About to set up the new computer.

E

EngineChauffer

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 22, 2002
Messages
395
Hi all,

I am going to be backing up files on my computer today to get ready for a hardware upgrade. The only two things I am using from my current build are my Lian Li PC65-B case and my Raptor 74Gig hard drives which I run in Raid 0.

Here is what I currently have to build with:

PS: PCP+C Silencer 750 Quad

MB: ABIT IP35 Pro

Proc: Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield (will O.C. to 3.0 to 3.4 on air)

Ram: Corsair XMS2 4Gb (2 x 2 Gb) DDR800

Vid Card: EVGA 8800GTS 512

Sound Card: Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Platinum Fatality

With:

Thermalright 120 Extreme
Scythe 64CFM 120mm
Lapping Kit
1 SATA DVD Drive
1 SATA DVD Burner

On to the questions:

I am going to use the computer for (in order of most to least)
1.Gaming
2.Photo and Video editing (home movies-not professional stuff, but it will be in High Def.)
3.General Computer usage such as word processing, internet surfing, etc.

When I set up my current Hard Drives years ago, the consensus was to set up the striping to 64 kb for best performance. Is that still true?

Should I partition the Raid 0 array? If so, what size for the Operating System (Windows XP Professional)

What size partition for the Games?

What size for the photographs/movies?

I have an old Seagate 120gig 7200rpm IDE drive. Should I throw that in for extra storage? Or would it hurt performance too much to even bother with if I would put my photos and movies on there?

I have been reading the ANSWERS thread but much of it seems dated and I don't know if it still applies to the newer chipsets and raid controllers of today.

Thank you very much in advance guys!

--Ed
 
Ok, here are my observations.

Since all your drives appear to be SATA, no probs there.

Your Main drive is only 150 gig. Very small by todays standards.

I just moved off of a 36 gig drive for an XP install because it was cramped, so at least 50 gig for your OS. The other 100 gig can be for the rest of your data. I am running a 500 gig 7200.11 for a dual boot system. I went with 100 gig for XP, 100 gig for Vista, and 275 for Data. I only paid $126 delivered from Newegg too.

Definitely put the 120 gig in your system. It will be perfect for your photos and movies. That kind of stuff does not require cutting edge performance to use.

How do you back up your irreplaceable stuff?

My Q6600 does 3.2 at 1.4 volts with low 30's idle and mid 50's full load on a thermaltake Max Orb. It will run faster, but I wanted to leave some headroom for the summer temp increases.

Hope this helps.

Don
 
Thanks Don!

I figured about 1/3rd the total size of the raptors in raid 0 for the O.S. would be good. I am glad to hear my hunch was right.

I will add the Seagate since it is currently doing nothing anyway.

Maybe in the future I will buy a 1 TB SATA 7200 rpm drive for all of my storage needs. I do like the raptors for gaming though.

I hope to get anywhere from 3.0 to 3.4 on air. I will prob. lap my heatsink and processor tomorrow to prepare for the build on Friday.

Thanks again!

--Ed
 
How do you back up your important stuff? That should be your first concern as a Raid 0 doubles your chance of a catastrophic loss of data.

Your first purchase should be a nice USB external hard drive.

Did I say I was very happy with my Q6600? :D

Don
 
I just back it up to DVD DL

I have been running this Raid 0 array for 4 yrs now with no problems. I know everyone says that they are unreliable, but I have found that it is reliable enough for me as long as I occasionally back stuff up. That 1TB drive would be a good idea though so I don't have to waste DVD's. I thought about putting together a raid 5 array but I don't want to spend a grand on HD's right now. Maybe in the future sometime.
 
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