Raid controller card?

[Mrcold1]

Hi Folks-

im trying to get the best of both worlds... i want the SSD supported by TRIM in windows 7 AND the ability to have a HD RAID 1 array. i know the Drive type setting in the MOBO BIOS needs to be ACHI in order to get TRIM support, which does not allow me to run a RAID array. my questions is, if i get a PCIe RAID controller card, will i be able to set the drives on the card differently than the drives connected to the MOBO? i recently switched to RAID MODE in my BIOS settings to allow for the RAID, but i can tell the SSD drive is losing its "snap".

[Vecna6667]

Unfortunately, Windows doesn't support the TRIM command on a RAID array. The good news is that current SSD garbage collection algorithms have improved to make TRIM more of a bonus, though not enough to use an SSD in any RAID array except a RAID 0 for raw speed in my opinion as long as you have a backup image to reinstall from via a system repair disk.

[FMod]

Do you REALLY need it or is just "cool I want it?"

 

SSD benefit very little from RAID, while compromising longevity, data security, and, with time, access times, since each individual SSD is unique and they can't be spin-locked like HDDs can.

 

Just connect the SSD separately, in practical use they won't be any slower than in RAID and later in life might even perform better.

 

 

edit: There are a few legitimate uses for SSD in RAID, like servers (where they have to be one drive anyway) and uncompressed video editing where raw throughput is all that's needed, although a 4-wide Raptor array competes strongly there.

Edited July 23, 2012 by FMod