A Quick Question: RAID Configuration

Question

Hi Guys
Following on from Greg's thread on an optimum system, I'm having my PC upgraded this afternoon by a visiting engineer (current specs below). RAM is being increased to 12gb and my cheap ATI Radeon video card is being replaced by a Nvidia FX3800.
My question is; I'm having a 3rd HDD installed as well and then have the 3 discs configured in a RAID format. I know there are a couple of versions ('0', etc) and I wonder what people's views are on the most reliable type of RAID?
Any advice would be welcome here.
Regards,
Graham
This is the system currently:
OS Name        Windows 7
System Manufacturer  Gigabyte Technology
System Model EX58-UD4P
System Type   x64-based PC
Intel i7
Processor         EM64T Family 6 Model 26 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~2665 Mhz
Processor         EM64T Family 6 Model 26 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~2665 Mhz
Processor         EM64T Family 6 Model 26 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~2665 Mhz
Processor         EM64T Family 6 Model 26 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~2665 Mhz
Processor         EM64T Family 6 Model 26 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~2665 Mhz
Processor         EM64T Family 6 Model 26 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~2665 Mhz
Processor         EM64T Family 6 Model 26 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~2665 Mhz
Processor         EM64T Family 6 Model 26 Stepping 4 GenuineIntel ~2665 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date    Award Software International, Inc. F8, 11/05/2009
SMBIOS Version       2.4
HDDs             Samsung HD 103UJ x 2
Hardware Abstraction Layer  Version = "5.2.3790.3959 (srv03_sp2_rtm.070216-1710)"
Total Physical Memory           6,142.01 MB
Available Physical Memory    5.06 GB
Total Virtual Memory 7.61 GB
Available Virtual Memory      6.84 GB

Answer 1

Now Harm, you've really piqued my curioisty with this last reply. I just today received two WD Caviar Black 640GB hard drives to set up in a simple RAID 0 arrangement running off the motherboard. Already have 'em in the computer case. I've been working on my computer for three weeks, upgrading as I could, and planned to finally get up-n-running with CS5 tomorrow.
I figured all was about to be rosy here with my Canon T2i and its AVCHD clips, because I was planning on using NeoScene to convert my highly compressed footage to something more processor friendly. It didn't occur to me that NeoScene might transcode to a format that overwhelms a two-disk RAID 0. Improve one problem and create another?
Seemingly, native AVCHD clips only require about 5 MB/sec from a hard drive, so getting multiple layers coming off the drive(s) isn't an issue with AVCHD. The problem is that the CPU I have - AMD Phenom II 955 -  can't decode them fast enough. Clearly, it would be better to migrate to an i7 platform, but I don't have the money or time to do it this summer. In the meantime, I'm kicking around with one of my AMD computers I built for less taxing school usage this past spring. As of today, I have a simple RAID planned that should bump my disk transfer rates up past 160MB/sec. It's my first RAID setup so I'm pretty excited.
Should I be planning for rain on this picnic?
With a RAID 0 and transcoded NeoScene footage, I figured I would have a drive system able to deliver to the CPU fast enough and clips that not only are more digestible, but have the improved color space of 4:2:2 that comes from the NeoScene transcode. I was hoping to get at least four or five layers going with the GTX 480 card I got on sale last month (another piece for the i7 if needed). I plan on doing a LOT of chroma keying, and from what I read, the NeoScene transcode will improve our work in Ultra. Don't really know, but this is what I glean from other posts and the Cineform website.
From another of your posts, I take it my CPU won't get close to saturating this fast video card. But the price was right and I have my eye to the future.
I have a four disk setup planned:
* 1TB Caviar Green for OS/Programs (already had this as my main disk, and drive charts show it hanging tough in middle of the pack)
* 750GB Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 for scratch disk (also had this one lying around, but was a top performer 18 months ago)
* A pair of  640GB (32MB cache, twin processor) Caviar Blacks as mentioned for RAID 0. Drive charts still show this two year old design working in top quarter of range.
OK Harm, here are my two questions:
1) I can leave my AVCHD clips as-is and watch my processor choke on them, I suppose. Even the GTX 480 can't fix this, nor will sending these clips faster yet to the CPU.
Or, I can transcode to something my weak CPU can work with. Time lost transcoding and a pain, but still part of the learning process and perhaps a good stop-gap measure until I can afford a better platform.
2) NeoScene was my choice from the smattering of things I have found that describe workarounds on the AVCHD compression problem. This could have been $130 towards a better computer, but the aspect of get 4:2:2 color sounds good to my inexperienced ear. Maybe a good idea on its own and a decent fix to the AVCHD choking problem.
Do you have an opinion on this plan/equipment setup?
Do you know of a better transcode from AVCHD that makes for mid-sized files that are easier on a CPU but still manageable by a basic RAID 0 arrangement?