P4P800-D VIA controller

[the$#!Za.]

Hi guyz..

I have an ASUS P4P800, and my brother wants to get the same one but deluxe version for the "VIA" controller.

He wants to config a RAID-0 using the VIA controller to get the most out of hes drives like UDMA6 etc..

Problem is one review i read at HardOCP, in the testing RAID configs version using VIA controller or the intel, and the CPU utilization while using the VIA controller on any drive setup, would be unusually high.

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NDg0LDM=
(scroll down to IDE/ATA performance section)

Just got me a little worried, and i was hoping to find out if this issue has been resolved with new drivers etc?? Is anyone running this board on RAID-0 config, using the VIA controller with very normal CPU utilization, and no problems??

much appreciated for help.
thanx

[jabowen]

Originally Posted by the$#!Za.

Hi guyz..

I have an ASUS P4P800, and my brother wants to get the same one but deluxe version for the "VIA" controller.

He wants to config a RAID-0 using the VIA controller to get the most out of hes drives like UDMA6 etc..

Problem is one review i read at HardOCP, in the testing RAID configs version using VIA controller or the intel, and the CPU utilization while using the VIA controller on any drive setup, would be unusually high.

Hi the$#!Za.,

I have an ASUS P4P800-Deluxe and I use Raid-0 on both the Via and ICH5 controllers. CPU utilization never gets over 5% on either. I have two Western Digital WD800JB's on the IDE raid and two WD360GD's on SATA raid. See pic below:

[the$#!Za.]

Heya jabowen.. thanx for the reply.

thats a nice relief.. is that screeny your VIA in action?

Only dif bewteen my RAID-) and yours would be u have WD's i have 2 seagate barracudas 120GB which is enough for me..

nice set up btw
So ofcourse u would recommend me to use the VIA and not my intel for the RAID-0? as im only having 1 raid config.
thanx

[jabowen]

Originally Posted by the$#!Za.

Heya jabowen.. thanx for the reply.

thats a nice relief.. is that screeny your VIA in action?

Only dif bewteen my RAID-) and yours would be u have WD's i have 2 seagate barracudas 120GB which is enough for me..

nice set up btw
So ofcourse u would recommend me to use the VIA and not my intel for the RAID-0? as im only having 1 raid config.
thanx

Yes, the screenshot was my IDE Raid on VIA controller. I personally wouldn't recommend getting SATA Raid on the Intel ICH5 unless you really need the performance. For just general computer use, there's not that much difference between the two IMHO. Just better seek times with the WD Raptors.

[shootcraps]

I've been running Raid 0 on the VIA with zero problems.

[the$#!Za.]

Hi .... thanx for replies..

I personally wouldn't recommend getting SATA Raid on the Intel ICH5 unless you really need the performance.

jabowen i dont get what u mean, as the VIA controller is supposed to be slightly faster in RAID setups or normal drives.. so did u mean it the other way around or....??

thanx.

[jabowen]

Originally Posted by the$#!Za.

Hi .... thanx for replies..



jabowen i dont get what u mean, as the VIA controller is supposed to be slightly faster in RAID setups or normal drives.. so did u mean it the other way around or....??

thanx.

Hmm. On the P4P800-deluxe, the Intel ICH5r controller, being SATA, is supposed to be capable of ATA-150 speed. The VIA6410, on the other hand, is IDE and is capable of ATA133 speed. And the Western Digital Raptors are 10,000 rpm SATA drives, so seek times are faster than the 7200rpm drives. So actually, the SATA Raid is supposed to be a good bit faster than the Via IDE Raid.

Maybe we're talking about different motherboards here. If yours has 4 SATA connectors (2 for Intel and 2 for VIA6420 or something), then it's not a P4P800 deluxe. If that's the case, then you're right, the VIA controller is supposed to be slightly faster than the Intel Or maybe I'm just confused, I get that way sometimes

[shootcraps]

These are theoretical speeds. Neither controller will reach them with current drives. You'll get close to 100K with most drives and a little more than that with Raptors.

[jabowen]

Originally Posted by shootcraps

These are theoretical speeds. Neither controller will reach them with current drives. You'll get close to 100K with most drives and a little more than that with Raptors.

You are correct. My raptors are lucky to sustain 100 now. But right after I installed my OS the sequential read speed averaged over 120! That was before I installed many gigabytes of software. That was also before I hosed up my system installing Windows XP pro SP2 RC2. In fact my raptors now have a lower benchmark than my IDE RAID that I use for storage

As soon as the final release of SP2 comes out, I'm going to change my stripe size and do a fresh install. I hope the performance comes back.

[the$#!Za.]

ok thanx jabowen & shootcraps for help..