What RAID controller for a pair of X25M G2s

[idata]

I am buying a new Windows 7 (i7-870 / P55) system with two 80GB X25-M G2s and would like suggestions for the best RAID controller. My biggest concern is one that will allow me the upgrade the SSD firmware easily.

[idata]

If you're using a p55 motherboard, you can use the Intel onboard RAID controller, that's the most fastest. But, when you will create an raid array, with raid 0 option on, for now you can not upgrade the firmware of your ssd's without destroying all the data on them. In my situation, I've a X58 motherboard, with 2 Postville G2 80gb ssd's in raid 0, I can upgrade the firmware, when I first turn the RAID option off in the BIOS, but the upgrade will also destroy all the data on the drives.

[idata]

First, from what I've read, using the onboard RAID controller causes a significant performance hit compared to a dedicated RAID controller. Have I been mis-reading? If a dedicated controller is actually the way to go, are there any recommendations?

Second, I've gotten a lot of differing opinions about upgrading firmware, most saying that non-destructive firmware updates can be done by breaking the RAID pair and updating them individually, and then reconnecting them into the RAID configuration. But...if that's not possible, the new machine I'm ordering will have a small dedicated drive for redundant mirror images of C:. If everything ends up destroyed, I can re-establish C: easily enough.

SSDs and RAID seems to still be a bit of a lottery.

[idata]

mgrmgr,

The Intel raid controller is fast and works great – My raid 0 setup is proof no problems at all. Compared to other controllers my results are amongst the best; check it out info and comparisons in a lot of SSD Forums.

Good luck,

Roland

[idata]

Thanks Roland.