new i7 build - opinions?

[oomus]

This is the new system but I have yet to get 2 SAS drives and stripe them for the OS drive and use the velociraptors independently. It will work for now!
Also picked up 2 Dell 2209WA eIPS monitors to go with it.

CASE: Antec Nine Hundred Case
MOTHERBOARD: Asus P6T Deluxe Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Mainboard SAS Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA RAID w/ eSATA,Dual GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394a,&7.1Audio
MEMORY: 6GB (2GBx3) DDR3/1600MHz Triple Channel Memory Module Corsair
CPU: Intel Core i7-920 2.66 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366 Overclocked to 3.6 Ghz
CD1: LG 20X DVD+/-R/+/-RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
CD2: LG 20X DVD+/-R/+/-RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
FAN: Asetek Liquid CPU Cooling System
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 896MB 16X PCI Express
HDD1: Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB 10,000RPM SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache WD3000GLFS
HDD2: Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB 10,000RPM SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache WD3000GLFS
NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate w/ Service Pack 1 64-bit Edition
POWERSUPPLY: Thermaltake ToughPower 850 Watts
KEYBOARD: Microsoft Wireless Desktop Keyboard & Mouse
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: 600Watts PMPO Subwoofer Stereo Speakers
FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer

Fastest machine I have built so far and I have built a few. If they could only get the solid state drive bugs worked out this thing could fly! For now I'll use the SAS drives when I get them....

[philmar]

Originally Posted by smcclelland

Keep in mind that the 74GB WD's are the old "Raptor's" and there are the new 150gb and 300gb Velociraptor. I see a lot of people get these confused thinking that the 74gb have the same speeds as the Velociraptors and that's not the case. The new Velo's are SATA2

I am thinking of upgrading my system as I move to CS4 and Vista 64 Bit - see current thread.
I was thinking of upgrading to a 150 GB Raptor as the OS/apps drive for Vista 64 in a dual boot system. But I am reading for the first time that this is SATA2. Does this mean it will not work on my current Intel mobo?
What about a WD 1 TB 1001FALS?

THANKS!

[smcclelland]

Nah you're good with that board + SATA2. There's no difference in pin connectors or anything and that board is fairly recent so you won't have any problems running the WD Velo on that.

The WD 1001FALS is an awesome drive, I highly recommend the Caviar Black drives if you're looking for performance as they have great platter design and stability (they use the same design as the server based RE2 drives basically). I am running four of these in an external RAID5 array and aside from the heat produce I love them.

If you've got the money to spare and don't mind limited space, the WD Velociraptor 150GB won't disappoint. If you're more budget conscious and are looking for something that will run strong then I would suggest the 640gb WD Caviar Black drives (get four if you can) in a RAID10 config on your machine.

I run 4x640gb Caviar Blue's in my X58 box in RAID10 and it's great... lots of storage space, I partitioned everything exactly how I wanted it (100gb boot, 76gb scratch, 500gb data1, 500gb data2) and I've got the redundancy in case a drive fails. At $89.99 too these drives are a steal (NCIX has WD 640gb Caviar Black's on sale for $89.99 until March 29th which is even better too).

[philmar]

Originally Posted by smcclelland

Nah you're good with that board + SATA2. There's no difference in pin connectors or anything and that board is fairly recent so you won't have any problems running the WD Velo on that.

The WD 1001FALS is an awesome drive, I highly recommend the Caviar Black drives if you're looking for performance as they have great platter design and stability .....
If you've got the money to spare and don't mind limited space, the WD Velociraptor 150GB won't disappoint. If you're more budget conscious and are looking for something that will run strong then I would suggest the 640gb WD Caviar Black drives (get four if you can) in a RAID10 config on your machine.

Thanks!!
This is a very informative thread with wonderful advice!

My plan originally was to upgrade to a 5 drive rig (I was going to upgrade/add 2 more drives) but as I educate myself, I see there are dangers and limitations to these things. i.e. PSU not up to it, mobo SATA connections, HD bays in Antec case, heat/noise of 5 HDs.
Price isn't really a deterent for me - technical skill, however, is.
So I'm not comfortable with anything in RAID configuration.

What is your recommendation for a drive to be used solely for OS/apps? I had planned on getting a 150GB raptor but I keep reading about the black caviars being so good. Would I be better off with a black caviar short stroked instead of a 150GB raptor?

For my data I am definitely going with a 1 TB black caviar.

For a windows page file/PS scratch disk, am I better having each set on to a separate file? Yes, this is an expensive luxury, but if I already have the drives (320gb SATA WDs) why not use them? Or should I just use the 32 GB Raptor that contains my current XP/apps?

Not sure how to set this thing up. I'm not sure if having a separate drive for windows page file and a separate drive for PS scratch disk is any benefit. I don't know if my existing 32 gb Raptor (with my XP/apps) is big enough or fast enough (old tech) to do the job.

I'm even considering just going to Vista 64 full time and blowing away my XP/apps on my current raptor if it will serve well as a dedicted PS scratchdisk/or windows file page disk (or both)

ANY insight from anyone is appreciated.

[In2Photos]

Originally Posted by philmar

Thanks!!
This is a very informative thread with wonderful advice!

My plan originally was to upgrade to a 5 drive rig (I was going to upgrade/add 2 more drives) but as I educate myself, I see there are dangers and limitations to these things. i.e. PSU not up to it, mobo SATA connections, HD bays in Antec case, heat/noise of 5 HDs.
Price isn't really a deterent for me - technical skill, however, is.
So I'm not comfortable with anything in RAID configuration.

What is your recommendation for a drive to be used solely for OS/apps? I had planned on getting a 150GB raptor but I keep reading about the black caviars being so good. Would I be better off with a black caviar short stroked instead of a 150GB raptor?

For my data I am definitely going with a 1 TB black caviar.

For a windows page file/PS scratch disk, am I better having each set on to a separate file? Yes, this is an expensive luxury, but if I already have the drives (320gb SATA WDs) why not use them? Or should I just use the 32 GB Raptor that contains my current XP/apps?

Not sure how to set this thing up. I'm not sure if having a separate drive for windows page file and a separate drive for PS scratch disk is any benefit. I don't know if my existing 32 gb Raptor (with my XP/apps) is big enough or fast enough (old tech) to do the job.

I'm even considering just going to Vista 64 full time and blowing away my XP/apps on my current raptor if it will serve well as a dedicted PS scratchdisk/or windows file page disk (or both)

ANY insight from anyone is appreciated.

I just built mine a few weeks ago. When I asked for advice I was planning on using several pieces from my previous machine. In the end I only used 1 hard drive since even a year or two old drive is "old tech". In the end I was very happy with the purchase. You can read about my build here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=650931

[philmar]

Originally Posted by In2Photos

I just built mine a few weeks ago. When I asked for advice I was planning on using several pieces from my previous machine. In the end I only used 1 hard drive since even a year or two old drive is "old tech". In the end I was very happy with the purchase. You can read about my build here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=650931

Thanks! - then I'll seriously consider my build WITHOUT the 2 older generation 320gb SATA WDs. Maybe I'll stick'em in a HD enclosure and use'em as additional backup...
But I am not too sure if I want my OS, apps, scratch and file page on the same drive. I can afford multiple drives.
So my question to all you big brained helpful people remains...is my old 32 GB raptor still of any use as a dedicated scratch disk/file page drive? Or would that even be better on a new black caviar? preferably short stroked?

[smcclelland]

Originally Posted by philmar

Thanks! - then I'll seriously consider my build WITHOUT the 2 older generation 320gb SATA WDs. Maybe I'll stick'em in a HD enclosure and use'em as additional backup...
But I am not too sure if I want my OS, apps, scratch and file page on the same drive. I can afford multiple drives.
So my question to all you big brained helpful people remains...is my old 32 GB raptor still of any use as a dedicated scratch disk/file page drive? Or would that even be better on a new black caviar? preferably short stroked?

Nothing wrong with using your 32gb Raptor as a scratch disk thought 32gb might be a bit small. My RAID setup is seamless so I just partitioned all the combined storage the way I needed it (it's really all dispersed across 4 disks but just looks like one consolidated storage until you partition it).

[philmar]

Thanks - and what about the boot drive? Do you think a 150 GB raptor gives better performance over a black caviar?

[Aszental]

Can u guys post your exact raid setups? Also planning on building a new computer with raid, was wondering what the best setup would be.

Mainly to Optimize lightroom/photoshop.

[smcclelland]

Originally Posted by philmar

Thanks - and what about the boot drive? Do you think a 150 GB raptor gives better performance over a black caviar?

They have a slight performance advantage but I wouldn't really call it anything to write home about... they perform great in synthetic benchmarks but in real world use I doubt you'll see that much of a difference aside from maybe a few file operations here and there.

Originally Posted by Aszental

Can u guys post your exact raid setups? Also planning on building a new computer with raid, was wondering what the best setup would be.

Mainly to Optimize lightroom/photoshop.

I run 4 x WD 6400KAS Caviar Blue hard-drives in a RAID10 array with an EVGA X58 motherboard

Partitions are:

100gb - boot drive/os/apps
76gb - scratch disk for PS and Tokix (compositing)
500gb - Data drive 1
500gb - Data drive 2

Both data drives get mirrored to two 500gb external WD MyBook's and also mirrored to a 4 x 1TB Caviar Black RAID5 external enclosure for peace of mind

[dc5itr329]

Originally Posted by smcclelland

They have a slight performance advantage but I wouldn't really call it anything to write home about... they perform great in synthetic benchmarks but in real world use I doubt you'll see that much of a difference aside from maybe a few file operations here and there.



I run 4 x WD 6400KAS Caviar Blue hard-drives in a RAID10 array with an EVGA X58 motherboard

Partitions are:

100gb - boot drive/os/apps
76gb - scratch disk for PS and Tokix (compositing)
500gb - Data drive 1
500gb - Data drive 2

Both data drives get mirrored to two 500gb external WD MyBook's and also mirrored to a 4 x 1TB Caviar Black RAID5 external enclosure for peace of mind

which brand external enclosure are you using for the 4x 1 tb drives?

[smcclelland]

Originally Posted by dc5itr329

which brand external enclosure are you using for the 4x 1 tb drives?

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=36...ure=Mediasonic

Picked it up on sale last week, won me over the drobo for a number of reasons.