Performance – 2 SSD in RAID0
The RAID testing platform is exactly the same as for a single SSD.
Let’s begin as usual with the ATTO Disk Benchmark.
ATTO sequential bandwidth results are one more time lower than expected, but it’s still fine. The maximum bandwidth in RAID 0 is 12.26GB/s, so at about the level of the fastest PCIe 5.0 SSD.
In CrystalDiskMark, the performance is a bit better, with up to 12.8GB/s read and 12.5GB/s write. It’s the first test where we see that behind the high sequential bandwidth is also a lower random bandwidth. As long as a single drive could pass 1000K IOPS, then two drives reach about 700K IOPS in the RND4K test. This is a matter of the RAID controller and how it manages the data.
We are a bit surprised that results in PCMark 10 in RAID 0 are only slightly better than on a single drive. Since most tests are random, then it confirms what we could see in CrystalDiskMark.
3DMark Storage Benchmark performs similar tests to PCMark 10 but uses popular games to calculate the performance. However, the scaling in RAID 0 is about the same as in PCMark 10, so our final result is only slightly better than on a single drive.
Anvil’s Storage Utilities unexpectedly shows over 13.1GB/s write bandwidth, while the maximum read is a bit low – 8.75GB/s.
In the end, the AIDA64 Disk Benchmark results in random read and write operations.
Both AIDA64 tests show even three times as high average performance in RAID 0 than on a single VP4300 Lite SSD.
In the last weeks, the first PCIe 5.0 SSD started to appear in stores, and at least some users started asking questions if two PCIe 4.0 in RAID 0 aren’t a better or at least a cheaper option. Our tests on the new AMD chipset confirm that RAID 0 configuration is, in fact, faster in sequential bandwidth and for sure is cheaper than a single PCIe 5.0 SSD at the same capacity. However, for gaming, a single SSD is the answer, and it doesn’t really matter if it’s PCIe 4.0 or PCIe 5.0 SSD.
The VP4300 Lite is scaling well in RAID 0 or 1. If we wish for a data copy in case of a drive failure, then RAID 1 is the answer, but a single drive still seems optimal for gaming.
Of course, our RAID 0 test is a bonus, and it doesn’t affect the way how we feel about the VP4300 Lite SSD. It’s clearly a great SSD, and we won’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone.
