Adaptec RAID 2405 SAS / SATA Controller

Test Setup
 

To assess the performance of the Adaptec RAID 2405 SAS/SATA controller we will be running a total of three tests. Each of the tests will feature two drives configured in RAID0 with comparisons being made to Intel’s motherboard based ‘Matrix’ RAID controller. While not a directly comparable product to the Adaptec solution due to its lack of dedicated Memory and CPU, Intel’s Matrix RAID is without doubt the most widely used controller in the enthusiast community, and it will certainly be interesting to see how the two compare.

 
Processor
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 “G0” @ 3.6GHz

Motherboard
ASUS P5E64 WS Evolution (Intel X48 Northbridge, ICH9R Southbrdge)

Array 1
Adaptec RAID 2405 SAS Controller
Seagate Barracuda ES.2 500GB 7200RPM 16MB
Configuration: RAID0 / 128kb Blocks

Array 2
Intel Matrix RAID on ASUS P5E64 WS Southbridge (ICH9R)
Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB 10000RPM 16MB
Configuration: RAID0 / 128kb Blocks

Array 3
Adaptec RAID 2405 SAS Controller
Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB 10000RPM 16MB
Configuration: RAID0 / 128kb Blocks

 
Adaptec + Seagate SAS Config
 
A combination of both ‘real-world’ and synthetic benchmarks will be used to report the performance of each RAID Array. The benchmarks can be seen below:
 
Synthetic Benchmarks
• HDTune Pro v3
• Sisoft Sandra 2009

File Write & Manipulation
• WinAVI (with 500mb AVI file)
• Dummy File Generator (Write speed test with varying size files)
• Peazip (File Compression / Decompression)

OS & Gaming
• Racedriver GRID (Game loading times)
• Windows Vista x64 (Startup time)

 

With the exclusion of the Windows Vista (Startup Time) benchmark, all other benchmarks were performed from a fresh installation of Windows Vista x64 located on a separate Western Digital RaptorX master drive. This configuration ensured that the results from RAID arrays on test were not skewed by any random operating system disk access while also allowing us to perform all benchmarks on a completely blank Array.

 
 
Configuration
 
Setting up a RAID array for the first time can be quite a nerve racking affair. With so many different options to chose from including several different RAID types, stripe sizes and parity it’s easy to get lost and end up with an array not suited to your required purpose. While the in’s and out’s of the various RAID levels and tutorials on how to configure them are beyond the scope of this review, the screenshots below from the 2405’s configuration utility should give you an idea of what you’re up against.
 
Adaptec RAID 2405 BIOS Adaptec RAID 2405 BIOS
 
Adaptec RAID 2405 BIOS Adaptec RAID 2405 BIOS
 
As we can see, the 2405 certainly doesn’t have the most friendly of interfaces. However, anyone who has had previous experience navigating a Motherboard BIOS or indeed configuring a RAID array on a non-Adaptec controller, should have little problem getting used to it. In addition to all of the usual RAID configuration options, the 2405 also has a section dedicated to power saving as well as useful tools for formatting and secure wiping the hard disks.
 
Now let’s move on to some benchmarks!