Really Could USe Some Suggestions

[Traz2]

I have been lurking for the past couple weeks & decided to sign up to see if I could possibly get some suggestions on a new set up that I have tried to get help on in 2 other forums without a single response.
First let me say there are some amazing rigs on this forum. I spend hours just looking at builds here.

I am just ordering for my 1st build. So far I either have or will be ordering:

ASUS p6x58D Premium
I7 930 (hoping it really is released in the next few days)
Corsair HX750W PSU
Xigamatek Dark Knight (still deciding for sure)
DDR3 RAM 6GB- Triple channel 3x2GB Brand undetermined. Most likely 1600 CAS 7-8
Sapphire Vapor 5770 ( I don't do heavy gaming, just lots of photos & editing)
OCZ 60GB SSD
WD Caviar Black 7200 32 Cache 1TB
Most likely 3rd drive WD Caviar Black 750GB
CD/DVD combo drive with lightscribe
Eventually will add Blu ray player/ burner- watching for sales

My main question is how best to set up my storage drives. I do a lot of photography and need a lot of storage.
I was thinking I could use the SSD for OS and any main programs that fit on it, like photo shop. I would like to use the second smaller HDD drive (probably a 750GB, because it is on sale, even though I don't need that big of a 2nd drive) for any additional programs, and things like my templates,actions, backgrounds, fonts,(lots of fonts),business files, etc? Then use the 3rd drive (1TB) for my working files. I even considered a 4th drive to mirror the large working file drive, but decided I will use the external drives I have to back up that work.

Will this work? Does it make sense to do it this way? Do I need to partition the 2nd drive to use for a page file? If this makes sense, what do I need to change to set it up this way? Is this considered a RAID set up?
Sorry, I am not very familiar with drive set ups other than using 1, or external backups.

I really would like to finish ordering the rest of my stuff but haven't been able to get any help on other forums in regards to the drives.
Thanks!

 

[Traz2]

Please, anyone know if this will work and how?

 

[Megalomaniac]

You might want to move this to General Hardware, these get dissected there everyday.

I was thinking I could use the SSD for OS and any main programs that fit on it, like photo shop.

Yes, a 60-80 GB SSD is more then anough. you can get one for $200.

I would like to use the second smaller HDD drive (probably a 750GB, because it is on sale, even though I don't need that big of a 2nd drive) for any additional programs, and things like my templates,actions, backgrounds, fonts,(lots of fonts),business files, etc?

Not needed, unless you have 500+GB of those, skip to to down below.

Then use the 3rd drive (1TB) for my working files. I even considered a 4th drive to mirror the large working file drive, but decided I will use the external drives I have to back up that work.

For this you you should get a nice big drive, like a WD GP or something. and get an extrnal one also. Remember to back up everything that is important (maybe even your OS drive) to an external one.

You can ask what other photo pros use for their data drives. Some might do a raid 1 for faster access.

 

[Impulse]

Leave the page file on the SSD... With 6GB of RAM you'll rarely be using it anyway and page file behavior is usually composed of small random reads and large sequential writes, which is exactly what SSD excel at. MS engineers themselves have stated as much, see here. (Q: "Should the page file be placed on SSD?") Just leave the thing be, Windows will manage it just fine. Photoshop has it's own scratch file off which it works anyway.

As far as your drive setup, this is exactly what the vast majority of people do. SSD for OS & apps, maybe a few games if it's large enough; rest of the games and all data on a regular HDD. I don't think you need two separate HDDs on top of the SSD unless it's a storage space issue or because you prefer it due to your personal organization logic (could just take one big drive and partition it in two as well tho).

It sounds like you're gonna be storing a lot of stuff that you often work with on the HDD tho so get a decent 7,200 RPM drive, not a WD Green or something like that. You might wanna move w/e you're currently working on to the SSD if they're really large files as well (just to fully enjoy the performance benefits of the SSD), tho it's not absolutely necessary... Once a file is open it's usually in memory so the drive doesn't factor in again performance-drive until you're gonna save your changes to said file.

 

[Traz2]

Thanks for the suggestions.
The SSD I have is 60GB. Then I have the 2 WD Black Caviar 7200 drives. The reason I was using 2 is one I will use for a things I use a lot like templates, backgrounds, fonts, graphics, stock music files for slide shows, & a lot of other photo related stuff. I really don't need 750GB of space for this one but I got such a great deal it was as cheap as a 250 or 500. I think by keeping these all separate from my working drive it will be easy to keep it organized & less likely to fail from the constant read write on my working drive. The working drive is the WB Caviar Black 1 TB. I do large files & often have several different versions of the same file. I currently have 4 My Book drives to use as backup. I think it will make it easier to keep stuff backed up this way also. I can use separate back up drives for the OS & smaller HDD & the others for the photos I back up.
I almost have all my parts. Just have to get a DVD/cd drive, a heatsink ( getting the Xigamatek Dark Knight) & make a final decision on a case.
I picked up the new I7 930 at Micro Center this past Friday for $249 & Corsair 1600 CAS 8 2x3 set for a great price also.
Thanks again for the suggestions.