I was wondering what the best hardrive for a RAID setup would be? ATA 133 or ATA 100 w/8MB cache. Or do they make ATA 133 w/8MB cache? (Which I haven't seen).

I'm a heavy gamer and want the best performance. This December, or whenever NV30 (Geforce5) comes out, I'm getting a new system And I want the best of the best in there. I will be buying an ASUS nForce2 MB, 512 PC3500(or whatever is newest at the time I buy it) Corsair RAM, AMD 2800+(hopefully has come out by then, geForce5 of course, and pimp case with water cooling (which I should finish shortly).

So I need to know what I need to get. I also only want to get 20GB storage if I have to so I won't spend so much cause I have to buy 2 of them to setup for RAID. But I haven't seen any 20GB storage with 8MB cache (wierd? or a good reason?). I was also thinking about the ATA133 cause it is a newer model, but I haven't seen any ATA133 with 8MB cache, which is also wierd.

So please, someone help me with all of this!

No problem, if you are going to wait for the nForce 2, the 2800+, and the Geforce 5, go ahead and wait for a serial ATA drive also.

agreed. But if you *just cant wait* I would *personally* go for the ATA133. but like BA said, If you are gonna have all the other toys people like Us drool over, (or slobber in BA's case) wait for Serial ATA!

The cool factor alone is gonna make me upgrade!

just thinking of insides making me drool all over mi keyboard


imagine serial ata raid>>>>drooolllllllllll

What is serial ATA and why haven't I heard of it till right now, haha. I've been reading on computer updates for the past month, and I've never heard of this. Where can I read up on it and when is it suppose to be out? But of course I probably won't buy it cause it'll be nearly 500 bucks, haha. But I still want to hear about it. Thanks for bringing it up guys!!

Here at TomsHardware there is a large writeup on the new HD technology that will soon replace the "normal" ATA system.

read up young man!


go forth and be knowledgable!

Serial ATA is still in it's infancy. 150 is just a starting point. I probably won't be touching it for another year or so. Eventually it will be quite a bit faster... and when that day comes is the time I start to think about switching over.

Quote: Originally posted by Fredstar What is serial ATA and why haven't I heard of it till right now, haha. I've been reading on computer updates for the past month, and I've never heard of this. Where can I read up on it and when is it suppose to be out? But of course I probably won't buy it cause it'll be nearly 500 bucks, haha. But I still want to hear about it. Thanks for bringing it up guys!!

Well you shouldnt have to worry about price, the serial ATA drive should not be much more expesive than there normal ATA counter parts........Though if you wanting to get the new computer by december, and wating for the Geforce 5(NV30) me thinks your gonna be waiting alot longer than that,

everthing i have seen has shown that nvidia wont have the boards out before the end of the year(maybe some time around march is my bet.)

Quote: I want the best of the best in there. I will be buying an ASUS nForce2 MB, 512 PC3500(or whatever is newest at the time I buy it) Corsair RAM, AMD 2800+(hopefully has come out by then, geForce5 of course, and pimp case with water cooling (which I should finish shortly).

Quote: What is serial ATA and why haven't I heard of it till right now, haha. I've been reading on computer updates for the past month, and I've never heard of this

Same guy posting. Does this bother anybody else besides myself? Guess I'm jealous of his resources AND ignorance.

Quote: Originally posted by Fredstar I also only want to get 20GB storage if I have to so I won't spend so much cause I have to buy 2 of them to setup for RAID

The best of everything, and only 2x20gb???... Dont skimp on the drive size, cause those top line components that you must have will soon be outdated, and the 20gigs are already there.

if you just wanna brag that your system is that killer, just lie, cause no one will really know anyways and the performance is not that much more on a top spec machine compared to second best.

Quote: I've been reading on computer updates for the past month,

Hah! This is where his system came from. Read about some chit and decided he could be a big boy by bragging about his wish list. OK, great setup Fred, send me a picture when it's done.

why bother with serial? you cant even saturate your bus with existing drives. its pointless moving to ata 150

correct me if im wrong but the maximum data throughput of any existing ide drives is around 50 mb/sec, which doesnt even tax ata66 let alone 133 or 150

its just another case of computer manufacturers blidning you with pointless figures and big numbers that make the non informed go "oooohhhh ahhhhhh" but dont really provide any performance increase..kinda like the KT400 chipset or AGP 8.0 eh?

To answer your question, if you are striping 2 drives, go with 8 meg cache drives. if you are using 3+ go with ata133 drives

either way i dont think you will find any drives smaller than 80 gigs with 8 meg cache (unless you are talkin scsi)

Thanks for all of your help. I'll probably have to stick with my current video card for my new system if geForce5 doesn't come out by December . And bigakita....I'll be sure to send you the pics