Need advice on hard drive

**krswen** · 06-22-2006, 08:15 PM

The parts are starting to roll in from NewEgg: ASUS M32N32-SLI Mobo, BFG 7950 GX2 SLI graphics card and AMD FX62 processor. Already have Tai-Chi case and 850 watt PSU. I'm going to reuse my two Raptor 74Gb drives in RAID, but my question is about what other drive to get.

I'm considering a 150Gb 10000rpm Raptor vs maybe a 250Gb 7200rpm WD SE16 drive. The Raptor has latency and seek times about half that of the SE16 but the transfer rate is twice as high for the SE16. Both are SATA with 16Mb cache.

What's more important in FS9? When I ran MS Train Simulator it loaded lots of fairly small files, so seek and read were more important than transfer rate. Is that also true with FS9?

I also like the warranty and MTBF on the Raptors. I was planning on loading FS9 on the RAID and the operating system (XP Pro) on the third drive, which will also be partitioned for FS backups.

Thoughts?

**navav2004** · 06-22-2006, 08:55 PM

Aww Man..That is gonna be Sweet!! Can you please keep us posted on how she run's out when you get her together!!

I'd vote Raptor150...I think you will be suprised with that drive...It honestly *feels* really snappy...like your 74's in raid0...That is as a single drive of course...

I have the WD Cavier also as my *data* drive...I think it's a nice drive as well!! Allot less expensive as the Raptor150's to boot...

Well..Good luck with your decisions...

Have Fun with the new Rig!!

And Please keep us posted!!

Chuck

Athlon64 4000+ (Overclocked to 2.8ghz)
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
1gb Mushkin Hi-Performance LvL2
XFX7800GTX OverClock
OCZ PowerStream 600w
SB Audigy2 ZS Gamer
2x36GB Raptors Raid0
250GB WD Cavier
ASUS Ventro

Athlon64 FX57
ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe
2GB Corsair XMS CL2
X1900XTX
PCP&C Turbo-Cool 1kw
X-Fi Fatality
2x150GB Raptors Raid0
ASUS Ventro

**krswen** · 07-09-2006, 08:35 PM

Well, after days of careful assembly everything fired up the first time and showed up in the BIOS. This was only my second home-built computer so I went very cautiously.

Then, another couple of evenings of creating a slipstream CD for the WINXP O/S and upgrades and Windows installed without a hitch too. Thank goodness for the internet. Type in almost any question into Google and you soon get a site with good advice and tutorials!

I've got the O/S on the 150 GB drive and FS9 on the RAID 0 array (also 150GB). I'm still experimenting with settings but I attached the CH yoke and pedals and Audio FX headphones. The trim wheel on my yoke is a bit stiff and overly sensitive, but otherwise I'm pleased.

Next, ready to hook up the ButtKicker and TrackIR.

Is there a way to measure framerate with FS?