Re-install OS, RAID0 questions.

[brucek 38]

I am about to install a new motherboard (GA-X38T-DQ6) which will mean a reinstall of the OS (WinXP SP2). I currently have 2 HD's (SATA) in RAID0 configuration, and which are also partitioned into several drives.My first question is about RAID0. My experiences to date, at least with FSX/FS9, are that RAID0 never improved I/O performance dramatically over the single SATA HD that I previously had. I believe that the segment size makes a difference, due to the small file size in FS. I do see better read times when loading up the OS (due to larger file sizes I expect). Having to re-install the OS obviously brings up the question "RAID0, or not RAID0", and I wonder if anyone has experience with it, or advice that might help me decide whether to stripe these HD's again.Secondly, if I choose not to stripe the HD's and just install them as a bunch of drives (non-RAID), what should I expect to see on the partitions when I re-install the OS? Or will I even see partitions at all? Do I need to re-format the HD?Thanks for any help,Bruce.

[Guest baksteen33]

Hi Bruce, whatever you do, best is to plan around a lot of free HD-space IMHO. If RAID, do not partition it. FWIW, I fear you might be on the lower end with (2GB) RAM if high resolutions and/or hi-end simming are the intention. 3 or 4GB would be better with 'hi-RAM' GPUs. Your previous config was better balanced in this respect with 'only' a 256MB GPU. Kind regards Jaap

[brucek 38]

Thanks Jaap,Yes, I know that I will need more RAM at some point- since I am using DDR3, I am hoping that sometime soon the price will come back down and will be more reasonable :)Thanks- I appreciate your help,Bruce.