I am a totally newbie to RAID setups.

Right now I have a MAXTOR 250 GB 7200 RPM hard-drive.
I am planning to buy 2xraptor 10 000 RPM and run them in a RAID.

What do I need to do in order to get maximum performance?

Maxtor will be the storage drive, while the raptors will be for games, windows etc.

newbie and raid dont mix

maybe a single raptor would be better for you. the performance is still top notch on a single raptor.

you could pick up a couple of dirt cheap 80gb drives for $40/piece to do some raid experiments first.

No, 2x raptor = better performance

yes it does. in your case, being a newbie, i would suggest you take many precautions and back up regularly until you get a grasp of raid.

you will have to be careful of improper shutdowns as this is the leading cause of raid 0 degradation. good memory is also key as raid systems will develop data corruption much more quickly than a non-raid system

raid 0 will give best performance for 2x HDD
OS and Programs on the Array
Data backup on the other drive.

8k/16k stripe if you plan on having lots of tiny files

64k is the default and is good for just about anything.

128k if you plan on having lots of large files on your array like dvd rips and so forth.

No, 2x raptor = better performance

The speed difference is not worth the data risk

I have two and now run them as two (no raid)

Please.. :Right now I have a MAXTOR 250 GB 7200 RPM hard-drive.
I am planning to buy 2xraptor 10 000 RPM and run them in a RAID.

What do I need to do in order to get maximum performance?

I already answered this. If you are dead set on doing raid then Raid 0 will give you the best performance.

There is nothing else you can do. There is no magic setup or program.

I already answered this. If you are dead set on doing raid then Raid 0 will give you the best performance.

There is nothing else you can do. There is no magic setup or program.

What I ment is: shall I run the raptors in a raid? Where shall I then have my 250 GB MAXTOR?

I agree but the OP is pretty set on doing a Raid setup. Its his headache if it fails, not mine.

There wont be a major increase by going with raid.

My suggestion is One 74GB Raptor for your OS and Programs. The 250 for Data storage. There is little point in 2 raptors if you wont use raid.

There wont be a major increase by going with raid.

My suggestion is One 74GB Raptor for your OS and Programs. The 250 for Data storage. There is little point in 2 raptors if you wont use raid.

"There wont be a major increase by going with raid.", "There is little point in 2 raptors if you wont use raid." So you are contradicting yourself?
I dont understand, you got me all confused. I have seen reviews where it's clear that running 2 raptors in a raid increases the performance, does it not?
What does data-security basicly mean? That if I turn off my PC the data will be lost?

Raid shows its muscle when there is a sustained transfer or you are working with large files. (long periods of heavy usage)

Im saying that one raptor will suit your needs and give you plenty of performance increase over the 250GB HDD you already have.

If you go for two raptors then you should use Raid. There is a performance increase but it will be a small on in most cases, in a few things it will show a major increase.

Data security means that you will really have to be patient with shutdowns and startups. If something goes slowly or doesnt start correctly, hard booting your system can damage an array. You will need to keep around a disaster recovery disk or an image of your array in case things go badly.

You need to weigh these different things accordingly to make the best decision for yourself.

It's a little hard to tell a noob not to do something....after all we where ALL noob's at once....it's called learning....

Also its not like if you mess up on raid anything is busted...you can just rebuild(from scratch....but the drives are not "damaged" )

Been running raid for years on different systems.....

Sorry it's not that hard....

Get the drives connect then up....enter the build utility(Ctrl+i for intel Ctrl + f for fasttrack...ect)

Tell the utility you want performance(raid 0). Tell it you want to use the 2 raptors.....initialize/make bootable

DONE....well almost

you will also need a driver disk for the raid driver....if you use onboard motherboard....then the driver CD should have a file to make this.. if not it should come with the card....

Ok all set....make sure the bios is set to boot from CD(1st), Raid0/Whatever the controller calls it(2nd)

Save....pop in the floppy disk and windows cd...

During windows setup it will tell you to hit F6 for third party SCSI/Raid drivers....so hit F6.....

now install windows like normal(some times you have to tell it what driver to use.....just use whatever matches the hardware in question...).....

Now that you are in windows....take a minute to enjoy the raid0 speed advantage.

NOTE

i did not list the 250gig drive as windows can do odd shit with extra drives...like make your c: into a f:.... so Before you install windows make sure you just have the drive you want plugged.....Also do not have card readers or mp3players/flash sticks plugged in....

Once windows is installed with all drivers....shut down...plug in your 250 boot up...let windows detect it...

If you do not like the drive letter assigned to it...just go into disk management and move your CD/DVD drive up to anther letter then give the drive the desired letter.....also note if its a new drive you can format and partition it in disk management.

Last thing to note is...as said by some...if one drive in raid0 goes it may(not always) take all data with it. but thats what to the 250 is for....

A WORD ON BACKUP
If you are worried about losing files then you should just make sure to burn back-ups of important stuff monthly(or weekly if you make files often)

Also consider an external drive(250-320) for monthly(or weekly) backups.... and keep it off at all other times to extend its life and keep any potential virus(scan often of course ) spreads off of it......

What is an array?
Basicly I will need that performance. When I play World of Warcraft at maximum quality @ 1680x1050 the fps i ~20-50. When I start frapsing it is going down to ~10-30 - which is bad. I want it to be 40+
From what I have heard, FRAPS uses no more than 10% of the graphics performance (I have an 7800gt, 256 MB. 1,5 GB RAM. AMD 4000+ CPU), so it would totally depend on the bandwidth of the HDD's?

I do not know how to plug in or install RAID HHD's. I connect the HDD I have now to a specific port in the moderboard. Could you perhaps show how to connect the RAID with the 2x raptors? And then where to plug in the 250 GB HDD? A pic of the moderboard: http://www.asus.com/products.aspx? [...] odelmenu=1

Do I get better performance of buying 2x raptors than 1x?