[Question] RAiD 0 or not?

I%26#39;m thinking about setting up a raid-0 configuration with four harddisks. Although I%26#39;m not really sure if it gives me that much more performance. What I do know is that it significantly decreases the reading/writing time. Also I%26#39;m aware about the data loss if only one of the four harddisks crashes. But that isn%26#39;t really a problem for me since I backup my stuff nearly daily to an external source.But now the question is, should I take a raid-0 configuration or not? I%26#39;m planning to install Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit, again) so a format is needed anyway, but does a raid-0 setup improve my gaming and my overall performance?And if I even consider to setup a raid-0 configuration, what type of harddisks should I use? Four 10k RPM harddisks or is 7.2k RPM more then enough? I%26#39;m willing to use four harddisks in the raid-0 configuration so that I atleast have plenty of storage. :)EDIT: *I%26#39;m willing to buy four SATA II harddisks* Here%26#39;s a list of my current system hardware:CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2,13GHz (Soon to be overclocked)GPU: Sparkle Geforce 8800GTX (Soon to be overclocked)RAM: 4GB @ 800MHz in Dual Channel modeMobo: ASUS P5B DeluxeHDD: 1x WD 160GB (7,2k RPM) S-ATA II
[Question] RAiD 0 or not?
If you%26#39;re going to buy 4 HDDs then go for RAID5 or RAID10. At least they offer some data protection.Also, make sure your southbridge is the Intel ICH8R (note the R for RAID) before you buy 4 HDDs....and yes, it would make more sense to buy four 7200 RPM HDDs. EDIT: Just noticed that the board is the P5B DELUXE, so it%26#39;ll definitely have the ICH8R SB. :P I thought the OP just had a P5B. EDIT2: ****ing glicthspot is acting up again.  [Question] RAiD 0 or not?
[QUOTE=''Wesker776'']If you%26#39;re going to buy 4 HDDs then go for RAID5 or RAID10. At least they offer some data protection.Also, make sure your southbridge is the Intel ICH8R (note the R for RAID) before you buy 4 HDDs....and yes, it would make more sense to buy four 7200 RPM HDDs. [/QUOTE]Yes follow Wesker%26#39;s advice, by doing RAID 0 solely, in all practicality you are ''doubling'' your failure rate, as when one hdd tanks, you are out for the count, unless you have some sort of redundancy like what Wesker suggested. 
This is all the information I could find about my motherboard: Click hereI%26#39;m not really sure what this means:[quote=''ASUS.com'']Dual RAIDThe Intel P965 chipsets incorporate six Serial ATA connectors with high performance RAID functions in RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10. The JMicron controller provides another two Serial ATA connectors for RAID 0, 1, and JBOD functions. This motherboard is the ideal solution to enhance hard disk performance and data back up protection without the cost of add-on cards.[/quote]But where I%26#39;m aiming for is maximum performance with four harddisks, I%26#39;m not afraid to let my system crash since I make daily backups. ;) I also found a comparison list, remember that I have the P5B Deluxe and not the WiFi-AP version: Click here
[QUOTE=''StraiN-ShifTeD'']This is all the information I could find about my motherboard: Click hereI%26#39;m not really sure what this means:[quote=''ASUS.com'']Dual RAIDThe Intel P965 chipsets incorporate six Serial ATA connectors with high performance RAID functions in RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10. The JMicron controller provides another two Serial ATA connectors for RAID 0, 1, and JBOD functions. This motherboard is the ideal solution to enhance hard disk performance and data back up protection without the cost of add-on cards.[/quote]But where I%26#39;m aiming for is maximum performance with four harddisks, I%26#39;m not afraid to let my system crash since I make daily backups. ;)
[/QUOTE]Well your choice, frankly I%26#39;ve tried Raid 0 out, makes virtually 0 gaming impact save the loading times, but its not like its not fast enough with my setup haha.... oh and the uber quick Windows loading time (really.. who cares...) Just trying to get you to not have to deal with the frustrating restoration process and the time you have to spend doing it.
[QUOTE=''StraiN-ShifTeD'']This is all the information I could find about my motherboard: Click hereI%26#39;m not really sure what this means:[quote=''ASUS.com'']Dual RAIDThe Intel P965 chipsets incorporate six Serial ATA connectors with high performance RAID functions in RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10. The JMicron controller provides another two Serial ATA connectors for RAID 0, 1, and JBOD functions. This motherboard is the ideal solution to enhance hard disk performance and data back up protection without the cost of add-on cards.[/quote]But where I%26#39;m aiming for is maximum performance with four harddisks, I%26#39;m not afraid to let my system crash since I make daily backups. ;)
[/QUOTE] Yeah, I editted my message because I just noticed that you had the DELUXE version. Sorry for the confusion. :PFor max security and performance, I would go for RAID10. Two 500GB HDDs and two 250GB HDDs should do the trick.More info:
http://www.acnc.com/04_01_10.html  
I%26#39;ve had quite a lot of computers but I never had one that had a failing harddisk or one giving error messages. So I%26#39;m not worried about getting errors in a raid-0 setup. It%26#39;s probably because I know what I%26#39;m doing when I%26#39;m editing something in (for example) the registry. I know fairly everything about Windows XP/Windows Vista and how to tweak these. And I%26#39;m the only one using this computer, so there%26#39;s nothing to worry about I guess. :)But according to several other sources they recommend me to use the ICH8R controller instead of the JMicron one. I read that the JMicron controller is a pretty bad controller, so if this is true I%26#39;ll just use the ICH8R controller. What do you guys say about the JMicron controller?
i%26#39;d listen to the other guys man, by having four disks in raid 0 you have no fault tolerance. if one thing goes bad you are F%26#39;ed.