Ideal HDD Gaming Set Up

The "ideal" gaming harddrive is a fast single harddrive. This would be a Raptor or a 15K RPM SCSI. With enough RAM, you shouldn't have to worry about having a seperate drive for swap files, etc.

Now a word of warning. Get these only if your budget allows for it. Don't get a raptor and a 7600GT. Get a Seagate 7200.10 320GB drive and a 7950GT. The 7950GT setup will provide better frame rates then the Raptor setup because the video card is stronger. (video cards will effect gameplay more then then harddrive.) The only way I would buy a Raptor and a lower video card is if I knew I would be getting more money soon and would only be using the 7600GT for a short period of time.

This is a tough one. Do you have a different PC you can use as a fileserver? How much money do you really want to spend on hard drives? How much storage do you need? What secondary applications will you be using? Is it JUST for gaming? Or is this one PC going to be your media storage box as well? Will you be encoding large files? Etc.

Ideally you'll want a RAID0 (stripped) array with a small chunk size (so OS files are fast) of as many Raptors as you can afford. 2 is great, 4 is better.

4x 150GB SATA 10k RPM WD Raptors = probably the fastest solution for encoding/gaming, but it is very expensive. (Other than SCSI setup, which is beyond the purview of a "Gaming PC" )

Your best bet (without infinite funds) is to get 1 Raptor, use that as your system drive, and 1+ Seagate 320GB hard drive(s) for storage.

There is some argument as to whether RAID0 of Raptors (2+) is better for gaming. It is *for sure* better for pure-speed applications like uncompressing stuff or encoding video files....

Hard Drives should be a secondary concern if you're strapped for funds. One Seagate 320GB SATA2 is fine in a pinch. Make sure you get good ram, motherboard, processor, video card and powersupply first. Hard drive is a really simple upgrade later if you're dissatisfied with a cheap(er) hard drive.

Hi telim

This build will be just for gaming and on line nothing ells as for budget i can handle mid range crossfire on a Abit AW9D-MAX Intel 975X , DUO E6600 and thinking Team Xtreem 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 Dual Channel Kit so i would be better with Raptors instead of Seagate, thank you for your help

Babe

Whoa whoa this is for a mid-range budget gaming system?

Definitely get two WD 160GBs or Seagate 250GBs (or 320GBs) and raid them together. It'll be cheaper and much larger and faster.

The raptor (s) are only if you have cash to burn.

Two 160GBs in a raid0 will destroy 1 raptor and the 2 drives will actually cost a LOT less.

-tel

Get:

2x SEAGATE 320Gb 7200rpm 16M SATA2 U300 (# ST3320620AS) 5-YR MAN Warranty $100.99

or

2x WD 250G 7200RPM 16M RAID SATA3 (WD2500YS) -- NEW $82.50

or
2x SEAGATE 250Gb 7200rpm 16M U150 SATA2 (# ST3250620AS) 5-YR MAN Warranty $83.99

----
Any of those will be FASTER, much much larger and much cheaper than
1x WD 150GB 10000RPM SATA (U150) 16M - RAPTORS SERIES (# WD150ADFD) $258.00

-tel

yeah, raptors are no doubt less cost effective per gigabyte... at the very least, it would make a for a responsive system when used as an OS & app hdd...

for example, the cheapest current raptor is $100, for the 36GB 16MB ADFD model (its the same speed as the 74GB ($150) and 150GB ($200+) ADFDs, mainly due to them all having the same sized 74GB platters)

but, that will certainly make your system more responsive (and offer most likely better performance for most desktop situations) than going with raid 0, for *possibly* less money

then just have a larger slower hdd for storage, media, and anything else

I knew it would turn to this sooner or later...

You can use AID0, but I don't suggest it for a gaming machine. First, there is little REAL WORLD benefit to using AID0 on the desktop. Second, I do not suggest using an AID0 array as your OS drive, as WHEN the array fails, you'll have to reinstall EVERYTHING. This is why I said your best buy is a fast, SINGLE drive. If you have the $$$, get a Raptor and ignore AID0. Because these drives are so small, get a larger harddrive for storage. This will give you speed if you need it, and the space to store things.

Toms isn't the only violator either. Even storagereview only shows synthetic benchies when they test drives. (at least the last time I looked.) I wish places would show more then just the synthetic benchies that make AID0 look like hot $h!t. Window might load a few seconds faster, and your game MIGHT load one to two seconds faster, but it shouldn't change your FPS. If you want speed, spend it on your GPU, CPU and RAM. Worry about soundcards and RAID arrays once you've maxed those three out.

The lack of the R in AID0 is just why no body in their right minds should set such an array up. go for RAID1 instead. for 200$ u'll get 320GB (thats 320 "marketing GBs" ) With the added redundancy of a RAID1 array.

Actually if you want integrity nothing beats RAID 5. The reason I suggested raid 1 was because so many people were recommending the that OP gets 2 HDD and sets up a (R)AID0 array. Even with the infallibility of todays drives sthat is something that nobody should do. Alo there is a slight (and I mean slight) performance gain with RAID1 too.

I am sorry we do tend to get carried away forgetting the original question

To answer your question go for a single drive (those new Seagates are looking good. they cost about 100$ for 320 GB here) unless your data is very important and you require redundancy (which I doubt) you don't need raid or 2 drives.

No need to go for an extreme solution (like the WDs or SCSI) since I guess you are not totally hardware crazy like some of us are

So to answer your question in your case I would go for a 300-320GB (they have the best value per GB currently) and split it up into 2-3 partitions.

If you want to do extra reading on RAID the wikipedia article is a good place 2 start.

Serial Attached SCSI 15k (x4)
Set those boys up in a Stripe and let the good times roll...

I'm going to add my two pence worth (it would be rude not too). I only partially agree with the above. I think if you have a decent backup strategy, i.e. you have network-based storage or a third disk you backup onto using an automatic tool, then RAID 0 is the way to go. RAID 0 does provide a concrete performance increase on your disk subsystem, although granted this only provides more marginal benefits in games, but the benefit is there. The trouble with RAID 0 is fallibility, which is why you need the backup strategy.

With the current price of HDDs for the users purpose RAID0 would be the best option. The size I recommended (300-320) offers the best price per GB so if the op gets 2 smaller HDD he will be paying more. IF he gets 2 of those......... I don't think that he will need 600GB 8O
As you said it only provide marginal benefits in games and I don't think that the extra costs are justified in the case of the OP. He dosen't seem like a guy who needs to spend an extra 100$ for a 5 fps increase

ummm guy? *points at op's username*

Well no but she doesn't need to get drives that big just because it has the best price per GB. Maybe a smaller one works out a higher price per GB but she's still going to be saving cash by buying smaller drives. So it's up to her really.

She asks what the ideal HDD setup is for games, and in my opinion it's RAID 0. She prob won't even get 1 fps increase, what she'll get is Windows booting quicker, game levels loading faster, etc... But the decision about whether to spend an extra 33 to 50% on hard drives for RAID 0 is hers not yours. I'm just giving her the information she needs to make her own decision.

(Edited for gender correctness )

Hey Cyberbabe, if you don't have plans tomorrow maybe we could do something together. I was thinking a nice romantic evening of newegg shopping and WoW... Maybe we could even work on that gaming rig off yours. How does that sound? 8)

Just kidding. But if money is no object then the IDEAL setup would be 4 (or more) 15k Serial Attached SCSI drives in a 16 to 32kb Stripe.

Q6700
ASUS Stryker Extreme
4GB Corsair XMS2 Dominator DDR2 800
eVGA 8800GTX ( x2 )
15k Seraial Attached SCSI ( x8 )
Tagan 1100kW PSU

Prometia Phase Change Cooler for the CPU
DIY 1/2" Liquid Cooling loop for the HDDs
DIY 1/2" Liquid Cooling loop for the video cards
DIY Refrigeration Unit for the coolant

Cooler Master Stacker 830 Evo Case

Why optis? They are no where near as good as the Q6700.

Agree but not when the optis are set up as in the link. Check it out!

I word of friendly warning. Do not take everything what we say at face value. If you go to almost any post you can see that it is very rare that everybody comes to a consensus on anything (unless its to flame BM )

Just consider this a place where you can be pointed in the right direction. You should do a bit of research and make your own decision.

Welcome to the club!