RAID with 5600 and 7200rpm drives?

[SXRguyinMA]

Ok I've got a 1.5TB 5600 RPM drive now. I'm looking at this 1.5TB 7200RPM (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4138742&sku=TSD-1500AS)drive that I'll do a fresh install in for my Tempest build, and use the windows software RAID to mirror it with the second 1.5TB drive. That is if it won't cause any issues with the speed difference. Anyone know? :think:

[x88x]

I don't know, tbh. I would think though, that you would get at least the performance of the 5600RPM drive.

[SXRguyinMA]

ok now noob question. I've never set up a RAID config before. I scooped up an Asus P5E deluxe from Trace. If I install both 1.5TB drives into the system with hardware RAID and do a fresh install, how would I go about setting it up?

[x88x]

During the boot sequence somewhere, it should prompt you to press some button or combination of buttons to enter the RAID configuration utility. Your MBB should come with more detailed instructions for whatever system the board comes with.

[Drum Thumper]

Usually it is Ctrl+F for RAID setup on motherboards. Not 100% sure on the ASUS, but that is the keystroke that I have used on Gigabyte, MSI and Biostar boards.

[Luke122]

CTRL+I I believe... I'm curious to see if it will let you do this with mismatched drives..

Keep us posted!

[SXRguyinMA]

will do! :devious:

[mDust]

It'll work. The only issue will be that it only runs as fast as the slowest drive. If the disks were different capacities, the array would only be the size of the smallest drive. RAID doesn't force you to use identical disks, but it's a good idea to do so for the above reasons.

[SXRguyinMA]

ahhh ok. I think I'll pass on it then.TBH I don't really notice any less performance with my 5600rpm drive than I did with my 400GB 7200rpm one. That 400GB now resides in an external case, and I use that for backup, so I'll save the $75 and spend it on somethin else

[mDust]

ahhh ok. I think I'll pass on it then.TBH I don't really notice any less performance with my 5600rpm drive than I did with my 400GB 7200rpm one. That 400GB now resides in an external case, and I use that for backup, so I'll save the $75 and spend it on somethin else

If you're looking for performance, you want data striping not mirroring. Data mirroring (RAID 1) is used to create 2 or more identical drives for fault tolerance. Data striping (RAID 0) is used to combine the throughput of 2 or more drives for increased performance. Configuring RAID 0 with a 5600rpm drive and a 7200rpm drive is the same as 2 5600rpm drives which will still perform better than the single 5600rpm drive. So it still wouldn't hurt to do it, it's just wasted potential for the 7200rpm drive as it will finish writing and have to wait for the 5600rpm drive to catch up before more data will be written to the array.
My personal advice: skip the RAID 0 and save your $75 for a nice SSD which will blow your RAID 0 out of the water without breaking a sweat.

[Mark_Hardware]

I have a WD green drive in RAID with some Samsung 7200 rpm drives... Never ran any performance tests, but I've never ran into any problems....

[SXRguyinMA]

different capacities or all the same?

[Mark_Hardware]

Me? Mine are all 2tb's