NOOB ALERT: Please Answer these Questions

[Dasda]

1. Is it better to have one 1TB HDD or 2 500GB HDDs?

Putting the price aside, what is a better setup for HDD's? I am unsure if I want to get a 1TB fearing that it may fail and I might be stuck without a computer until I get a warranty replacement. With 2 HDDs I can install a OS on a small partitioned space if the need be until I receive the failed HDD back.

2. If one 1TB HDD is a better option then how do you guys configure it? Leave it as is without partitions with a 1TB OS or like partitioned with 200GB OS and rest as storage??

3. RAM VOLTAGE, How much should I look into this? I am trying to find good ram for a new i7-920 setup but when I go to read the customer reviews people say "requires higher voltage to run at advertised speed". So what's the point? RAM companies falsely advertising?

4. Would I be better off getting a dual channel 4 gig kit right now for x58 since most tests have showed tri channel makes little difference and I probably wont need 6 gigs everyday. I do plan to do some video editing of home videos but nothing major. The biggest reason for asking this is that the price highquality 6gb kits is ridicolous when compared to 4gb kits. I can always by 2 more kits of the same ram once prices come down a bit to get 12gb total or buy 1 4gig kit to run 3 sticks in tri-chan and 1 in single.

Also are Seagate 7200.12 500GB HDD's a good option as compared to samsungF3 or WD black cause I can get them for about $10 cheaper. However, I will avoid them if there are known reliability issues there?


Thank You.

 

[sub.mesa]

1. If you have no other source or backup; go for the 2 drives. Then you can use 1 as backup.

2. Create a small ~50GB C-partition for windows and another data partition that fills the other space. Don't create too many partitions.

3. Don't buy 'overclocked' memory that runs on higher voltages; i do not recommend it.

4. So buy 4GB ram now and upgrade later if you wish.

 

[gramboh]

The reason most people would choose 1TB over 2x 500 is because they are limited by drive bays in their PC and are worried about expanding for more space in the future. If 1TB is enough for you, then 2x 500 might be a good idea in terms of spreading data around and not being totally screwed if a drive fails. Note that if you will have more than 500GB total data you should be backing up to another source.

I'm not familiar with i7 and RAM so I can't answer the other question.

I believe the 7200.12 series has been fine, it was 7200.11 that had issues. WD Black is highly regarded for performance as is the F3. I've only used Samsung drives the last 10 years or so (but no .12's yet).

 

[Blain]

3. RAM VOLTAGE, How much should I look into this? I am trying to find good ram for a new i7-920 setup but when I go to read the customer reviews people say "requires higher voltage to run at advertised speed". So what's the point? RAM companies falsely advertising?

Scott Mueller, author of Upgrading and Repairing PCs (editions 1-19)...
"I recommend avoiding non-standard memory which requires altered voltage settings in order to work properly. The DDR3 memory standard calls for 1.5V operation, so I only recommend modules which run at that voltage."

 

[MrK6]

1). If you get drives with a good platter setup (for instance, Samsung F3's 500GB, which I believe are single platters), the two drives will be faster because you can split up loads between them. For instance, you can install the operating system on one and a demanding application like a game on the other. However, you also get double the power usage and double the noise, which as an absolute value all depends on what model HDD you get.

2). I always short-stroke all HDD's I setup, that is I create a partition of roughly 10-15% the size of the entire drive first, then a second partition with the rest of the space. This smaller partition is confined to the outside edges of the platters and is much faster (simply due to rotational physics), and I use it for the OS, games, and other demanding applications. For example, my previous HDD setup I had two short-stroked Caviar Black 1TB's. On one I had the OS installed in the short-stroked partition and game storage in the storage partition (ISO's, save games, patches, etc.); on the other I had games and some demanding applications installed to the short-stroked portion and media storage as well as a secondary back up installed to the storage partition. I also had a 1GB page file on both drives' short-stroked partitions. With this setup, all loads were always balanced by making use of both drives.

3). You want RAM that runs at or below 1.65V. I highly recommend the G.Skill Ripjaws series, as I've had nothing but great builds and overclocks with them. RAM sticks always come with a rated speed, set of timings, and operating voltage. If you have to loosen the timings, give higher than advertised voltage, or run at a lower speed than advertised to get the RAM stable, then the sticks are faulty. However, some reviewers just complain because they have to go into the BIOS and manually set the advertised specs because the BIOS didn't do it automatically, and well, they're just noobs 😛.

4). One of the biggest advantages to an i7 920 is the fact that you can run dual channel RAM. In all honest, if you're not running triple channel RAM or a multi-GPU setup, I'd highly recommend considering an i7 860 or Xeon X3440 if you want hyperthreading or the i5 750 if you don't care. The socket 1156 solutions are generally cheaper and faster at stock because of the more aggressive Turbo implementation.

Any one of those drives, the 7200.12, the F3, or the Caviar Blacks, would be great. The pair of 1TB Blacks I mentioned were the fastest HDD's I've ever used. However, specifically for 500GB models, I think the F3 takes the cake because of its single platter design.

 

[Dasda]

Thanks everyone for their replies, I have come to two options for ram on a i7-920.

this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231335

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-225-_-Product

Im having a hard time finding the PI series in stock in Canada other than newegg.ca

Alternatively, I could run dual channel g.skill eco 1.35v 2x2 4gb until ram prices drop and grab 2 more of the same kit later on when prices come down a bit.

1).

4). One of the biggest advantages to an i7 920 is the fact that you can run dual channel RAM. In all honest, if you're not running triple channel RAM or a multi-GPU setup, I'd highly recommend considering an i7 860 or Xeon X3440 if you want hyperthreading or the i5 750 if you don't care. The socket 1156 solutions are generally cheaper and faster at stock because of the more aggressive Turbo implementation.

Thanks for the awesome post. Everything you said is really helpful but I'm just quoting this because I have already had a friend pickup a i7-920 for me from microcenter. So the others are no longer a option.

The goal is to future-proof as much as possible and x58 seemed the platform to be more future proof. I don't really view the 4gig of dual channel 1156 ram to be a savings but rather taking a hit in future-proof and performance 6gig or 4 gig. I could easily run dual channel on x58 also but looking to avoid because i might not be able to find the same kit again in the future. And the motherboard savings between 1156 and x58a-ud3r were about $30. The p55a-ud4p would have been my choice of 1156 and would have cost me $190 and the x58a-ud3r is $220.

 

[ZavrionX]

The goal is to future-proof as much as possible

There is no such thing as future proofing a computer. Anyways, you should be wary of how much RAM you actually need. Since it's become so cheap it's sort of become marketing fluff for OEMs. Unless you're building a workstation theres no real need to have over 4GB.

Don't sweat the technicals(e.g.: RAM voltages) unless you're an enthusiast going for benchmark scores. Technical specifications tend to be more marketing than reality. Theres no reason to get wrapped up in it.