More desktop questions..

[Kyle2k]

So almost a year later I'm finally getting around to building a new desktop (thanks to a remainder of med school loans). I can put components together fine but I have issues knowing what is best and will match up with what I want done.

I'm going to end up compromising on some components temporarily, but I intend to expand when I can. I will end up using an old hard drive and graphics card.

For the future I want to run 2 SSD in RAID 0 and then have a large drive for storage and back up. I would also like to run crossfire eventually.

I am planning on using the 2600k - i7 processor but I'm not too sure on a motherboard and power supply. Can anyone help me with piecing together some components?

Case is a midtower ATX FYI

Thanks in advance!!

[GbrilliantQ]

What's your budget?

Sent from my Transformer TF101

[Kyle2k]

Not overly high haha, like I said, it will be a sort of work in progress, I don't see how the 2600k, mobo, ram, and PS should be over 900 though

[Mr_Draco]

You won't come close to that.

I'm also thinking about rebuilding my comp and the 2600, mobo, and ram that I have picked out is just over $500 total.

[DevilsReject97]

Originally Posted by Kyle2k

I'm going to end up compromising on some components temporarily, but I intend to expand when I can. I will end up using an old hard drive and graphics card.

For the future I want to run 2 SSD in RAID 0 and then have a large drive for storage and back up. I would also like to run crossfire eventually.

I am planning on using the 2600k - i7 processor but I'm not too sure on a motherboard and power supply. Can anyone help me with piecing together some components?

Case is a midtower ATX FYI

Thanks in advance!!

1.) Good choice on the Sandy Bridge chip, those things are very nice. The average chip is right around $290-315.

2.) I would upgrade your case, as a midtower ATX (depending on the actual size of it) may not be enough room for cabling, cooling, and your system setup. Especially if you are determined to run dual cards.

3.) Crossfire and SLI are not only overrated, but on the whole, don't produce all that much more in terms of cost. I say that with one caveat, it allows 2 cheaper/lower end cards to out perform a better/higher end card. However, if you can afford the higher end cards, I would always, always recommend the single card route. It consumes less power, requires less space, produces less heat, and unless you are sitting on top of a high end internet connection, you will almost never see enough of a difference to make the cost worth it.

4.) SSD's are great, but they are still very small in size compared to the price you pay for them. You might be able to find some 128GB drives decently priced, but in the end you will have space issues at some point. I saw you decided on a larger storage drive, but space will still be an issue in terms of applications, games, and updates. I run a 10k Raptor as my main drive at work and I've used about 75GB of the 160GB drive JUST for applications. My user profile isn't stored on this drive, because I would run out of space.

5.) Using RAID 0 would be a huge mistake, as if a drive fails, the array fails. I'm guessing what you want to do is have it copied to both drives, so if one goes, you aren't down. That is RAID 1.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by DevilsReject97

5.) Using RAID 0 would be a huge mistake, as if a drive fails, the array fails. I'm guessing what you want to do is have it copied to both drives, so if one goes, you aren't down. That is RAID 1.

Just wanted to followup on this. The setup I have I think is optimal. I have a single SSD that I have only Windows 7 and a couple small programs (Firefox, Thunderbird) installed to, then I have in RAID 1 mirrored configuration two 1.5 terabyte drives where all my programs and data is stored. This way there is redundancy so if one fails you still have the other, and also they are definitely more than fast enough thanks to the background OS being so fast. You may want to consider this setup instead.

[DevilsReject97]

Originally Posted by Rogue Leader

Just wanted to followup on this. The setup I have I think is optimal. I have a single SSD that I have only Windows 7 and a couple small programs (Firefox, Thunderbird) installed to, then I have in RAID 1 mirrored configuration two 1.5 terabyte drives where all my programs and data is stored. This way there is redundancy so if one fails you still have the other, and also they are definitely more than fast enough thanks to the background OS being so fast. You may want to consider this setup instead.

Absolutely correct. The OS drive in that instance would produce FAR superior load times and performance while the data (which most people are worried about anyways) can be suitably stored and backed up without issue.

The only negative to that, is that by doing so, the programs still can and do store files on the OS drive. I have seen many people go this route, but I am still not a big fan of it. Still, it would be a far superior route than what he is choosing to go.

[Kyle2k]

So in your opinion it would be better to have stuff backed up rather than getting fractionally better load times? One really good single graphics card might not be a bad idea after all. However, I am still completely lost on a motherboard and power supply, I literally have no clue what I am looking for when it comes to them besides something "recommended" by newegg. Can someone help me out or link me to a good mobo and/or ps?

[DevilsReject97]

Originally Posted by Kyle2k

So in your opinion it would be better to have stuff backed up rather than getting fractionally better load times? One really good single graphics card might not be a bad idea after all. However, I am still completely lost on a motherboard and power supply, I literally have no clue what I am looking for when it comes to them besides something "recommended" by newegg. Can someone help me out or link me to a good mobo and/or ps?

Here's the thing, I could give you a number of possible combinations in terms of MB/PS. The big issue of course is whether you truly want to go with SLI/Crossfire or a single card.

The reason is that there are some boards that won't do SLI/Crossfire, and some that will only do AMD chipsets. So that's a harder issue. Also, other than certain brands, most 750-1000w PS's will be fine.

As for the data issues, I have almost 150GB worth of installed applications on my computer, including games. I have about 500gb worth of data... I would much rather lose my OS drive than any data... a few seconds of performance hit vs. data loss is why I'd choose a few seconds slower over data loss...

[Kyle2k]

I just forgot a variable that I don't know matters or not. I am running a dual monitor setup, does that sway the number of graphics cards that would be optimal?

[DevilsReject97]

Originally Posted by Kyle2k

I just forgot a variable that I don't know matters or not. I am running a dual monitor setup, does that sway the number of graphics cards that would be optimal?

No. My single ATI 5870 card at home supports 3 monitors on its own.