Can't reach 800MB/sec with 8x raid0 mtron 7000

[krismach]

I've been trying to reach the posted benchmark of 8x mtron 7000 in raid0 of over 800MB/sec to no avail.

I've tried the following raid controllers:
Adaptec RAID 51245
Areca ARC-1680ix-12

Tried default setting for both, tried different strip sizes and all I get is between 450-550MB/sec.

Any ideas as to what might be causing it to not reach its full potential?

Motherboard is Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6, FSB is not overclocked and PCIE is set to 100Mhz. Latest f5c motherboard bios, latest adaptec and areca bios, latest mtron firmware on all the drives, and of course the latest drivers. Processor is QX9770 with 4GB of RAM. Graphics card is in the first PCIE slot and the RAID controllers were in the second x16 PCIE slot (one at a time.) OS is Windows 2008 server.

Adaptec RAID 51245:

http://www.eq2am.com/images/mtron/hdtune_benchmark_adaptec_array_x8.png

Areca ARC-1680ix-12:

http://www.eq2am.com/images/mtron/hdtune_benchmark_areca___arc-1680-vol%23000_x8.png

http://www.eq2am.com/images/mtron/hdtach_areca_x8.png

[webmaster]

We achieved highest performance with the Areca 1231 family of controllers which includes the ARC-1231ML and ARC-1290ML. The newer 1680 has a faster CPU, but is optimized for SAS architecture and is therefore SLOWER than the 1231!!

Here's our benchmark - http://www.dvnation.com/benchmark-24.html

[krismach]

Wow, you're right. I just got ARC-1231ML and got similar results to the posted benchmark. I was hoping to break 1.2GB/sec with 12x raid0 and that's why I was looking at the 1680 controller. It's too bad really, but maybe Areca will optimize 1680 in the near future.

Here are results I got:

http://www.eq2am.com/images/mtron/hdtach_areca_1231ml_x8.png

http://www.eq2am.com/images/mtron/hdtune_benchmark_areca___arc-1231-vol%2300.png

[webmaster]

Nope. You don't get a higher speed with more than 8X MTRON PRO SSDs. Not a higher READ speed. I did notice a SLIGHT increase in write speed when testing 10X and 12X MTRON PRO SSDs in RAID0. But nothing to write home about.

[Turas]

Damn, I just bought the 1680ix-16 to hopefully raid either 8 of the new raptors or 12 ssd drives. I was hoping the card would crush the ealier one. I even got the battery and the 4GB mem module for it.

[drmaniac]

Big Questions:

Which Firmware do u use with the Areca 1680-x ?

There is a HUGE difference between 1.44 and 1.45 (1.45 was from april and was released and
then deleted from support site....dont know why...actual he is available...)

http://www.areca.com.tw/products/pcietosas1680performance.htm

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:T3X8RR9avcAJ:www.areca.com.tw/support/main.htm+areca+1.45+firmware&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us


http://www.areca.com.tw/indeximg/4p.jpg
(more pics and RAID Setups in the link above).


So the BIG Question is... with 1.45... and SSDs....is is then possible to grow up over the 800MB/S?

Will the 1.2Ghz Chips then now better perform on SATA Drives then the old 800Mhz Chips?

hmmm...

damed. I ordered a 1231ML now...i will cancle and buy the 1680 if I can get an information approved that with the new firmware 1.45 he is now faster with SSDs...

.

edit: see http://www.areca.com.tw/indeximg/ARC_1680%20performance%20comparison.pdf

Raid5 16xSATA HDDs, READ, v1.45

1.2ghz ~950MB/S
800mhz ~700MB/S

so what now to do.

cancle the 1231ML and order the 1680...?

[Buckeye]

Great information. Thanks !