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Raid and Gaming Performance
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Conclusion:
While Raid will enhance performance on several levels in a desktop we did not see an increase in FPS through its use. Load times for levels and games was significantly reduced utilizing the Raid controller and array. As we stated we do not expect that the majority of gamers are willing to purchase greater than 4 drives and a controller for this kind of setup. While onboard Raid is an option available to many users you should be aware that using onboard Raid will mean the consumption of CPU time for this task and thus a reduction in performance that may actually lead to worse FPS. An add-on controller will always be the best option until they integrate discreet Raid controllers with their own memory into consumer level motherboards.
We would suggest a 2 to 4 drive Raid array consisting of a mid level Raid controller with enough ports to hand the maximum number of drives you intend to use. A Raid controller such as the 3510 would be a good option that is still affordable. For those seeking the next level in performance the 3520 is available for an extra ~$100 to $150 and will handle 4 additional drives. The Samsung drives offer a good level of performance at an unbeatable price and we can easily recommend their use.
Note: We have seen numerous reports of the 1TB F1 drives failing and have had no issues with the drives provided to us. We have used several utilities to guage the health of each of the drives and have no bad sectors or reason to believe the drives will fail. The average operating temperature of these drives in a Raid 0 configuration was 110F - 120F which while warm is not outside the normal range. We would recommend the use of adequate case airflow if you intend to operate a Raid array.
Overall our experience leads us to believe that for gaming as your focus you may be better off upgrading your video card and dealing with slighly longer game and map loading times. if you already own a good video card and are looking for additional storage while boosting your entire systems performance then Raid is definitely the way to go. An add-on controller means that you can take your Raid setup with you when moving to another machine even if the data will need to be backed up.