new system analysis

[DJFuji]

Ok last post about my system build. Promise. Still debating a few decisions.

Here's what i have so far:

AMD64 3200+ Newcastle
ASUS K8V SE DLX Mobo
1 x 40gb maxtor 7200
2 x 160gb maxtor 7200
NEC 2500 8x DVD+/-RW
AIW Radeon 9600 Pro
ATI TV Wonder PCI
Promise Ultra 100
SB Live 5.1

And here's what i'm planning/considering buying:

-WD 36gb Raptor 10kRPM SATA ($119)
-1 x 1gb stick of PC3200 CAS2.5 Samsung ($245 from memsuppliers / $214 from Directron)
OR Corsair Value Select (VS1GB400C3) PC3200 CAS3 from MarkOne. Computers ($219)
-SB Audigy (i've heard you can flash it to audigy 2 since the DSP is the same)
-Either the Antec $66 case + 350w PSU or the Directron Super Flower 450W PSU ($19) and a TTGI or SuperFlower case ($45-60 + S&H)

Questions:

A) I'm planning to buy the raptor drive as a main hdd drive to speed up everyday performance during booting/transferring files/navigating through windows. Is the speed increase worth the extra premium of buying this drive? I'm thinking about using the following configuration:

Raptor 10k: Windows Only
Maxtor 40gig 7200: Swap file/scratch disks/temp files
Maxtor 160gig 7200: Programs
2nd maxtor 160gig 7200: Media

Comments?

B) I've been reading that a good quality PSU (like an antec) can probably power a setup like this with a 350w PSU. The case + PSU deal is $66 and would be great if it worked. On the other hand, it's not THAT much more expensive to buy a superflower + TTGI. (approx $66 vs $80)

C) Not sure if the Audigy will be worth it. I'm not an audiophile and i'll be running them off a 4.1 setup using Logitech Z560s. Mostly for music/counterstrike/UT2004/MP3/DVD. My current SB Live 5.1 sounds great.

D) Samsung CAS2.5 or Corsair Value RAM @ CAS3? Decisions, decisions. I'm kind of worried about the samsung because it could just be samsung chips on crappy PCBs, right? At least with Corsair i dont really have to worry about build quality. I may want to overclock, but that's just a bonus. I really just want stability. If i have to, i'll overclock FSB and lock the RAM at PC3200. (i can do that, right?)

Thanks for the help/comments/opinions, as always.

 

[JBT]

Why would you get a GB in one stick for 245 + when you can just get 2 sticks of 512 for way under 200??? Try like 160-170?

 

[Mik3y]

y would you also need an aiw video card when you already plan to get a tv tuner card anyways? use the extra money you save to get the 9800 pro. as for the case and psu, i really recommend you get the antec sonata with its 380W psu. dont bother getting the 36.7gb raptor since its slower then the 2nd generation 74gb raptor, and still the 2nd generation raptor isnt much faster then the 8mb cache 7200 rpm harddrives. i dont think a few seconds of time saved is worth the extra $. also, get 2 sticks of 512 instead of one 1gb stick.

 

[DJFuji]

yeah, yeah, JBT, i know. It's killing me. But i want to be able to upgrade past 1gig in the future. And if i buy two 512s, i cant. Not unless i want to run it all at PC1600, anyway.

 

[Markfw]

that $19 PSU is crap. Get the Antec. And while your at it, check newegg for the memory. They are hard to beat, and Mushkin is my current favorite.

 

[DJFuji]

Originally posted by: Mik3y
y would you also need an aiw video card when you already plan to get a tv tuner card anyways? use the extra money you save to get the 9800 pro. as for the case and psu, i really recommend you get the antec sonata with its 380W psu. dont bother getting the 36.7gb raptor since its slower then the 2nd generation 74gb raptor, and still the 2nd generation raptor isnt much faster then the 8mb cache 7200 rpm harddrives. i dont think a few seconds of time saved is worth the extra $. also, get 2 sticks of 512 instead of one 1gb stick.

The ATI TV Wonder card is from a loooong time ago. I recently bought a R9600Pro because i found it at a great price.

You don't think i'll notice much of a difference with Windows on a raptor? Maybe i'll just put it on one of my 160s then.

I'd like to buy two 512s, but i dont want to screw myself later by not being able to upgrade.

 

[DJFuji]

The $19 PSU is a Super flower PSU that retails for closer to $40-50. It is supposedly on par with an enermax. Received VERY good reviews from DansData and i think at Tom's.

Newegg wants $300 for that memory.

 

[DJFuji]

bump. Memory: Corsair Value Select or Samsung CAS2.5?

 

[bob4432]

by the time you want to upgrade to more than 1GB of ram, i am sure you will need an entirely new system. i have run machines with 2GB of ram and have not noticed the difference in gaming/photoshop/illustrator/premeier but you might with other progs, not sure.

 

[jacktesterson]

Originally posted by: DJFuji
bump. Memory: Corsair Value Select or Samsung CAS2.5?

Samsung

works great

 

[DJFuji]

Originally posted by: bob4432
by the time you want to upgrade to more than 1GB of ram, i am sure you will need an entirely new system. i have run machines with 2GB of ram and have not noticed the difference in gaming/photoshop/illustrator/premeier but you might with other progs, not sure.

yeah it's a $70 premium to buy 1gig in single stick format. It's almost enough to persuade me to just buy two 512 sticks. I know when i do, though, i'll just kick myself because i'll need >1 gig in 6 months. I don't upgrade my system very often. My current rig is over three years old.

I mainly need that kind of memory because i multitask a LOT. On an average workday i might have open VS.NET 2003, Dreamweaver MX 2004, Photoshop CS, Outlook, OneNote, Explorer, Winamp, FireFox, IE, and all tray programs. It really gets ugly if i try to open azureus at the same time because that program and firefox chew up 150 megs of RAM each. And photoshop/DW/VS aren't exactly frgual with mem usage either.

 

[Confusednewbie1552]

Originally posted by: DJFuji

Originally posted by: Mik3y
y would you also need an aiw video card when you already plan to get a tv tuner card anyways? use the extra money you save to get the 9800 pro. as for the case and psu, i really recommend you get the antec sonata with its 380W psu. dont bother getting the 36.7gb raptor since its slower then the 2nd generation 74gb raptor, and still the 2nd generation raptor isnt much faster then the 8mb cache 7200 rpm harddrives. i dont think a few seconds of time saved is worth the extra $. also, get 2 sticks of 512 instead of one 1gb stick.

The ATI TV Wonder card is from a loooong time ago. I recently bought a R9600Pro because i found it at a great price.

You don't think i'll notice much of a difference with Windows on a raptor? Maybe i'll just put it on one of my 160s then.

I'd like to buy two 512s, but i dont want to screw myself later by not being able to upgrade.

I did the math =). From what I hear a raptor may boot windows 3 seconds faster. You may think 3 seconds so what??? Well if you turn on your computer once everyday in one week you would have saved up 21 seconds. Ok well, in one year (365 1/4 days) you would of saved 1095.75 seconds or 18 minutes and 15.75 seconds. I think you'll plan to keep this rig for 3 years so you would of saved 54 minutes and 47.25 seconds (which is close to an hour), by just turning on and off windows =). Remember time is gold!

I think this is pretty accurate, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Edit: Btw I think one hour is worth the extra money =).

 

[DJFuji]

yeah i looked at the benchmarks over at storagereview and even the 36gig 1stgen raptors are considerably faster than even the fastest PATA/UDMA based drives. The main thing i'm concerned with here is overall responsiveness. I don't want to load something or hit windows key + e and have to wait 3 to 4 seconds for it to open. To me, that's worth the extra costs-- in aggravation alone.