http://www.tomshardw...er,3028-16.html

I see, maybe you need someone more frequent on RAID cards to give you advice. It isn't my forte.

-Hooks

[Challenger]

tbh... as your not doing RAID5 see what your current one bottlenecks to....

If it is really low then we'll have a look what the throughput of the intel SB controller is like... it may actually be cheaper to buy a new mobo rather than a raid card.

This is kinda why the revodrive is great value. Revodrive is cheaper than 2xSSD + Raid Controller

Or as I said you could just have the two drives separate and not RAID them.... the benefit for games will be almost unnoticeable... and a cheap raid controller may be worse than a single drive!

[duelistgamer]

Hmm. I will see what bottleneck I have.

What should I use to check? ATTO or IOMeter?

[duelistgamer]

Just came across this:



Its performance wont be very good in SATA II

Is RAID 5 better than RAID 10?

Also, can I do Hybrid RAID 10 with 2 SSDs and 1 HDD?

Edited by duelistgamer, 25 October 2011 - 01:25 PM.