External to Internal HDD

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AMDisAwesome

AMDisAwesome

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Nov 15, 2013
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Guys i have a old HDD its a GRAID hard drive if anyonws wondering but its pretty old with SATA0 but can i use it as a internal HDD as a boot drive because im a bit broke and i got this build lined up but only have $800 to spend so i may wait for labor day saeles or whatever but i plan on getting a Asus m5a99fx heres the build link i probably will take out the SSD if i can use the HDD. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mtPwmG
 
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capt_taco
Steam OS is just a version of Linux (Debian, I believe) that's going to be optimized for console-like uses. It's not really supposed to be for running a desktop computer, and in any case isn't fully ready. Other versions of desktop Linux are free. Linux Mint is probably the easiest for people used to Windows; Ubuntu is the next most popular and what Mint was based on. Anyway, you can use those and download Steam for Linux and play games in the meantime, but really if you're into hardcore gaming, Windows is the OS of choice and eventually you'll want to get it.

That's the best place you can save a couple hundred dollars right now. Amazingly, there is not much fat to cut from the build you posted if you're going for top performance with...
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capt_taco

capt_taco

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Aug 5, 2009
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The short answer is: You're spending close to $1,000 on what I assume is a gaming machine, including a $300 video card ... don't mess it up by throwing in one old Frankenstein component to save $50.

I don't even think the boot drive is necessary in your case - certainly not to the point of going to all that trouble to jury-rig it. If I were in your shoes, I'd just order it as-is, and use the 1TB Barracuda for everything until you can afford the SSD. No, it's not the "ideal gaming drive," but it will do the job just fine in the short term, and who knows, it might turn out you don't even care.

If you can live with 300GB of space, another option would be to put up an extra $25 and get a 10,000 RPM Raptor drive, which may not be as fast as a SSD, but is still SUPER fast ... I can tell you from experience that it serves the gaming/general use dual purpose extremely well. It's whether or not you think you'll need more space that's the issue. I had such a system for years and was very happy with it, but it may not be for you.

Course ... for not much more, you are then getting into the territory of 240GB and 256GB SSDs, which is not a hell of a lot different space-wise. At this point, it's really up to you. But any of these three options I'd rather have over taking an old (likely 5400 RPM) external drive and playing it out of position.
 
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AMDisAwesome

AMDisAwesome

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Nov 15, 2013
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Like i know that the barracuda will serve me well but the second thing after a ssd would be a gpu crossfirex so im trying to cut down where i can so i would belive 750w is the min rate for a r9 280x crossfirex but if ya could just brush me up where i could and cut corners where possible! Also a OC'able pc would be nice als. The OS i was thinkung SteamOS but it has so few titles like gtav wont run like i might dpubleboot later when put of beta but is there a way to save on the os
 
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capt_taco

capt_taco

Splendid
Aug 5, 2009
2,567
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21,460
Steam OS is just a version of Linux (Debian, I believe) that's going to be optimized for console-like uses. It's not really supposed to be for running a desktop computer, and in any case isn't fully ready. Other versions of desktop Linux are free. Linux Mint is probably the easiest for people used to Windows; Ubuntu is the next most popular and what Mint was based on. Anyway, you can use those and download Steam for Linux and play games in the meantime, but really if you're into hardcore gaming, Windows is the OS of choice and eventually you'll want to get it.

That's the best place you can save a couple hundred dollars right now. Amazingly, there is not much fat to cut from the build you posted if you're going for top performance with new parts. One thing you might consider is going for a graphics card that's one step down but still super powerful and half the price. You really pay a premium for new GPUs versus what was out 6 months or a year ago. Basically the near-top-end video card at any given time costs $250-$300, and the near-top-end video card from a year ago sells for half that or less and will do just fine. Right now, for example, a Radeon 7950 will run you about $100 on eBay and do just great for gaming unless you're running a multi-monitor setup with resolution and AA turned on to max. Honestly, with the AMD processor you have picked out, crossfiring two top-end video cards is probably just going to be overkill and the CPU will be the bottleneck. That's probably the best way you have to save money on your build.

Funny thing, I was going to say that you would probably do better going to an Intel CPU for about the same price, but they have REALLY jacked up their prices on everything now that they've got that performance lead built up over AMD. I had been out of the loop on that for a bit, but -- wow.
 
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