New Build (PCI-E NVMe Raid0)

[PoleCat]

Just built a new rig around the following components:

 

Asus Z170-A

i7 6700K

Corsair H50 Liquid CPU Cooler

2 x Samsung SM951 512GB M.2 NGFF PCIe Gen3 8Gb/s x4 SSD (RAID0)

2 x Samsung 850 EVO SSD's (RAID0)

1 x 2TB WD Black (WD2003FZEX)

2 x 8GB GSkill DDR4 3200

GeForce GTX-980

Creative Labs SB X-Fi Fatality

Thermaltake Core V71 Extreme.

 

It was a little rough getting the NVMe RAID0 configuration bootable but well worth the effort. Here are some benchmarks of the NVMe RAID0 volume.

 

 

 

Still working on tweaking the system but I am very impressed with NVMe RAID0 so far. This is attained by inserting one of the SSD's in the on board m.2 slot and the other in a Lycom DT-120 M.2 PCIe to PCIe 3.0 x4 Adapter which is then inserted into PCIEX16_3 on the board.

 

Interestingly Asus support failed to help me get the NVMe RAID0 volume configured as bootable and in frustration they informed me that this configuration was not supported. Not being one to give up I pressed on and eventually found through trial and error the correct settings to get the array bootable and install windows 10.

 

If anyone else happens to be struggling through getting a similar configuration up and running I would be happy to post the screens of the UEFI settings and the process needed to get everything configured.

 

Off to install DCS Beta.......

 

Out

Edited April 4, 2016 by SkateZilla

[DTWD]

Sweet mother Hubbard! NVMe RAID0?!?!?!

 

Have you found any practical applications for such read speed yet? Judging by the rest of your rig you aren't video editing, so it begs the question if this is just for gaming?

[SkateZilla]

my server has Intel PCIe SSDs that avg 5500 mb/sec. :-)

 

good things are coming in a year give or take, SATA will be depreciated for NVMe.

We'll have 6000mb /sec 5-10 TB consumer SSDs in 2.5 form facter and stick as well.

 

traditional hdds are about to get the last nail in the coffin.

 

both WD and Seafate know HDD days are numbered which is why they both went out and bought a memory company to produce in house SSDs in 2016.

[PoleCat]

Sweet mother Hubbard! NVMe RAID0?!?!?!

 

Have you found any practical applications for such read speed yet? Judging by the rest of your rig you aren't video editing, so it begs the question if this is just for gaming?

 

Being in the business of Computer sales, service, and networking for many years has provided me the opportunity to upgrade my hardware on a reasonably frequent basis. While I cannot point to video editing as something I am using this machine for currently it is certainly not something I would rule out for the future. This machine will be used primarily in my business for remote network and domain administration, tech support, software and OS troubleshooting. This would include troubleshooting VMs with locally installed versions of Plan Swift, AutoCAD, Dragon Naturally Speaking, QuickBooks, SQL Server and similar resource hungry applications. Secondarily for my continuing education in the field and of course gaming as well. :joystick:

 

I have always configured my systems using the intel RST and RAID0. These systems always perform perceptibly faster then any single drive configuration. In short you can tell the difference pretty easily in overall system performance. I would recommend this configuration only if you have a rock solid full system backup as I do.

 

Out

[mondaysoff]

Having just suffered an iMac failure possibly due to overheating and running DCS, it's time to build a new PC, I need to see what this sim is like max'ed out, especially now DSCW 1.5/2.0 & NTTR are just around the corner

 

When doing my research on the motherboard I chose, I saw M.2 socket mentioned, not having heard of this tech before I thought I would give it a shot. I am going down the line of dis-regarding internal mechanical drives and optical drives and sticking with SSD's.

 

Here's a question for the experts here: If I use the M.2 storage for the OS, can I install DCS on my other SSD?

 

I should mention this build is purely for gaming, I have had the iMac repaired and will still use this for everyday use. I vowed to not play DCS on the Mac ever again, that was 2 months ago and it's going to be another month or so before I get all the components for the new build together. Boy do I miss flying in this sim.

 

The final build minus the monitor.

 

340S Mid Tower Case

Intel Core i5 4690K 3.5GHz

Corsair Hydro H100i liquid cooler

MSI Z97 Gaming 5 ATX

EVGA 850W G2 PSU

MSI GTX 980ti 6GB

Kingston Hyper X Fury 2 X 8gb 1866MHz

Samsung 850 EVO 500gb SSD

Plextor M.2 128gb boot drive

 

[sobek]

I would recommend this configuration only if you have a rock solid full system backup as I do.

 

Out

 

Yup, RAID0 means you're playing with fire. I learned that the hard way... :)

[howard]

v

[PoleCat]

Yup, RAID0 means you're playing with fire. I learned that the hard way... :)

 

RAID0 is no more scary then any other configuration if you have a backup system in place and the performance gains are well worth it.

 

If you suffered a hardware failure and a loss of your data whether contained in a RAID0 array or a single drive and you do not have a backup either way you lose ALL of your data. If you have a backup then either way you can restore ALL of your data.

 

I have been running all 3 of my personal computers which I upgrade regularly (including new core components annually) in RAID0 configurations for many years (15 or more). I have not suffered a failure of any array due to a bad drive or SSD yet.

 

At any time I require it I can install new drives, create a new array, restore from backup.

 

So for me to go from say a failed system R0 array to a brand new one all data restored takes less then one hour. It takes a little longer to restore to a single drive. I use Acronis True Image 2016 and an external 2TB drive on all systems for daily backups.

 

Not having a backup is playing with fire. Having a RAID0 array is both fun and performance enhancing, like Viagra! :thumbup:

 

Out

[perseid]

Hi PoleCat, I'd appreciate if you could post or email me the BIOS settings and steps to RAID0 two Samsung 950 Pro NVMe SSD's in the Asus Z170-A mobo. Once installed, is it better to keep Windows 8.1x64 built in NVMe driver or replace it with Samsung's? And is it possible to use NVMe RAID0 in Legacy or is it mandatory to set the BIOS to UEFI only? Thanks so much!

Edited April 3, 2016 by perseid

[Demon_]

Everytime i open this thread

[perseid]

Everytime i open this thread

Yes, it happens to me too, seems to be hacked?

[Sporg]

Everytime i open this thread

+1

[SkateZilla]

there's an embedded image in the first post that is on a server that requires a login.

 

the login box is not for ED Forums.

 

I havent gotten one on Chrome.. But I also get a broken link to an image, and if I copy image source to address bar I'll get the login,

 

removed image from first post.

 

if you entered your ED FORUM Login Information, I recomennded you change your password.

Edited April 4, 2016 by SkateZilla