Can someone be a pal (Raid 0)

674 Views 29 Replies 14 Participants Last post by DJZeratul, Mar 17, 2009

ThatKidNamedRocky

Discussion Starter · Mar 16, 2009

Im looking to have Raid 0 on my sig Rig.

Wanted to know with the Hard Drives i have now is it possible.

i have 200GB, 250gb, and a 160gb they are all sata drives.

If not what drive would u recomend i get.

if so

could u guide me on how to set it up

Thanks

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Microsis

· #2 · Mar 16, 2009

You need to have the exact same size drive to RAID(0) (if not the same exact hard drive).

tehmaggot

· #3 · Mar 16, 2009

You can raid different drives with different sizes. The larger one simply gets "scaled down" to the size of the smaller one.

I'm not familiar with your motherboard, but I'm somewhat sure the option will be somewhere in the BIOS.

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The_0ctogon

· #4 · Mar 16, 2009

They will work. Just go into your mobo BIOS and look for something like "SATA Mode" and set it to RAID. That will invoke the RAID BIOS to run during boot. When the RAID BIOS screen comes up during boot (you should be able to easily tell it's for the RAID) press whatever key it says to enter setup. Once there, setup the array (pretty straightforward). Good luck

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uberjon

· #5 · Mar 16, 2009

2

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_0ctogon

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They will work. Just go into your mobo BIOS and look for something like "SATA Mode" and set it to RAID. That will invoke the RAID BIOS to run during boot. When the RAID BIOS screen comes up during boot (you should be able to easily tell it's for the RAID) press whatever key it says to enter setup. Once there, setup the array (pretty straightforward). Good luck

please DO remember to backup your data though! as any drives you put into the array will be wiped clean!

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Diabolical999

· #6 · Mar 16, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Microsis

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You need to have the exact same size drive to RAID(0) (if not the same exact hard drive).

Nope, wrong. I'm running not only different-sized hdds in RAID 0, but different brands. Stripe size 128k, and 150MB/s performance.

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jam3s

· #7 · Mar 16, 2009

You dont have to use the same size drives, but it's recommended that you use the same size identical drives for easiest use for doing a RAID0.

If you search the forums here there's quite a bit of info on how to setup RAID.

You need to setup your RAID first by entering the RAID bios and after you're done creating it, you'll have to install windows as if you'd normally install it.

You just have to load the raid driver during windows installation.

edit: here is a great guide http://www.legitreviews.com/article/454/1/

Reactions: 1

DJZeratul

· #8 · Mar 16, 2009

Just a heads up, if you RAID0 all of them, your resulting disk will be 160x3=480GB instead of 250+200+160=610GB so you are losing a total of 130GB usable space by using RAID0.

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heathmcabee

· #9 · Mar 16, 2009

Your raid config will take the size/ doubled of the lowest GB drive. So you will only have a 400GB raid drive when you raid both the 200 and the 250. Not hard to setup really, just head to bios and do a clean slate with the install. Best of luck to ya!

Reactions: 1

Apt Quadruped

· #10 · Mar 16, 2009

I recommend looking in the manual for your motherboard to see how to setup a RAID array. From my experience every motherboard is different with its onboard setup.

Reactions: 1

ThatKidNamedRocky

Discussion Starter · #11 · Mar 17, 2009

Ok so i setup my raid 0

i formated the drives and stuff but when i go to install vista it does not see any of my drivers even the 160gb one that i didnt Raid

DJZeratul

· #12 · Mar 17, 2009

You probably need to install the Intel RAID drivers now (get them off your mobo cd or from Intel's website)

If you dont have the mobo cd, use a flash drive to copy the driver then when you install Vista there should be a button that says "Load Drivers" and you can select them off of the flash drive (or the mobo cd if you have it)

EDIT LOL i didnt see you had an AMD board. Replace INTEL with WHATEVER YOUR BOARD MANUFACTURER USES

sorry dude...

-djz

Reactions: 1

t_russell

· #13 · Mar 17, 2009

If all three drives are on the same controller it may not see the third one as it is not part of an array. As for why it doesn't see the RAID 0 set, Vista may not have the driver for your controller in which case you will need to put it on a floppy and enter it in manually. I know Vista has Intel's drivers but I don't know what controller the AMD boards use.

Reactions: 1

ThatKidNamedRocky

Discussion Starter · #14 · Mar 17, 2009

nvm forgot to install driver lol

got scared cause though i needed a floppy but i had an external cd driver laying around so i think its working now.

how will i know raid is working?

Edit

Thanks guys

DJZeratul

· #15 · Mar 17, 2009

if the drives show up, RAID is working

Also, you should be able to get a software RAID manager of some kind for your chipset... if it has one, it should have come with the driver CD/floppy or can be found on the web

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t_russell

· #16 · Mar 17, 2009

It should be transparent but you can run HDTach and get your performance numbers. Use xp compatibility mode for this app.

DJZeratul

· #17 · Mar 17, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by t_russell

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It should be transparent but you can run HDTach and get your performance numbers. Use xp compatibility mode for this app.

Another option is HD Tune which will show you both read and write speeds (if you get Pro, which has a 15 day trial I think).

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Lunchbox21984

· #18 · Mar 17, 2009

if i was you, i would buy another 250gb just do a raid 0 with 2 250's. just my 2 cents

FearlessLdr88

· #19 · Mar 17, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThatKidNamedRocky

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how will i know raid is working?

All of the drives will show up as one.

I.E. my 3x 640's show up as a 1.74 GB HD.

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ThatKidNamedRocky

Discussion Starter · #20 · Mar 17, 2009

cool its working installed vista and a couple of other programs

everything is faster now

glad i sacrificed the 50GB

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