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M17x - 1TB as 500GBx2 in RAID0 - is the raid controller easily removable?

post #1 of 11
7/29/10 at 3:22am
Thread Starter 
If I wanted to buy an SSD in a year or so when prices lower, is it easy to remove one of the 500GB HDDs and keep the other (with a clean install) while adding the SSD not as part of the RAID0 array?
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post #2 of 11
7/29/10 at 5:43am
Yes. You just need to change the controller setting in the bios to AHCI from RAID if it doesn't happen automatically.
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post #3 of 11
7/29/10 at 3:46pm
NWGuru, how good or how reliable is the raid controller? just debating if i should return the 160gb intell ssd and get 2 500gb seagate 7200 hdds.
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post #4 of 11
7/29/10 at 3:47pm
Thread Starter 
Also how much do 2 HDDs affect battery life? I know the M17x probably wont last more than 1.5 hours but still what would the effects be?
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post #5 of 11
7/29/10 at 8:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by aliaskary77 View Post
NWGuru, how good or how reliable is the raid controller? just debating if i should return the 160gb intell ssd and get 2 500gb seagate 7200 hdds.
Honestly it's a not a true hardware RAID controller so it's extremely limited. I would definitely go with SSD+HDD.

Quote:
Originally Posted by foolfromhell View Post
Also how much do 2 HDDs affect battery life? I know the M17x probably wont last more than 1.5 hours but still what would the effects be?
Not enough to see a difference but it will always depend on what you are doing.
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post #6 of 11
7/30/10 at 5:38am
Thread Starter 
Yeah I was thinking how it could be true RAID without a RAID controller. Anyway, I ordered the computer. (FINALLY like 10 years of waiting and finally got an Alienware). I'll get an SSD when prices dip.

Thanks for your help!

I started talking to the rep 10 minutes before EPP discounts went to 10% (from 15%) but they let me keep 15%.
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post #7 of 11
7/30/10 at 6:40am
Thread Starter 
I the hardware isnt true RAID, are there any roadblocks in partitioning, installing other OSes etc? Can everything be done in the same manner as with a system with only one harddrive?
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post #8 of 11
7/30/10 at 7:37am
You can partition and install different OS on ONE drive - if you have plenty of disk space to spare. Rule of thumb, always installing older version of OS first on one partition before the newer one

cheers ...
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post #9 of 11
7/30/10 at 9:45am
I have dual-booted ever since virtualization became widely available.
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post #10 of 11
7/30/10 at 1:11pm
Dont you mean NOT dual-booted?

Yep, I use VMWare Workstation myself. Several VMS, work, etc....including mounting my last known good configuration of XP and W7 from an older laptop....just as I transition and get everything installed and configured. Cant always remember what you did and what you tweaked.
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post #11 of 11
7/30/10 at 5:41pm
Yeah, missed a word...lol
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