New Build and SATA RAID question.

[winstonsmith197]

I was going to build my first computer about 5 years ago but then I got scared and bought a Dell. But now I’m in the market for a new system and this time I’m building. I realized how much Dell sucked when my CD burner died after 2 years.

I think I know what I’m doing but I'm still uncertain about RAIDS, SLI and Crossfire setups. I really want to do a RAID O setup using SATA. So what’s involved with this?

So I’ll buy a motherboard with the ability to do SATA RAIDS, right? Is it just a matter of plugging both into the mobo and configuring the bios settings? Or is it more involved?
Do you have to do anything in Windows? I’m starting to get scared again.

I also don’t want a floppy drive --- so will that be a problem?

One more question. I heard it was a good routine to download the most recent drivers for all the hardware before the build, and make a copy on cd/dvd. So that when it comes time to install the drivers, you have the most recent stuff, instead of the crap the manufacturer sends. Is this a good idea?

[glc]

If you want to do RAID, you WILL need a floppy drive to get Windows installed. WHY do you want RAID?

[gary_hendricks]

RAID is really an advanced build option. I'd advise that if you're starting out, you use an IDE hard drive without RAID.

If you really want to understand RAID, then here is a great article to help you out.

[winstonsmith197]

Originally Posted by glc WHY do you want RAID?

I wanted the extra performance boost for video editing.

[winstonsmith197]

Originally Posted by glc If you want to do RAID, you WILL need a floppy drive to get Windows installed. WHY do you want RAID?

Why does Windows need a floppy? It seems like a good OS would allow you to simply remove the OS disk at a certain point in the installation process, replace with an optical disk with specific drivers, load drivers, then put OS back in and finish.

Is this even possible? Plus, I'm not going to build this computer until late 2006/early 2007, so most likely i'll be using Vista. So do you know if Vista is still going to force the usage of a floppy drive?

[glc]

Windows REQUIRES a floppy to install RAID drivers during setup. There is NO alternative yet. I have NO idea whether Vista will change this.

If you aren't going to build till then, don't even worry about anything now - things will be VERY different by then.

If I were building now and wanted maximum speed, I'd buy 3 hard drives - a WD Raptor for the OS and applications and a pair of big drives for RAID and your videos. This will not require a floppy as you will not even connect the 2 RAID drives till after Windows is installed on the Raptor.