Best hard drive for data processing/encoding - need tips

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DudeItsMe

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I think I've finally convinced my dad (the boss) to let me upgrade the system drive in my current computer for better performance and efficiency (my efficiency, of course).

Right now I'm running:

Dual Core Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz processor (whatever the proper name for that is... it's an older Gateway)
2 GB RAM (DDR400, IIRC)
WDC WD1200BB-53DWA0 (current system drive)
4 GB GIGABYTE i-RAM drive (current processing drive)

We have been storing the lists on the Snap server drive, however, I just moved them to my system drive and created a backup schedule to backup the files to the old location. I would like to get the best performance possible, which I'm assuming means processing from a local hard disk (hopefully, using the system disk won't be a problem).

The data files for the program we use (Mail Manager 2010) are all stored on the i-RAM drive. It uses about 2 GB of that. I do not plan on changing that.

What I would like to do, is install a new drive with a new XP install (old one is crap), and keep the old drive just in case (probably until I get all necessary files off). Basically, I'd be running XP and the stored lists databases from the new drive.

I was looking at a VelociRaptor, but I didn't know if a SSD would be better. I don't want to buy a crappy SSD drive, but I don't think I'm going to be getting an 80GB Intel either. I just want to know if there is some reason that a VelociRaptor would be bad for my purposes. Again, everything would pretty much run off of one drive, except the data files for encoding.
 
I'd say get the Velociraptor. Considering what you're doing, you'd end up getting one of those Intel high end SSD units which are like twice the cost before you'd really notice the benefits of having one. The Velociraptor works great, is solid, reliable, and gets the job done at a cost that isn't quite so extreme.

Sounds like it's a Pentium D processor - not technically a P4 since they never made dual core P4's but, you get the general idea. The Pentium D has more in common with Pentium M architecture from the mobile side of things than the P4 desktop lineage.

Not too many people actually use the iRAM, I'm wondering if you actually consider it a useful product. These days for under $500 you could build a machine with far more power and 8GB of RAM in it - that's basically twice the cost of the Velociraptor and then set up a proper RAMdisk of 4GB in size and your calculations/processing/etc would be like 20x faster than they are right now, if not even faster, much faster.

I'm saying this from a ROI perspective: why buy just a faster hard drive to try and eek out the best performace from such an older system (and yes, it is older) when you could spend just a bit more money and get benefits that far far outweigh just adding a faster hard drive. I regularly build "monster boxes" for photo shops and service bureaus with tons of RAM in 'em and they don't sweat over the small cost compared to the money they've spent upgrading the same old hardware over the years. Lay it out in facts and figures, show the benefits, and you might make it happen.

Think about it... whatever processing you do right now that might take 5 mins or so would be done in 20 seconds or less on a new machine. Hell, my Celeron 430 test box (a Core Solo processor, basically, single core Core tech) with 512KB of cache is almost as powerful as that Pentium D at 2.8 with two cores and I bought it and a mobo and 4GB of RAM for under $100...

Put it in terms of the ROI (Return On Investment) for "the boss" and show him that a serious upgrade in hardware would make a huge return in faster turnaround on the processing. Show the bottom line over a period of time with the faster machine and how it'll pay for itself fast... ;)
 
Well, I'm not sure that he's too heavily concerned with the small improvements here and there in performance, but yes, I think a faster box would be worth it. And yes, I do know this thing is really old :p

Back in the day, it was pretty good. But it's also a pre-built Gateway computer. It'd be easy to outdo it nowadays.

I pretty much JUST started to research on the hardware that is in there, and I realize that the iRAM drive is bottlenecked by the SATA interface. So it would seem that running a RAM drive in the method that you suggest would be a large upgrade.

I think I am going see how he feels about a system overhaul.... probably not too great. But with the stuff that I am doing (data processing, mainly), along with the stuff I'm learning (variable data output with Acrobat and Fusion Pro, to a digital copier), I think it would be worth it. It's certainly only a matter of time before it needs done.
 
Yep... around here I'm the biggest proponent for RAMdisks, and I get hassled quite often about it but, you simply cannot match the levels of performance with anything on the market today - not even the Intel SSDs can hold a candle to the raw gigabytes per second of easy bandwidth a RAMdisk is capable of and when configured and utilized in the proper ways.

Yes, RAM is ridiculously cheap right now and now is the time to snatch it up, fast, before something "happens" over in the eastern rim like a tsunami or an earthquake (which will eventually happen, of course) and a chip plant disappears and the price goes sky high once again. 4GB at Fry's today (in stores and online, 2x2GB Patriot) for $35 out the door... it's insane how cheap it it, 8GB of RAM for ~$70. Now if I didn't already have 8GB in my workstation I'd care (that cost me over $700 a while back, btw). :)

It's worthwhile to do the ROI thing even if you're just dreaming at the moment. There's so much power out there, and cheap too, even stuff like this Celeron test box I have is wicked powerful - and Celerons don't deserve a bad rap anymore now that they're Core technology like everything else.

Work on the ROI stuff, do a nice presentation to him, show him what it means to increase your efficiency and help you learn more schtuffz in the process... he'll cave. :)
 
I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I'd probably have a hard time quantifying the difference between the current system and a new system. I don't know how to quantify the differences between the current processor and something like a dual-core. And the lag we have on the processing isn't THAT bad, it's just annoying because it's pauses constatly for 2-3 seconds at a time.

Anyways, I think I've reached a small compromise :D

The software we use is a multi-user license.... meaning I could install it on my home computer. It's just a problem of how the files are going to be moved back and forth. Since I'm pretty much salaried, it would not be a big deal for me to do some work from home when school starts back up and I'm ridiculously busy. My home computer is a Q6600 with 8 GB of DDR2 800 :)

As for the hard drive, I still want a VelociRaptor for either home or here. But I've got a hold of an identical drive to my system drive that I can use to install XP on and get rid of this horrible install I have.
 
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