Looking to Upgrade my PC

[TheLaw]

I'd snap that up at that price.
Much more expensive over here...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441

Slavik - saw your post after I posted this. See below:

This is $30 more shipped. 4GB more storage and seems to be about 10x more reliable with reviews as a startup drive being off the charts. Good call. Wow... what a system. Thanks guys... this could feasibly last for a very long time...

 

[Forsaken]

My Programs Files x86 is almost 14GB, Programs Files is 1.5GB, Windows folder is 25GB. That's almost 41GB without counting anything else that may lurk on the startup including the Users and appdata folder which could easily extend that another 5-10GB no? Plus pagefile?

Brogan... you're really ticking me off because you're making me respond to this calling out my name.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...227738&cm_sp=Cat_SSD-_-Spotlight-_-20-227-738

1$ per GB of SSD.... Jeeez man... how could you do this to me? (60GB)

Its possible to move documents and other things out of the default folders, which will save you a lot of space.

Programs installed on your SSD should only be those that will require the faster speed, otherwise install them on secondary drive.

 

[TheLaw]

Its possible to move documents and other things out of the default folders, which will save you a lot of space.
Programs installed on your SSD should only be those that will require the faster speed, otherwise install them on secondary drive.

It might be tight... but I'm taking your word for it, guys, that everything including the swap space should easily fit within 45 GB. I ordered the 64GB SSD which seems to have top marks as a startup and, most important, reliability. The smaller size also allows me to image the drive to save for quick restoration. Heaven knows I don't trust Adobe (they have given me such grief reinstalling Web Premium 3 that I own, which doesn't have a proper deinstaller.) Thanks again guys... this is really going to be a lot of fun to build. Now I have that shipping anxiety as I wait for all the parts to ship, lol.

 

[Luke F]

It might be tight... but I'm taking your word for it, guys, that everything including the swap space should easily fit within 45 GB.

64GB is more than enough for a boot drive, you just need to symlink over pointless things like games, large applications and everything in your user folder except appdata, plus you can easily move half the Windows folder without affecting performance. Basically just go crazy with this: http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/hardlinkshellext.html

Also make sure you do not run your swapfile from the SSD - it will degrade much faster.

 

[TheLaw]

OK - I can move the swap file to one of the 500GB disks I use mostly as a scratch disk, which would be ideal. Keeping it on the SSD would probably kill it quickly with all those writes. But as far as the apps go, I would think most should remain on the SSD so that they load quickly and react quickly. That's mostly reading going on which is supposedly much faster than using mechanical drives. As it stands right now, I could probably get everything in below 40GB so I'm guessing that I wouldn't need to use that app very much to change much of the structure, just move my "mydocuments" folder and the rest. Not sure whether I want to keep Outlook pst files on the mechanical since the speed differential could be huge and I use those regularly, but you guys might know better than myself about whether that's still better kept on the mechanical. Thanks for the input.

 

[MGSteve]

In reply to the OP....

I'd defintely build one around an i7 CPU. I bought a i7 920 around 18 months ago when they were quite new and to be honest, the only upgrade I could get at the moment in speed would be to get a i7 980 - i.e. 6 core CPU. They overclock like buggery (stock 2.6Ghz, currently at 3.6).

8GB of ram is fine - although if you do a lot of photoshop stuff, 12GB is superb, I run loads of things open, including PS and never run into any memory issues!

If you can, perhaps sacrifice a bit in CPU and get a SSD Raid 0 array for the boot drive, even two 'slower' 64GB drives will work well, my two Crucial M225 64Gb drives perform excellently in Raid 0 and it makes the whole machine snappy.

Its a lot easier to replace a CPU at a later date with a faster one than it is to replace the SSDs

 

[MGSteve]

OK - I can move the swap file to one of the 500GB disks I use mostly as a scratch disk, which would be ideal. Keeping it on the SSD would probably kill it quickly with all those writes. But as far as the apps go, I would think most should remain on the SSD so that they load quickly and react quickly. That's mostly reading going on which is supposedly much faster than using mechanical drives. As it stands right now, I could probably get everything in below 40GB so I'm guessing that I wouldn't need to use that app very much to change much of the structure, just move my "mydocuments" folder and the rest. Not sure whether I want to keep Outlook pst files on the mechanical since the speed differential could be huge and I use those regularly, but you guys might know better than myself about whether that's still better kept on the mechanical. Thanks for the input.

That's pretty much what I did with mine. The swap file is on a couple of Raid-0 Raptors and the apps and OS are on the SSDs.

Don't be afraid to use the SSD though, even with a swap file on it, it'll still last for years - assuming it *and the os* has got TRIM support.

 

[ManagerJosh]

My Programs Files x86 is almost 14GB, Programs Files is 1.5GB, Windows folder is 25GB. That's almost 41GB without counting anything else that may lurk on the startup including the Users and appdata folder which could easily extend that another 5-10GB no? Plus pagefile?

Brogan... you're really ticking me off because you're making me respond to this calling out my name.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...227738&cm_sp=Cat_SSD-_-Spotlight-_-20-227-738

1$ per GB of SSD.... Jeeez man... how could you do this to me? (60GB)

My current setup is that anything operating system related goes to my Intel 320 80GB SSD. Anything third-party, ie. programs, documents, downloads, goes onto my 2TB 7200 Western Digital Caviar Black.

Funds pending, I might add a second 2TB drive for documents.

 

[Forsaken]

My current setup is that anything operating system related goes to my Intel 320 80GB SSD. Anything third-party, ie. programs, documents, downloads, goes onto my 2TB 7200 Western Digital Caviar Black.

Funds pending, I might add a second 2TB drive for documents.

Certain programs should go on the SSD, mainly Adobe or heavy graphic ones which would benefit from the speed increase.

 

[Slavik]

Certain programs should go on the SSD, mainly Adobe or heavy graphic ones which would benefit from the speed increase.

Indeed, but they also eat upspace very quickly.

This is my current setup

C: - Windows and high priority apps, photoshop, dreamweaver etc.
E: - Data and project files such as PSD saves, client folders, documents.
F: - Non critical apps, games, rarely used programs, ISOs
G: - All media, Videos, Music, Pictures, Screenshots etc

 

[ManagerJosh]

Certain programs should go on the SSD, mainly Adobe or heavy graphic ones which would benefit from the speed increase.

Honestly, if that's the case I rather get a second SSD for apps. But the 7200RPM WDC Caviar Black is up there in terms of performance so I'm not waiting too much

 

[TheLaw]

Honestly, if that's the case I rather get a second SSD for apps. But the 7200RPM WDC Caviar Black is up there in terms of performance so I'm not waiting too much

I have a second SSD although it's only 32GB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609392

Perhaps I can use that one for apps only. While I have the WDC Caviar Black, I've heard that SSD is way faster for read speeds. I hope this is large enough... seems like performance is certainly good enough.

 

[ManagerJosh]

I have a second SSD although it's only 32GB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609392

Perhaps I can use that one for apps only. While I have the WDC Caviar Black, I've heard that SSD is way faster for read speeds. I hope this is large enough... seems like performance is certainly good enough.

You're right it is definitely faster on read speeds. I'm not sure how much faster it needs to be for applications, but I rather not be shuffling applications back and forth.

Plus I only trust Intel for my SSDs <_<

 

[TheLaw]

An interesting read - Microsoft recommends not moving the Programs folder to another HD and that doing so will break updates. While it can be done, it promises to be a potential indefinite pain. The system arrives tomorrow (possibly today) so I have things to consider until then. Am curious about your thoughts.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...-another/acdcd12b-e228-4260-b7dd-65b2fc77719f

Here's an idea of using two drives - perhaps I can JBOD the drives using the on board RAID capabilities and have 1 128GB SSD - both on 6GB SATAIII connectors, which would easily be enough space.

 

[ManagerJosh]

An interesting read - Microsoft recommends not moving the Programs folder to another HD and that doing so will break updates. While it can be done, it promises to be a potential indefinite pain. The system arrives tomorrow (possibly today) so I have things to consider until then. Am curious about your thoughts.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...-another/acdcd12b-e228-4260-b7dd-65b2fc77719f

Here's an idea of using two drives - perhaps I can JBOD the drives using the on board RAID capabilities and have 1 128GB SSD - both on 6GB SATAIII connectors, which would easily be enough space.

Moving it is not a good idea. That's for sure. However third party applications, those that allow you to set the installation path to something other than C prompt, set it to the traditional hard drive.

 

[Slavik]

An interesting read - Microsoft recommends not moving the Programs folder to another HD and that doing so will break updates. While it can be done, it promises to be a potential indefinite pain. The system arrives tomorrow (possibly today) so I have things to consider until then. Am curious about your thoughts.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...-another/acdcd12b-e228-4260-b7dd-65b2fc77719f

Here's an idea of using two drives - perhaps I can JBOD the drives using the on board RAID capabilities and have 1 128GB SSD - both on 6GB SATAIII connectors, which would easily be enough space.

Id raid 0 the 2 ssds

 

[TheLaw]

I may solve the problem by seriously stretching the budget and going for the 128MB version for twice the price at $180. It's the same per GB cost but without having to worry about space. 64GB seems fine but there is always something going on with Windows that makes the disk size grow exponentially... Also have to remember to move the swap off the HD. Thanks guys.

 

[Slavik]

I may solve the problem by seriously stretching the budget and going for the 128MB version for twice the price at $180. It's the same per GB cost but without having to worry about space. 64GB seems fine but there is always something going on with Windows that makes the disk size grow exponentially... Also have to remember to move the swap off the HD. Thanks guys.

2x 64gb + raid 0 them

 

[Luke F]

I may solve the problem by seriously stretching the budget and going for the 128MB version for twice the price at $180. It's the same per GB cost but without having to worry about space. 64GB seems fine but there is always something going on with Windows that makes the disk size grow exponentially... Also have to remember to move the swap off the HD. Thanks guys.

Save the money and spend some time with WinDirStat/symlinks if the 64GB ever gets full. I have some 600 programs installed according to Windows plus loads of other clutter and still have 8GB free.

 

[TheLaw]

Save the money and spend some time with WinDirStat/symlinks if the 64GB ever gets full. I have some 600 programs installed according to Windows plus loads of other clutter and still have 8GB free.

I solved the problem easily:

(1) Replaced the motherboard and video card with this bad boy:
ASRock Z68 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Apparently the Integrated Graphics System makes a HUGE difference for video encoding, transcoding and processing. Have a so-so video card like I had (mostly just for dual-monitor desktop work) means losing the onboard processing which many applications will probably use for that purpose. The board I got didn't just lack a video out, it also lacked the complete IGS. This adds that and two PCI 3.0 slots which make it future ready.

(2) Replaced the SSD with this, which also had free shipping - and I paid at least $10 less... hmmm....
Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

I realized that the 32GB SSD is not 6GB/S but 3GB/S, even though it's a good SSD. If I want, I can add a second 64GB SSD as scratch/space for audio and video editing and recording as I'm guessing it will smoke any HD, especially since most of mine are SATAII 7200RPM drives. Not sure I really need that luxury although the drive was very cheap ($89 for 64GB.)

For $95 or so, it's total peace of mind. To be honest... a while ago I realized that screwing around for just 4 hours with problems means $23 / hour. I'll work harder and on weekends to make up the luxury.