kevindd992002

Do I need to use MBR or GPT partition table for my 2x1TB Spinpoint F3's that would be in RAID0 setup?

I would be using Windows 7.

Also, do I need to enable SMART if I'm on RAID0? Would there be a performance increase of some sort if I disable it?

hackm0d

Go for MBR.
You should enable SMART, and it doesn't affect performance, just monitors drive health.

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LuckySe7ens

SMART is useless in RAID apparently.

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Explosm

kevindd992002

Why not GPT? Also, does Windows 7 installation "initialize" the drive just like when you plug in the new hard disk in a computer with an OS?

That's what I'm thinking, but won't SMART monitor hard disk health during pre-OS bootup?

hackm0d

If you intend to fresh install Windows 7 on a RAID0 array, then you have to initialise the array from your SATA controller's BIOS interface, I think. Check your motherboard manual for instructions.
On Asus boards like mine it's a simple matter of going into the BIOS and enabling RAID0, confirming that both drives will be reformatted, and you're done. Then you can install Windows on your array like you normally would.
SMART will monitor disk health but it's useless since even if one of your disks is reported to be bad your entire array will have crashed anyway, since RAID0 writes half the data on each drive.

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LuckySe7ens

Sorry i wish i had more details for you, i just read something about it recently on here. Hopefully someone will chime in. Something about SMART cant read the indivdual HDD's b/c it sees the whole array as one HDD?

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kevindd992002

Thanks. How about the Native SATA port feature, do I need to enable it or leave it at disabled (legacy SATA)?

If you intialize the drive in a Windows OS (with MBR) before actually installing Win7 in it, is it the same as installing Win7 right away in the hard disk fresh from the box?

the_beast

Generally unless you have problems with your OS or mobo, or have other reasons for not doing so (TRIM support for one) you should enable all the performance options. This includes all the native options & AHCI etc.

Once you have installed the OS don't change the above settings unless you have read up on the effects beforehand though - doing so will usually result in a BSOD during boot, and although usually relatively easy to fix it is easier to not run into the problems beforehand.

Windows should be able to re-initialize any disk and treat it as though it were new. Obviously if the disk had been used before all data will be lost.

kevindd992002

You can't enable AHCI if you're on RAID right?

hackm0d

You can leave it enabled, but in some cases this may cause the HDD to not be recognised by the installer. If this happens, turn it off, and you'll be fine.
No. If you initialize the RAID0 array then the installer will see it as one big disk, if you don't it'll be seen as two separate HDDs.
If you're asking about single drives, it is, except the partition table (MBR in your case) is already made.

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