SSD RAID / 1 HDD config versus semi solid state HDD RAID / 1 SSD solution
Guys - this is really helpful - I checked out this Tom's hardware article (
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sata-6gbps-performance-sata-3gbps,3110-8.html) on the SATA II versus SATA III question.
Based on this article there are benchmark performance gains on SATA III, but I asked the wrong question in the first place, because while the real-world performance difference between SATA connections may be negligible (according to the article) and so may not be worth the cost of buying more drives for me, the real HD performance difference between Mr. Fox’s drive config and the one I was considering is the:
1) difference in SATA speeds,
plus
2) introduction of RAID 0 SSD,
plus
3) assumption that some games are kept on the SSD RAID (which will speed up games that stream like Crysis).*
For me to pull the trigger and buy another SSD (and potentially a high capacity HDD for the optical bay), the gains in gaming speeds would need to be significantly affected. I play a lot of heavily modded Skyrim for instance, and would love to never see another hitch in it. Put another way, is the boost of a (SSD RAID / 1 HDD) config versus a (semi solid state HDD RAID / 1 SSD solution) worth an estimated $500 in new drives total (estimating 250 for a second SSD and a high capacity HDD)? We’re getting into 680M SLI territory with those costs.
Bottom line, would an SSD RAID smoke my semi-solid state RAID (+ SSD boot drive) for game performance by a significant FPS margin? I just have to decide if that performance is worth approx. $500 more (beyond SSD I already bought), or should I just wait until 680Ms are available for the M18X R1's and put the $$ towards that.
Thanks so much for your advice! Also, I’m trying to make this decision quick...amazon is honoring cyber Monday all week. If I do it, can anyone recommend a fast/cheap/high capacity/reliable HDD for the optical bay?
* Point #3 above assumes that Steam allows users to install some games on the SSD RAID and some on the HDD. Not sure if Steam has the flexibility to allow some games to be installed in one location and others installed in another, but seems like it should. Anyone know this?
What Matty said, SATA 3 runs faster than SATA 2, so if you want the best performances you can get you need to put the SSD in one of the standard bays.