HELP - New AMD System...

PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
edited October 2003 in Hardware
All,
tomorrow I start another new computer journey. I'm trading in my Gigabyte 7VRXP (Yeah, I know terrible mobo choice!) for a new system with these components:

-Abit NF7-S
-AMD 2500+
-ROCKETRAID 404
-4 WD JB 200GBs (for RAID 1+0)
-512 MB of PC3500 Kingston HyperX
-Pioneer AO5 DVD-RW
-MSI GF4Ti4400
-Windows XP

Any tips or advice are greatly appreciated and welcome. I plan on partitioning the RAID array into 3 partitions for the OS, Applications, and Data.

Thanks,
Preach

Comments

  • leishi85leishi85 Grand Rapids, MI Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    everything looks good expect for teh video card, and i suppose u don't play much games, so once again
    everything looks top notch.
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Yeah...I know the GF4Ti4400s are outdated, but I'm waiting until HL2 and Doom 3 are released to drop some coin on a newer Nvidia or ATI card.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    How much is that 4400? You may be able to pick up ti4200 for less that'll end up at ti4600 speeds...

    Any particular reason you want RAID 0+1?
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Thrax,
    The 4400 is a transplant from the current system. Just a placeholder.....it didn't cost me anything.

    As for for RAID 1+0, I have lots of Music and Movies, so I need to have the backup of RAID 1 and the performance of RAID 0. Is there a better option you think?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Well, I was going to say that RAID (Striped) arrays can actually be hellish on sensitive data. If one drive goes, the whole array goes. There IS data recovery, but it's complicated and extremely time consuming. Mirroring is good for data integrity, but the damn mode costs a fortune.

    You're not REALLY doing anything (as far as I know) that requires the speed of a striped array.

    I dunno...I'd just use regular drives. The risks of RAID scare me.
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    What is the recovery system for 0+1 using the rocketraid?
    I have seen some systems listed as 0+1 and some as 1+0, is there a difference?
    The RR has a good reputation. I'd go for it. I would like to see some drive scores after you get it built.
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    ed,
    I know there is a difference between RAID 0+1 and RAID 1+0. This is quoted directly from Spinner's nice RAID FAQ Thread here:

    http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=195

    "RAID 0+1

    RAID Level 0+1 is the result of RAID-1 applied to a RAID-0 array/s. This will create a very fast array. If the RAID-0 controllers (hardware or software) are capable of returning an error for data requests to failed drives, then this array has all the abilities of RAID-10 See Below. If an entire RAID-0 array is disabled when one drive fails, this becomes only slightly more reliable then RAID-0.
    To recover from a failed disk, it is necessary to replace the failed disk, and rebuild the entire RAID-0 array from its mirror. This requires much more disk I/O than is required to recover from a disk failure in RAID-10. It should be noted that some enterprise-level RAID controllers are capable of tracking which drives in a RAID-0 array have failed, and only rebuilding that drive. These controllers are very expensive.

    RAID 1+0 (RAID 10)

    RAID Level 1+0 is the result of RAID-0 applied to multiple RAID-1 arrays. This will create a very fast, stable array. In this array, it is possible to have multiple disk failures, without loosing any data, and with a minimum performance impact. To recover from a failed disk, it is necessary to replace the failed disk, and rebuild that disk from its mirror."

    Based on his recommendations as well as a recent article in Maximum PC, I'm going with RAID 1+0.
  • ClutchClutch North Carolina New
    edited September 2003
    Looks good to me, if you decide to not go RAID then you got to do some mad downloading to fill those drives up :)
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    HELP again!

    System build was going fine until I hooked up the 4 WD hard drives to my ROCKETRAID. Weirdest thing happened. The PCI RAID card never recognizes any hard drive attached to Channel 1. All three other channels correctly identify the drive, but not channel one. I have tried multiple different drives, IDE cables, and PCI slots. Only thing I can figure is that the RAID card is bad.

    Unless someone can be of assistance with something I'm missing I'm thinking this is a NewEgg RMA!?

    Thanks,
    Preach
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Preacher,

    If you have switched out drives to channels and cables and even tried different pci slots then rma is the way. I would seriously recomend swapping it for a Rocketraid 1540 w/ the adaptersand cables. I have the 2ch version and it is a bit faster than the IDE RAID version. You also have the advantage of the smaller cables for improved airflow in your case as well as the option to upgrade to SATA drives later.

    I am sorry I missed this earlier but know from experience that you won't be gaining much with 0+1 as opposed to a RAID-0 array because the duplication part and having to wait for the extra writing will kill any increase potential. Addionally the amount of extra overhead will take a toll in terms of performance. The main benefit of having a RAID array for music and movies is for working with the files and editing. Just storing these files will offer little over a conventional drive set-up. I just caught this as I was shutting down for the night but will be here tomorrow. I would have got 2 idetical drives whose combined total space was enough for my O/S, apps and workingspace and a drive for a backup with the swap file on the rim and then got enough capacity for my raw storage. Just my $ .02
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    mtgoat,
    great points. I'm doing 1+0, because it offers automatic data backup (mirroring) along with a performance improvement (striping). I considered doing the SATA thing, but I have a limited budget (especially after buying enough storage for all my digital media!) and think the price/performance ratio just isn't that much yet between parallel and serial hard drives. I already have the 4 drives and I think I'll stick with my original plan for the time being. Thanks for the advice, though.

    Congrats on picking up the refurb 9800 Pro from NewEgg. Saw that you grabbed one in another thread. How's it running for ya?

    BTW, Can you or anyone for that matter recommend a good NF7-S BIOS setup guide? When I get the 404 back, I'm going to do some serious tweaking.
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    I wasn't recomending going with a complete SATA system but was just recomending the controller. I have the 1520 (2ch) and Tex has the 1540 (4ch). We are both running them with WD SE drives via SATA-PATA adapters and doing better than when we were running the Rocketraid 404 and 133's. You still have the benefit of the smaller cables too. For what you are doing I would recomend 32/16 stripe/cluster for your array and you will need to put the latency in the 200's somewhere.

    Thanks for the congrats on getting the 9800 Pro. :D

    BIOS setup guide for the NF7-S????
    I don't know of any definitive setup guides and it is kind of system by system for what will work best for you but here are some tips that are good starting points.

    SoftmenuIII
    1. CPUFSB/DRAM RATIO- Always run your memory and FSB in sync. I like to eliminate the machine having to do any work and set it manually like 3/3, 4/4, 5/5, 6/6.
    2. CPU Interface- Enable unless it is giving you problems.

    Advanced Chipset Features
    Memory Timings: Expert (this allows you to set the timings where you want and since I see you have good memory se them as low as is is stable.

    More later. Maybe we need to compile one of these with input from everyone.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    I'll get home and write out the BIOS settings I use.
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    Thrax,
    You can just add this guide to the other pethora of DVD, DivX, SVCD, etc guides you've already done!

    mtgoat,
    thanks for the clarification on the SATA tip and the initial round of NF7-S tips. I have to ask a dumb question here, but in my Highpoint RAID array setup they use the term "block" size. I'm assuming this is analogous to Stripe Size with 32 k being the recommended setting. As for cluster size, can I use Windows XP to set that or something like PartitionMagic? I'm thinking Powerstrip is the way to go for the PCI latency setting.
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    You are absolutely correct on all counts! :D
    yes, block= stripe

    yes, cluster is when you format

    yes, Powerstrip is it for PCI latency (see guide at end of RAID FAQ thread)
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    Looks like your host doesn't allow remote linking......
    I would also be careful for 56k users as that looks like hell of a lot of images.

    NS
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    Here I go again!

    Here is what I have all mine set at. The only screen I didn't include was the one that has the onboard RAID controller and that is the only item on that screen. Sorry some ar not the best but I didn't want to go back and do the couple I scewed up over.
    Enjoy! I hope :)
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    next
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    advanced chipset
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    integrated periphials-main screen
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    on chip IDE device
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    on chip PCI Device
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    PNP/PCI
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    Its best to set the PCI latency to 64 to increase HD speeds and to increase stability with Creative cards.

    NS
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    NightShade737 said
    Its best to set the PCI latency to 64 to increase HD speeds and to increase stability with Creative cards.

    NS
    On the HD's it is purely trial and error. I only have one out of five on my IDE and it didn't like 64 as the reads fell off noticeably.
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited October 2003
    mtgoat,
    this is some great stuff. I appreciate the info.
    Preach
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