RAID PCI Express Adapter?

[ep752128]

Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I'm researching components to build my next computer and definitely want a RAID. Should I go with a RAID PCI Express Adapter from Promise or just buy a motherboard with a built-in RAID controller? I'm looking at this from a performance stand point. Do the PCI cards for RAIDS have their own processors and cache? If so are the differences in performance significant? I'm leaning towards RAID 0+1.

[The Wise Monkey]

A dedicated RAID card will definitely be more efficient, as it takes all responsibility for managing the RAID array away from the OS. The PCI cards don't have their own processors per say, but they do control the RAID array by themselves, as well as maintaining a cache.

RAID 0+1 is one of the better arrays to use - it gives performance and reliability. How many HDs are you going to be using?

[ep752128]

More than likely I'll be using four HDDs. Seagate SATA 750 GBs. RAID 0+1 is great for read speeds but heard that the writes will be slower than a single drive. Wondering if I should go with RAID 0 and get performance on both ends without data protection. Any ideas appreciated!

[The Wise Monkey]

I wouldn't advise going for just RAID 0 as although it gives a performance gain, it also doubles the chance of losing your data.

Of course writing will be slower because you will be writing to four drives instead of one... XD