Raid performance 0 on nvme pcie 4.0 vs nvme pcie 3.0 vs m.2 sata

RAID technology is no longer just part of the business environment and massive file storage. Manufacturers make RAID functions implemented in their new generation chipsets and boards available to us, making it easier to mount it on a home PC. In fact, many Gaming laptops already come from the factory with a RAID 0 SSD NVMe.

What we are going to do in this article is to see the RAID 0 performance in PCIe 4.0 vs PCIe 3.0 vs SATA. For this we have used an AMD X570 and an Intel board with SATA and Gen4 SSD to alternate configurations and see how they are mounted on each one. Windows also has a function to create RAID so we have also used it.

Index of contents

Why use a RAID

RAID stands for " Redundant Array of Independent Disks " or in Spanish, redundant array of independent disks. It is about creating a system or environment capable of storing data using multiple storage units among which these are distributed or replicated.

RAID configurations have always been tied to the business environment and data handling. Its main function is to multiply the capacity of a single hard disk several times to increase its read and write performance. Likewise, configurations called levels will be created that will allow us to replicate data to avoid loss due to unit failure.

Currently we do not need a server to mount one of these configurations, we will only need our own motherboard and operating system. If we want something more complex or dedicated, the best will be to acquire a NAS, for providing a large number of extra storage options and network shares.

Behind this there is much more, and we developed it in our article on RAID technology

The RAID that we can mount on a board currently will be the following:

• RAID 0: This level's function is to distribute the data that is stored among the different hard drives to increase the read / write speed without replication. RAID 1: Also called mirroring for providing redundancy to data. In it the same repeated files will be saved on as many disks as we use. RAID 10: it is a RAID that combines two levels, two RAID 0 joined by a RAID 1 making up 4 hard drives. RAID 5: It is called a parity distributed system, combining high access speed with file replication from 3 hard drives. The information is stored divided into blocks between the three units with a parity block to protect it against failures. RAID 50: It is the combination of two RAID 5 with a RAID 0. Previous AMD X370, B350 and A320 chipsets allowed creating one with AMD RAID Array Configuration. Currently with RAIDXpert2 it is not possible

What boards can I RAID with

It remains to give a review of the boards that gives us the possibility of making a RAID, which currently will be the vast majority of the market. Both Intel and AMD offer compatibility on their current chipsets.

For Intel we have the following possibilities:

• Z270Z370H370 and HM370Z390X299

Only less powerful chipsets such as the B360 or H310 are excluded from the more or less current backwards. All chipsets that allow overclocking are also compatible with RAID.

A distinction must be made between SATA and PCIe on these boards. If we use drives on SATA ports we can create RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10. And if we use M.2 slots then we can create RAID 0, 1 and 5.

And for AMD boards we have:

• X399, TRX40X570, X470, X370B550, B450, B350A520, A320

Both current and future chipsets implement the same possibilities, being able to create RAID 0, 1 and 10 with RAIDXpert2. It supports these types in both SATA and NVMe if there are enough M.2 slots or expansion cards. In previous chipsets like X370, B350 and A320, the AMD RAID Array Configuration application is used, which extends the capacity to RAID 5 and 50 in principle.

RAID 0 performance in PCIe 4.0 vs PCIe 3.0 vs SATA

For this test we have used the simplest configuration, a RAID 0 that should provide the maximum combined read and write capacity of two drives, that is, it can perform twice as much as a single drive. The hardware we have used will be the following:

• Asus Crosshair VIII Hero X570 + AMD Ryzen 3600: RAID 0 PCIe 4.0 and RAID 0 SATAAsus ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390 + Intel Core i9-9900K: RAID 0 PCIe 3.0 Windows 10 x64 Pro: RAID 0 by software and test system 2x SSD Corsair MP600 Gen4 PCIe 4.0 2TB2x Western Digital WD RED SA500 SATA

As we see, the hardware is not bad, being Asus flagships for both platforms and top-level SSD drives for both interfaces. The MP600 will be used in PCIe 4.0 AMD and PCIe 3.0 Intel.

RAID 0 NVMe PCIe 4.0 performance

We start with the most powerful of all, which is undoubtedly the RAID configuration of the two PCIe 4.0 SSDs on the Asus X570 board. This has the new PCI standard, whose M.2 x4 slots can theoretically reach 7, 876 MB / s. The SSDs we use have shown in our review to deliver 4, 777 MB / s in reading.

After seeing these results and buying them with those of the analysis, we see that RAID 0 works, and in what way. In all CristalDiskMark records we have approximately double the performance. When we change the benchmark version we have some different tests to make a direct comparison, but we are reaching almost 9.5000 MB / s in sequence reading and 8.5000 MB / s in writing, which is sensational.

Recall the theoretical limit of an M.2 4.0 slot, proving that they do indeed work entirely as a team and in parallel with the AMD setup. When these SSDs evolve a little more and reach near the maximum of the interface we will have yields of up to 14, 000 MB / s with only two drives, something that for now can only be achieved with a RAID 0 of 4 SSDs of this type.

RAID 0 NVMe PCIe 3.0 performance

In order to add variety to the comparison, we have used the MP600 on an Intel board for testing under PCIe 3.0. Theoretically, these slots will go up to 3, 937 MB / s, although it would later stay at around 3, 500 MB / s in a practical way.

So with these units, reaching 7, 000 MB / s under PCIe 3.0 should be possible, by simple logic and numbers, but we see a quite different scenario than expected. In the test with the built RAID 0 we have reached 3, 552 MB / s and 3, 407 MB / s in sequential reading and writing. These are results of a single NVMe 3.0 SSD such as the Samsung 970 EVO.

CristalDiskMark may not have worked well in a RAID under Intel, or the chipset does not work as fine as it should in this section with NVMe drives. In any case, we do see a very important performance in random operations with 4K blocks Q32T16, and Q1T1, so at least in this sense it does seem to be working well. At least the 4 TB of storage do not need some drivers after performing the RAID in the BIOS, being an advantage over AMD.

RAID 0 SATA M.2 performance

We now return to the AMD board for giving us better results to RAID with the two modest NAS-oriented WD RED SA500 M.2 drives. We will use the same slots again working under SATA, so the performance that we should expect would be around 1100 MB / s. Since the units individually delivered 554 MB / s and 527 MB / s in reading and writing in the review.

Once again we see that the expectations are met on this AMD platform, with a performance that approximately doubles that of individual units. In fact, with a cheap RAID of this type we will have very good performance for the operating system and data if we have a limited budget for expensive PCIe SSDs.

RAID 0 SATA performance configured in Windows 10

And finally we are going to see how this configuration behaves directly in Windows 10 with the Storage Space Manager utility. We are back to using the AMD motherboard and SATA SSDs from the previous test. They do not give the same performance. Why?

Windows does not disappoint and we see that it not only gives the performance of an individual unit, but it is even worse than the results in normal configuration, bordering on 400 MB / s instead of the 450 MB / s that it should give in reading.

The reason why we have this data almost identical to a single SSD, is because Windows does not do a RAID 0, but a JBOD configuration. So, the system simply joins two equal or different units by adding their storage. That's what a RAID 0 does, we agree, but the inner workings are very different. While JBOD fills the drives with files individually, first one and then another, RAID 0 distributes the files between the two, doubling the speed of reading and writing in the process.

At least we know that it is possible to create the RAID and that it works correctly in terms of data distribution or replication, for example for a RAID 5 or RAID 1.

Configure RAID in BIOS UEFI Intel, AMD and Windows

If you want to do one of these configurations on your computer, for example with two 2.5 ”SATA drives or PCIe SSDs, you will have the entire process explained in these two tutorials:

• How to configure RAID in Windows 10

The process is similar in both cases, although at Intel it is simpler. Its platform also allows us to mount RAID 5 very useful to avoid loss of files without sacrificing speed. In addition, the Windows installation will automatically detect the RAID without the need for drivers.

Regarding AMD, it has been shown to duplicate performance correctly, something that Intel does not, and also how much RAIDXpert2 software to manage the drives or create more RAID in Windows 10. The only drawback is that drivers are required when installing the system., and the BIOS setup is not as straightforward as Intel. We will have all this in each of the tutorials.

Conclusion about RAID 0 performance in PCIe 4.0 vs PCIe 3.0 vs SATA

On the one hand we are very satisfied with the performance that the configurations made on the AMD platform have given us, both in PCIe 4.0 and in SATA, and we assume that in PCIe 3.0 as well. Being a guarantee of success for those users who want to experiment.

On the other hand, we expected an equal evolution in the Intel board, perhaps it is due to some factor that we have ignored, such as the BIOS version or the drivers of the Intel chipset in Windows 10. In this case we can say that the creation of the RAID it is simple when you know your steps. But there are several factors that a normal user will not know unless they review the corresponding manufacturers' guides, since we need to make certain configurations in the BIOS and in the system so that everything works correctly.

Although it is true that we do not have many possibilities when it comes to RAID variety, we have the most important ones for a normal user, with 0, 1 and 10 in the case of AMD and adding RAID 5 in Intel. These should meet normal needs, or even create us under Windows with less performance but the same basic functionality.

We leave you with some tutorials and articles of interest:

If you have made a similar RAID on your board, it would be interesting to tell about your experience and the performance obtained. Do you find it useful to configure a RAID on a desktop PC?