|
HighPoint RocketRAID 2640X4
Testing
2x Fujitsu 15k SAS and 2x Western Digital 1TB
In all likelyhood, the most optimal configuration would be to have your core OS files, and games installed on a RAID0 of Fujitsu SAS drives, and use one or two Western Digital 1TB SATA drives to store your music, videos and important documents. Here are a few side by side comparsions from the configuration I just suggested.
2x Fujitsu 15k SAS RAID0 |
2X Western Digital 1TB RAID0 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
A quick summary of the key points from the above side by side comparison is that SAS technology provides uniquely fast transfer rates and seek times but at at much higher cost per GB than SATA. SATA gives reasonable performance at a much lower cost per GB. The ideal way to "have it both ways" is to take the advantages of both and use them together. SAS can provide blazing speed for the parts of your system that need it, while SATA provides low cost high volume storage with good reliability.
Conclusion
Clearly, the people over at HighPoint were on to something when they suggested the configurations used in this review. The combination of SAS and SATA technologies could easily be the next biggest advance in the art of high performance gaming. Low end SAS controllers are the gateway for the high end gamer to reach out and touch enterprise level performance without paying an enterprise cost. Considering that the HighPoint RocketRAID 2640X4 can be had for under $150. It is sure to make a welcome addition to the gaming arsenal of nearly any gamer interested in getting that little extra out of his rig. The suggested configuration provides the ideal combination of performance, storage and speed at the right cost. The SAS drives will cost you the most money, usually around $200 each, but if you have been following the benchmarks closely you know that they are worth every penny. The Western Digital 1TB SATA drives also run around $150, but in the day of Blu-ray movies that each take up over 10GB, how can you have too much storage? Kudos to HighPoint for this amazing controller and brilliant entry into the high end gaming market!
REALTIME PRICING