HDD issues, is RAID the answer?

[Rob1797]

ok i've been getting alot of 'disk too slow' errors in PT 5.3.1, i'm using maxtor ata133 7200rpm disks, P4 1.6a, 256mb DDR, epox mobo with RAID controller (HPT372).

i found it strange to be getting these errors even after de-frag, so i raid'd the 2 maxtor disks today but now i'm getting 'PCI bus too busy' errors!

also the performance increase from the raid is almost non existent leaving me to think i have problems somewhere.

anybody have any suggestions or input about their systems??

[Gr0und_Zer0]

Do you have those Maxtor ATA133 disks? Those rock! I think you just have to tweak the settings, because it's impossible to get a too- slow-harddisk error with modern harddrives these days!

Maybe you have DMA turned off?

Or maybe your disk is waaaaaaaay too fragmented? Defragment!

RAID is NOT the answer, at least that's what I found. I used a RAID-0 array but the performance increase was minimal. I even think that it was slower, maybe because the CPU was more stressed by it?

And, you do have a separate harddrive for recording, don't you? [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

And in the BIOS you can set the raid controller to function as an ATA133 interface, instead of a RAID interface, but you probably know that too.