help me make sure I'm not being a bonehead

[XedDT]

Hi all, first off thank you in advance.

Like a lot of people I'm planning to put together a new system in the next couple of months once Win7 hits the shelves. Here's my situation and plan; let me know what you think.

- This will be my new main home computer and gaming will be very important


My plan is to do a microATX gaming system.

- GA-P55M-UD4 with a i5-750

- I already have a monitor and I always run in 1920x1200. I have no desire to surf or game at over 1920x1200

- I already have a nice external DVD burner. I never watch movies on my PC and so I could care less about blu-ray. For the rare times that I need to access a dvd/cd I plan to just plug in my external DVD drive.

- I'm undecided on the GPU because I'm assuming that new cards are right around the corner. If I had to pick now I would say a 4890. I plan to buy the best single card I can afford (probably ~$300) and then I can always add a second card later if needed (which is why I'm going with the GA-P55M-UD4 instead of the GA-P55M-UD2)

- Main drive will be an Intel X25-M G2 80GB with 30GB partition for the OS and swap and 50GB for what I'll call "main/important apps". Right now I've got 45GB used in my apps partition and it's got tons of stuff that I don't really need and are definitely not "main/important".

- I have a dual external drive enclosure that I have 2 (1.5TB [7200 32MB]) drives in which I run as JBOD through eSATA (which means a port multiplier). The plan is for these 3TB of space to be "non-important apps" (i.e. stuff I run every blue moon but still want installed but actually don't care if it's not SSD performance) and general storage. Yes these will be on a port multiplier but because of what will be on here I don't think it will be an issue. Only one drive should be in use at any given time and even if both drives were going at the same time it would be something that I wouldn't mind waiting the extra time to finish.

- I'll need a new PSU. Something modular and nice so that if I want to add a second GPU I'll be ready.

So the ONLY things that will be in the case will be the psu, mobo/cpu, one SSD drive and 1 GPU. (dvd is external and has it's own power and so is the 3TB of non-SSD storage) I think I'll be in about the best power and heat situation that I could hope for. Because of this I'm actually considering going for something like the Lian Li PC-V351

http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/p...c_index=25&ss_index=64

I'm also thinking about doing a HTPC some time down the road and that could end up being this pc's "post gaming" life which makes the Lian Li case all the more tempting.


What do you think? Any really bad ideas just waiting to bite me?

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

just a question:

what is the point of having a separate partition for programs? I haven't messed around with trying to get a previously installed program working with a fresh OS install, but I know for a fact that there can be entries in the registry, common files and config data all on the OS partition, so what is the point?? And no, I'm not a disorganized slob. I know you can get WoW working by copying the game folder to a new install, but most programs aren't so easy with that sort of thing.

 

[XedDT]

Originally posted by: ChaiBabbaChai
just a question:
what is the point of having a separate partition for programs?.

Some of it is "old habits die hard" but I do find it useful. Hopefully I won't be doing Win7 OS reinstalls as often as I've done WinXP reinstalls over the years but having the apps on their own partition has been useful. Here's how it works out for me at least.

I have to do an OS reinstall and then I have to begin the process of apps reinstalls. Some apps work just fine from their native directories even though they may have had parts land in the registry and other spots during their official windows install. Some apps,; especially opensource, are designed to work from their local directories so they're fine (and I'm trying to use opensource alternatives whenever possible) Also having them on their own partition functions as a reminder list for me so that I don't end up saying "what was that app called that I needed for doing x? I can't remember" There's also always some app config files that I don't want to have to bother recreating so it's nice to have them sitting there.

 

[philosofool]

I personally like tower configurations better than these cube designs. Vertical space is rarely at a premium in any room, but the floor (horizontal) space often is. Think about sticking that computer under a desk: it would be in the way much more than a tall, narrow computer.

If you have $300 to spend, I would wait for the new cards unless you've got a total nothing to go with in the meanwhile. Regardless, two 4580s w/ 1GB in Crossfire will school the 4890 and you sound like you have the budget, so go that route if you're thinking of going for the best you can with $300 before the next gen. If you get a single $300 now and then crossfire that in 6 months, you spend $500-600; if you CF now and then buy the best $300 single card you can get in 6 months (putting those two cards up on eBay), that single card will be DX 11 and probably get you close to 75% of the performance of the 4890 Crossfire.

 

[XedDT]

Nope, not in a rush and I've got my current system to limp along with for a while so I'm content to wait a while to see what comes available. I just know it's going to be hard to hold back once I get that Win7 disc in the mail from MS next month.

Vertical space has had me worried and I've been looking for a solution about how to cool the cpu. The Lian Li PC-V351 has the PSU just above the CPU (like all cube cases) and that means it's a tight fit for air cooling. I've been reading about the Corsair H50 enclosed water system and I think that might be the winner. The tube length is only 11 inches which means you can't put the radiator on the front of the case in a normal system but with a cube I think it might reach. I'm thinking I could just pull out one of the 2 front mounted 120 fans and put the fan/radiator in. Reviews say that the H50 is on a par with high quality air cooling so I think that would solve my CPU height clearance cooling problem plus allow for a stable overclock on an i5-750.

I could always go with an SG03 and give up the cube idea. Here's a pic of a working setup but apparently there were issues getthing the GPU in here with the fan intact http://www.hardforum.com/showp...034393748&postcount=28

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

Originally posted by: XedDT
Some of it is "old habits die hard" but I do find it useful. Hopefully I won't be doing Win7 OS reinstalls as often as I've done WinXP reinstalls over the years but having the apps on their own partition has been useful. Here's how it works out for me at least.

I have to do an OS reinstall and then I have to begin the process of apps reinstalls. Some apps work just fine from their native directories even though they may have had parts land in the registry and other spots during their official windows install. Some apps,; especially opensource, are designed to work from their local directories so they're fine (and I'm trying to use opensource alternatives whenever possible) Also having them on their own partition functions as a reminder list for me so that I don't end up saying "what was that app called that I needed for doing x? I can't remember" There's also always some app config files that I don't want to have to bother recreating so it's nice to have them sitting there.

Thanks for the insight. That would definitely help speed things up. For my i7 / Win7 build I have a list of apps in the order I want to install them. Obviously I can't save any partitions really since I'll have new drives. I will make an image of the boot drive with OS tweaks and drivers, but nothing else and then another image of the entire install.

Thanks again for the response.