Clevo X7200 with Intel 320 SSDs

I am currently in the market for a high end gaming laptop, specifically the Clevo I have listed under my profile. I just want some opinions on using the 3 Intel 300GB ssds in RAID 0 config. I know the laptop only supports SATA 2 ports and the Intel 320 seemed to be a good balance of performance, storage, and reliability (and value somewhat). I don't mean to sound too ignorant on these topics as I have researched as much as I can, but I acknowledge I'm not an expert. Will I have any issues with placing the 3 SSDs into a RAID display? Or any issues with any other hardware I have chosen not being fully compatible with each other. Thank You for your input in advance.

 

No problems I am aware of except the usual ones:

3x the probability of losing your O/S, Program (and DATA, of course) over using a single drive...

Issues with not being able to (easily) upgrade Firmware on the RAID Array, nor be able to use the Intel SSD Toolbox weekly as recommended.

Performance dropping off in weeks/months (depending on how heavily your system is used) and needing a SE and re-install of the complete system at least twice a year.

Related to the above: TRIM not supported on any RAID enabled volumes.

Finally, the most important criteria: if you're not doing heavy video editing, then the performance increase in such a configuration will be mostly gained in benchmarks and not really noticeable in the real world.

The above fully ignores any issues directly related with such a configuration and your system - you could be the first to discover them.

RAID and specifically RAID0 arrays should be chosen when they provide a direct and significant solution to a (storage subsystem) problem - all while considering the problems they themselves introduce. In this case, it seems like you may be introducing a problem that otherwise is not there?

Good luck.

 

I second tiller's loss of data issue. Ppl don't realize that drive failure in RAID-0 increases w/ each added drive (2 drives - twice the failure risk. 5 drives - X5 the failure risk)

xhawkusmc, I don't know your background, but if you know what you're doing, and understand the risks, great. Go for it. But if not, you might be better off, using an SSD system disk and the other two in RAID-1 for the critical stuff.

 

I'm not real good with drive management crap, but couldn't you use 3 disks in a RAID 5 setup? That way you have the speed benefits of striping with the safety of parity. In RAID 5, if one drive fails, the other two can be used to rebuild the data on the failed drive.

 

I'd be real surprised if RAID5 was available on the Clevo.

Still no real performance gains, still more trouble than a normal/standard install.

Small benefit of having RAID5 redundancy - BU's to multiple external HDD's much preferred and less expensive.

Huge $$$$ investment to use 2/3's of total SSD drive(s) capacity - effectively ~559GB out of 900GB paid for...

RAID is a great idea when the drives are inexpensive, but quickly gets out of hand when the drives are at premium prices as SSD's are currently and for the foreseeable future.

 

It is available, and it is more trouble. It's just an alternative.

 

Thank you all for the input. I truely do appreciate the knowledge as well as opinions. I am not direly stressed about loosing data due to drive failure, I have several copies of the important things I need. I was only considering a RAID setup simply because I heard it increases the performance of the hard drives, having SSDs though, it might not be as drastic of an increase that I am thinking... Yes the Clevo does support RAID 5, but from the general opinion here, it sounds as though if I'm hell bent on installing 3 drives, I should just do so without any RAID config, which is what I am currently leaning towards now. This should also allow me to add drives 2 and 3 if i choose to do so at a later date with no problems, correct? With this all being said, I'll ask another question... The Clevo has a motherboard that only supports SATA 2, I'm pretty sure of that... BUT is there any advantage OR more importantly disadvantages, of still installing a SSD that supports SATA 3?

 

To be sure you can add 2 & 3 with no headaches/frustration, I would order the system with all drives installed (then you can be 100% sure that the cables, connectors and even the right motherboard are in your new system).

No disadvantages as far as I know of using a SATA3 SSD with SATA2 connections (except the obvious performance drop, of course) - the big advantage is the ability to move these drives to a new system and not limit the performance of the new platform.

Yeah, RAID configs, unless aiming for very specific/narrow results are best avoided.

Good luck.

 

I've posted this before on other threads. You can do RAID 5 and if you're willing to opt out of a optical drive, the Clevo x7200 can do RAID 10. (See wiki page below)

 

jclausius, is there any other advice or things I should be aware about when it comes to this model of notebook? And thank you in advance for the drivers page. I have it saved in my favs already. Also sorry for posting such a noob question, but how are the likes of yourself and hockeymass showing your current notebook specs? I entered them in my bio but did not see any where in the edit profile to include this as a signature or anything... Thanks to everyone again for their input.

 

Here's our review for the X7200:
AVADirect Clevo X7200 Review
I reviewed an earlier version of it here:
Clevo X7200 Review

Bottom line, it's the fastest notebook money can buy but is also the heaviest/least portable.

As noted the data loss risk is the biggest problem with RAID 0. There are so few situations where RAID makes sense for everyday use (it's mostly for servers/storage arrays) that you are best off avoiding it. I did RAID 1 (two mirrored drives) for years in my desktop days, it saved my rear once or twice but overall was not worth the hassle. Strange issues all the time - BSODs, Windows not starting, the array rebuilding, not being able to easily diagnose each drive, etc - I'm glad to be rid of it. I keep local backups on external hard drives and have had no issues doing that since.

For more info on the X7200 and other Clevos, check out our Sager/Clevo forum:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/
There's an owner's lounge thread here somewhere, with lots of enthusiasts who know the laptop inside and out:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo-reviews-owners-lounges/

Best wishes with your purchase.

 

No. This machine isn't for everyone, but if you read through the reviews and post any questions on the owner's lounge - http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...3-clevo-x7200-sager-np7280-owners-lounge.html you should have enough info for any purchase you make. All I can really say, is it is a beast of a machine in many ways (size, weight, performance, and price). I wouldn't recommend this machine to the road-warrior unless you had a good backpack or one with wheels. With that said, for me the machine is just plain awesome in terms of what I can do in a days work (very disk/processor intensive stuff). I'm not much for gaming or OC'ing just to get high benchmarks, but others here (or on the owner's lounge) may wish to opine.

NP. I assume there are others like myself who would like to stay abreast on the latest driver releases. I try to keep this fairly up to date, in case others want the info.

Confusing, isn't it? I didn't know this either. But after your 10th (or is it 15th post), you can edit your profile to anything you would like into the signature.

 

Thank you both for the info, I'm def going to check out the owner's lounge! I'm not interested in this laptop for the mobility, but rather the tip top performance it can offer. This has definately been very informative. I hope to be able to pass on such advice in the future. Thanks to everyone once again for their contributions.