improvements i have fond to help trainz

[nugget2225]

i decided to purchase a second harddrive for my pc and put them in raid 0, and i have to say i had a pretty good increase in performance in trainz , as we all know hardrive performance is one of the major bottlenecks in computing today, for most of you that want to get at least a 25% increase in my test between raid 0 and non rid was worth the very low cost. for the ones of you that are concerned about data loss a raid 1 would be a great choice,this is mainly focused towards desktop users unless you are one of the fortunate ones that have a notebook that supports 2 hardrive and has a raid controller on your motherboard. i have my stripe size in raid set to 256k and for mechanical drives to raise my windows experience for hd performance to 6.7 was quiet impressive to me, i am using 2 500 gig hardrives , and you can purchase one for around 50.00 usd which is really worth the money, my lag was decreased an incredable amount.If this is something that interests some of you, you can always google how to set up many difrent raids just using google or i would be happy to help wall you through it if you dont know how to set it up, just realize that this can mainly only be done on most after market motherboard or your own custom pc build as, most prebuilt vendors such as dell dont give you as many options. hope this helps some of you .if you really have some extra money raid 2 ssd drives and you will get at least a 50% gain in performance, i am able to run the coal routes lag free now.i also get about 10fps more in game with max settings, good luck

 

[Euphod]

Nice advice, and Sniper's HD tests seem to bear it out. What HD did you install?

 

[nugget2225]

from nugget

i am running 2 western digital black edition hd's each with 32 mb cache on each drive, my stripe size is 256 kb ,thats because i am using a new am3+ motherboard, most other motherboards i have seen wont allow more than 128kb stripe, i have tried a 32 kb stripe also but i had better performance on the 256kb stripe it does help move data quicker, my computer is more responsive in all scenerios i have tried my other games as well and seen pretty good performance increases, of course ssd's will be remarkable in raid but i am just waiting on the price to come down on them, i imagine mechanical drives will be a thing of the past in the next several years

 

[nfotis]

I suppose that you use the motherboard-supported RAID?

A hardware RAID controller gives even better performance, as far as I know.

N.F.

 

[JCitron]

Nice idea, Nugget to increase the performance, but heed the warnings about RAID0. BACKUP, BACKUP, and BACKUP your data. (I am shouting!!!)

If a single drive dies, ALL your data is gone on the drive set. There is no redundancy with RAID0 because the information is striped across the two drives.

John

 

[Gandalf0444]

Could always get 2 more hard drives and do RAID 0+1(or 1 of the other names it is known as) Which will be a striped raid but all a mirroring image.

 

[GP30Fan]

Yes indeed, RAID0 does increase performance.

I'm running an ASUS P6T with onboard RAID. I run Trainz,
TRS2006, TRS2010 and TRS2012 on a RAID0 setup.
Processor is a Intel I7 920.

The RAID0 is two 320MB drives with 128K stripping.

I also use a RAID1 with two 750MB drives to backup the RAID0
in case of failure. I pretty much do the backup once a month.

Lag is for the most part not a problem. My route of choice is
very large, over 400 miles of main line, and it lags very little.

RAID0 is definitly a plus but does come with the dangers of any
RAID0 setup. Backups are a must. The huge volume of files and
assets would make loss of data very painfull.

And yes... external RAID is even faster. A PCI X16 external card is not
that expensive. Been thinking along those lines.

AL

 

[nugget2225]

reply

I suppose that you use the motherboard-supported RAID?

A hardware RAID controller gives even better performance, as far as I know.

N.F.

i have the newest gigabyte amd+ motherboard, i have never used a seperate raid controller card but thanks for the advice

 

[nugget2225]

thanks

Nice idea, Nugget to increase the performance, but heed the warnings about RAID0. BACKUP, BACKUP, and BACKUP your data. (I am shouting!!!)

If a single drive dies, ALL your data is gone on the drive set. There is no redundancy with RAID0 because the information is striped across the two drives.

John

i have never had a drive fail knock on wood accept a cheap ssd drive, but i do however back up my trainz files on a bdrw every few days, i mainly use my pc for gaming, so for the most part what could be lost is easily replaceable, and all my important files are on blu-ray media tucked away

 

[nugget2225]

thanks for the suggestions

Yes indeed, RAID0 does increase performance.

I'm running an ASUS P6T with onboard RAID. I run Trainz,
TRS2006, TRS2010 and TRS2012 on a RAID0 setup.
Processor is a Intel I7 920.

The RAID0 is two 320MB drives with 128K stripping.

I also use a RAID1 with two 750MB drives to backup the RAID0
in case of failure. I pretty much do the backup once a month.

Lag is for the most part not a problem. My route of choice is
very large, over 400 miles of main line, and it lags very little.

RAID0 is definitly a plus but does come with the dangers of any
RAID0 setup. Backups are a must. The huge volume of files and
assets would make loss of data very painfull.

And yes... external RAID is even faster. A PCI X16 external card is not
that expensive. Been thinking along those lines.

AL

i didnt realize that an external raid card would make that much difrence, but i am gonna invest in one and run passmark and see what my scores are , for those of you that would like to compare pc performance's between trainzers post your score scores i would love to compare them to my setup. the website is http://www.passmark.com/ and download performance to for either your 64 bit and or 32 bit system and after the test you can save your score in a file to compare to any trainzer. so post links to your passmark files, or i would love to recieve them directly from you at gizmo3311@gmail.com sorry its kinda hard to read i couldnt figure out how to zoom it in, you can zoom in on the photo

 

[nugget2225]

quick question

Yes indeed, RAID0 does increase performance.

I'm running an ASUS P6T with onboard RAID. I run Trainz,
TRS2006, TRS2010 and TRS2012 on a RAID0 setup.
Processor is a Intel I7 920.

The RAID0 is two 320MB drives with 128K stripping.

I also use a RAID1 with two 750MB drives to backup the RAID0
in case of failure. I pretty much do the backup once a month.

Lag is for the most part not a problem. My route of choice is
very large, over 400 miles of main line, and it lags very little.

RAID0 is definitly a plus but does come with the dangers of any
RAID0 setup. Backups are a must. The huge volume of files and
assets would make loss of data very painfull.

And yes... external RAID is even faster. A PCI X16 external card is not
that expensive. Been thinking along those lines.

AL

can you give me a link from tigerdirect.com for a good controller card i have never used any accept whats on the motherboards, thanks in advance if you have time

 

[nfotis]

Since you specified tigerdirect, I looked in their site.

The only serious hardware RAID controllers available are from 3ware, in my opinion (these work both with Linux and Windows).

You install the hardware RAID controller, you plug the disks to it (and it creates the RAID volumes), THEN you install the operating systems you want (Windows or whatever).

The RAID controller presents to the operating system a huge and very fast disk.

The cheapest (2-port) hardware RAID controller I found is this one:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3722279&CatId=109

This accepts two SATA disks, and I wouldn't suggest it (you are limited to striping/RAID0 or mirroring/RAID1, but not both).

The 4-port edition is here:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3722280&CatId=1454

It is more flexible (you can play with different RAID configurations, like 0, 1, 10, 5)

Also, LSI has some hardware RAID adaptors in this shop.
These controllers are VERY useful when you work in video montage and production (especially in HD resolution, the difference is dramatic)

N.F.

 

[Gandalf0444]

For anyone doing a mirroring raid it is NOT always needed to do a fresh install of the OS. Some raid controllers are able to make an exact image of your current drive without a problem. But it does depend on the exact controller used and the manufacturer so do your research.

All it requires is keeping the drive connected to the motherboard.
Boot into the OS.
Install the driver that it comes with the RAID controller on the CD.
Then shutdown the computer.
Plug the hard drives into the RAID controller.
Turn it back on, then immediately go into the raid configuration screen, and setup the Array.
Then it will mirror the drive to the blank drive.
Then once it is finished simply restart the machine and presto your now operating with a mirroring raid.

 

[nugget2225]

thank you very much

Since you specified tigerdirect, I looked in their site.

The only serious hardware RAID controllers available are from 3ware, in my opinion (these work both with Linux and Windows).

You install the hardware RAID controller, you plug the disks to it (and it creates the RAID volumes), THEN you install the operating systems you want (Windows or whatever).

The RAID controller presents to the operating system a huge and very fast disk.

The cheapest (2-port) hardware RAID controller I found is this one:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3722279&CatId=109

This accepts two SATA disks, and I wouldn't suggest it (you are limited to striping/RAID0 or mirroring/RAID1, but not both).

The 4-port edition is here:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3722280&CatId=1454

It is more flexible (you can play with different RAID configurations, like 0, 1, 10, 5)

Also, LSI has some hardware RAID adaptors in this shop.
These controllers are VERY useful when you work in video montage and production (especially in HD resolution, the difference is dramatic)

N.F.

thanks for the links i am gonna go with the second link you sent and see the speed difrence

 

[nfotis]

@Gandalf:
One you fill the hard disk or RAID volume, though, you will think seriously about mirroring, if you have large amounts of data that are impractical in backing up.

@nugget:
If you go up this avenue, I am sure we'll want to hear your experiences.
3ware has different models (up to 24 SATA hard disks on a big honkin' controller), but I think the 4-port version is 'good enough'.

You have various possibilities on connecting your hard disks (on RAID, the disks must be the same type/model, if my memory serves me correctly).
Examples:
one pair of 640 GB hard disks in striping (RAID 0), for high speed (gives 1.28 TBytes high speed)

Later you can expand with a second pair of (say) 1 TB disks (again in RAID0, or in RAID 1), giving you either a fast second pair of disks (2 TB capacity) or a fault-toleran 1 TB disk

Yet another possibility: RAID5/6, with four identical disks distributing reads and writes, if one disk fails the system alerts you and you continue as usual until you replace the faulty disk.
As soon as the faulty disk is replaced with an identical disk, the system rebuilds the RAID volume transparently while your computer continues operating (you should not shut-down it until the volume is rebuilt, I think)

For more details, read this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

Hope this helps,
N.F.

 

[Gandalf0444]

@Gandalf:
One you fill the hard disk or RAID volume, though, you will think seriously about mirroring, if you have large amounts of data that are impractical in backing up.

Huh? I am supporting a mirroring raid, all I said was that you can do mirroring AND striped raid at the same time. 0+1 1+0 or 10 pending the company.

Or the fact that you do not need to do a complete OS reinstall to create a mirroring raid..

 

[nfotis]

I apologize, I misread what you wrote
(it's late here and I'm very tired).

Cheers,
N.F.

 

[Gandalf0444]

I apologize, I misread what you wrote
(it's late here and I'm very tired).

Cheers,
N.F.

lmao no problem happens to the best of us.:hehe:

 

[nugget2225]

i appreciate the input

@Gandalf:
One you fill the hard disk or RAID volume, though, you will think seriously about mirroring, if you have large amounts of data that are impractical in backing up.

@nugget:
If you go up this avenue, I am sure we'll want to hear your experiences.
3ware has different models (up to 24 SATA hard disks on a big honkin' controller), but I think the 4-port version is 'good enough'.

You have various possibilities on connecting your hard disks (on RAID, the disks must be the same type/model, if my memory serves me correctly).
Examples:
one pair of 640 GB hard disks in striping (RAID 0), for high speed (gives 1.28 TBytes high speed)

Later you can expand with a second pair of (say) 1 TB disks (again in RAID0, or in RAID 1), giving you either a fast second pair of disks (2 TB capacity) or a fault-toleran 1 TB disk

Yet another possibility: RAID5/6, with four identical disks distributing reads and writes, if one disk fails the system alerts you and you continue as usual until you replace the faulty disk.
As soon as the faulty disk is replaced with an identical disk, the system rebuilds the RAID volume transparently while your computer continues operating (you should not shut-down it until the volume is rebuilt, I think)

For more details, read this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

Hope this helps,
N.F.

i have the 4 port on order , i am excited on what the difrence is gonna be, the amd+ bulldozer cpu is also released this month as well and its an 8 core cpu, i know that it wont make a difrence in trainz but the encoding speed should be incredible, i remember when it took 16 hours just to convert a dvd to divx.i really wanna raid ssd drives but i am still waiting on them to become more mainstream and when they do the price will drop, and it still seems there are alot of kinks in ssd drives that need to be worked on.

 

[nfotis]

@Gandalf:

Note that you HAVE to make a complete reinstall when you have a hardware RAID controller.

The RAID controller starts immediately after BIOS, then builds the RAID volumes at the first time of installation (it gives you a control screen where you define which disks go to which volumes, what kind of RAID will be used, etc.)

Then, the RAID controller does a low-level format on all disks that will take some hours (no NTFS or ext3 or something else - it uses its own system). After that, you will be permitted to install Windows, Linux, whatever you want on the volumes.

The operating system never sees the separate disks, only the disks that the RAID controller presents to it.

The speeds approach the SSD, but you have MUCH higher capacity AND fast writes.

N.F.