Raptor X or More RAM? Hard To Decide...

Well, if you plan on going vista later, get 4gigs. If not, go with the raptor.

But, if you go with the raptor, wait a little. Seagate is preping to release their own 10k drive. And, even if you don't like seagate, it is bound to bring down WD's prices AND prompt them to release a better spec version.

I would honestly say neither.

4GB of RAM isn't much use unless you use 64-bit versions of XP or Vista (Vista only supports about 3GB).

The Raptor will give you a slight performance increase over the 7200.10 but not alot.

If you can, I'd suggest upgrading your graphics card to an 8800GTS 320MB (only costs around $100 more than the Raptor).

Get the raptor and install your windows and your games in that little monster. If you're looking for a performance increase I'm sure the raptor will do more for you then 4GB of memory.

Well yeah Im not planning to upgrade to Vista nor XP x64 so I thought 4Gb would be a little too much.

I think Ill go for the raptor, would have liked to try 4gb of RAM anyways.

One thing that annoys me is that if I want better perfomance for the games with the raptor, I would have to install the games on the raptor and that would make the drive fill faster than anything... since its only 150Gb

I dont think either of those will give you that much of a boost, raptor will load files faster but once loaded very little if any difference, and the memory wont help much either unless you are playing a game that is a memory hog. You would get more benefit from a video card upgrade.

Wait a minute, I thought you already bought a raptor? :?

No because I told you on the msg because of family reasons.

Im going to get the Raptor no matter what, I really want to give it a try. Also, in the future I know I will have to go for 4Gb of RAM but I can wait for now.

And about the videocards, yes I know I have to upgrade, I would like a 8800GTX but they are way out of my budget. And the 8800GTS is a good one but stills a little bit away from what I have to spend.

Sounds cool to me, Im going to try to push a raptor out of my parents, and I'm buying that samsung monitor right now (price drop $50 today :mrgreen: )

Congrats bro  

Are you getting the 150 raptor x or a different one?

Here is one of the best prices I have seen on the Raptor drive (150 GB version).

Regular version:
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos_single_product_res...

Raptor X:
http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos_single_product_res...

Well, the x version is the gamer version, and I don't want a drive with tler when I don't have raid, but I don't want the window either, it just adds noise and cost imo, since you aren't going to be really displaying the drive. I think I'll go with the server version, but I still have time to decide. What I really have found to make my next upgrade is to take the ihs off my cpu. If it still works, then I'll buy a watercooling kit (like the coolit freezone) and get an amazing oc and rediculously low temps and an extreme oc, or if it doesn't, I'll just buy a k10 cpu, win win situation for the taco :mrgreen: . Once k10 quads drop in price, I'll go for one of those, but until then, I want to remove the ihs and see how that goes, in the process I'm going to try to get a raptor from my parents (because they need a hard drive to get my old computer running for them, so I made a deal-though I havfe the more knowledge by far when it comes to this field :roll: -that if they buy me a raptor, I'll fix up my old computer for them :mrgreen: After that, I'm not sure what to upgrade, I don't game enough to justify buying a new gfx card yet, the new monitor is only because my current $5 garage sale crt is dying on me  

how's life for you?

The x version is $200 at newegg too, I'd shop there for peace of mind, newegg's return policies are for most things the best out there (returning an lcd monitor is a pain though, it has to have at least 8 stuck pixels, so if you have 5 or 6, you're jipped, even if you get a monitor with tons of streaking)

Unequivocally RAM. Without a doubt.

Raptor X is just for show. Micron D9 RAM is for function. What's the use of a pretty drive if your rig is slower? Only inexperienced teenage boys would take flash over substance. Don't be a boy, be a man!  

Reminds me of when I pulled alongside 2 teenage boys in their souped-up Cavalier, complete with a whaletail and neon blue tube underneath. They thought they were pretty hot stuff until they looked sideways and saw me in the Viper. OH YEAH....their attitudes vanished pretty quickly  

Substance over style. They had all flash and no dash. The Viper burst their bubble in a hurry  

Hey HA_ZEE, that price is unbeatable! Im gonna buy from them I think   The best part is that is Retail version! I love that one. Will consider it but...................

How is microcenter? Did anybody buy from them? Do they have good shipping rates? Good service? Fast shipping?

Taco, I dont know whats so bad about the gamers version, I want it because its BLACK yeah! something different and not like every other hard drive in the market and also because its gamers version, Im a gamer  

I didnt know you were still using CRT :S I thought you had a simple LCD.

But I think the others are right, 4Gb is overkill. Even the most demanding applciations run fine with 2Gbs.

REmember, I already have a pack of G.Skill 2Gb DDR800 F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ w/ Micron D9GMH. I was just asking if adding more RAM was better but then I Noticed that they were right, 4gb is overkill and that upgrading the hard drive might be a better idea for now.

Taco, I forgot to tell you, I bought the G.Skill 2Gb DDR800 F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ w/ Micron D9GMH   Sorry, I didnt see u in the forums hehe

Ah, gotcha.

I'd add a 2nd monitor instead of the Raptor, but that's just me  


Good luck!

Well, slim and I are more performance guys over nice accesories, but down the road that may be something on slim's to buy list (as he gets loads more money than I do), but for now I think he's more after performance, probably buying an 8800/8900gtx or r600 would be his next purchase

Why would I need a 2nd monitor when I have a 19 inch VX922 Viewsonic 2ms LCD screen?

Sweet, I never knew you finally bought a monitor, I always thought you were going to go with the sceptre you wanted, but I guess the 2ms makes the viewsonic of more value (which is why I want that 22" 2ms samsung :twisted: )

Hey, I dont get loads of money, I even own my parents $50 because I needed that to buy the G.Skill memory! 8O

Now, I just got some $200 bucks to spend and they are going to the raptor after I pay my debts.

Then, comes the videocard   I want the 8800GTX but its too expensive as I said, but that eVGA GTS 320mb looks UNBEATABLE!!!! $280 ($260 after rebates!!!!) WOW UNBEATABLE! Ill be probably getting that one  

I made a deal with dad to change my E6600 because mines doesnt like OC so Ill be changing it soon. Im planning to try a Xeon 3060  

I have that monitor since I have 300 posts I think :roll:

How you do that? I'd like to exchange cpus with someone for a conroe/k10  
Anyways, seeing as you have been in forums far longer than I have, it's not like I was around when you had 300 posts to know you bought a monitor, and I remember your lcd monitor thread talking about a sceptre monitor you wanted

any idea when seagate will release their 10k drive?

not at all, but hitachi's tb drive is out for system builders (dell anyways) and that is as fast as the 150gig raptor if that counts

When I made that Sceptre Topic, I already had this VX922 and I even said it in there. I think you are kinda lost taco.

Anyways, That deal from microcenter looks unbeatable, for real, 200 for the retail version, Im taking that home.

Enjoy then

On the monitor topic, that was months ago, you can't expect me to remember every single little detail

But at least that I already had an LCD screen  

True, but I was happy with my crt since it was a mere $5 8O  

You are thinking of me. 8)

You are thinking of me. 8)

Give me a proof  

no, I've known slim a lot longer and he was buying a raptor, until something came up

We only know that it will be soon. http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13...

If that drive comes with perpendicular tech, it will destroy the raptor in every way. But I wonder when they plan to release it. I cant wait, I dont have their time  

WD is probably gonna get my money

But I think the others are right, 4Gb is overkill. Even the most demanding applciations run fine with 2Gbs.

REmember, I already have a pack of G.Skill 2Gb DDR800 F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ w/ Micron D9GMH. I was just asking if adding more RAM was better but then I Noticed that they were right, 4gb is overkill and that upgrading the hard drive might be a better idea for now.

Taco, I forgot to tell you, I bought the G.Skill 2Gb DDR800 F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ w/ Micron D9GMH   Sorry, I didnt see u in the forums hehe

I just got a 73GB Raptor myself. Boot and load time differences are
noticeable even over my RAID 9, 7200 RPM setup.

That said, 4GB of RAM being overkill is _mostly_ true. I, however, found my current 2GB RAM wanting when I play Supreme Commander at > 3 players at a 1000 unit limit game. It crashes whining about it running out of memory.

Ofcourse, this is the only app I personally use that could definitely use more RAM. Dunno if our gaming preferences are the same, but if you're not into that kind of gaming a Raptor would have a more immediate noticeable effect.

I would buy neither. Sell you 7900GS for a decent price, and buy a 8800 GTS 640.

Not some bad thinking there!!!

That proabably would yeild better performance. Nice one!!!

When I get that third Raptor X RAIDed I will post some benchmarks. How long do you have until you buy?

Why not just keep the scsi drives? Do you need an x6800 that badly? 4 15k rpm scsi drives are worth far more than a single x6800 because even wtih a raptor you'd feel a slight bottleneck, and raid o on raptors with no back is a big no no

I still have the 2 15.4k SCSIs that I need.

Seagate Barracuda 16MB 250GB (RAID 1)
Western Digital Raptor X 150 (RAID 0)
Western Digital Raptor X 150 (RAID 0)
Seagate Cheetah 36GB 15.4k (Vista Ultimate x64)
Seagate Cheetah 36GB 15.4k (XP Professional x64)
Western Digital Raptor X 150 (RAID 0)
Western Digital Raptor X 150 (RAID 0)
Seagate Barracuda 16MB 250GB (RAID 1)

The RAID 1 array will back up my OS drives.
The RAID 0 array will have my games on it.

This is going to be a "show" PC lol. It is also going to have parts that are very unnecessary but I want them.

Just wondering, are you rich or something, that's a lot of expensive drives you have there. I personally would say get 4 15k rpm scsi drives and just put that in either raid 5 or raid 1+0 on a top end raid controller, that will give you the best performance for your os and games with stability, then if you wanted you could get raptors for other things like storage, but man, that still if a very expensive pc, I have a single lowly 7.2k rpm 160gig drive

Not rich. I got one Raptor for $100!!! I just buy nice stuff. I got the SCSIs from work and the 'Cudas were on sale on buy.com. My rig cost me about $2500

Where? I'd certainly love a raptor for $100 8O

eBay.

hmm, I've had mixed experiences from ebay, I've bought bootleg software that if I wanted boot leg I would have saved myself $100 and just bought it in Iran when I go there, and I've recieved a mint condition wifi router for less than half the newegg price

Eh, the risk you take when buying from eBay I guess...

Yeah, but I'm in no rush to buy a raptor since I'm getting very close to having my parents buy one for me

Your computer is only as fast as the slowest part, MEANING get the FASTER HDD, no contest whatsoever. You have plenty of power elsewhere. the bottleneck is the HDD.

My 2c, if it's not too late... You never mentioned what you primarily use the PC for, so it's tough to say.

In Windows XP, 2GB of RAM is plenty for most uses. Some exceptions that I know of are video editing packages like Premiere, and of course if you utilize VMware or similar virtual environments. In terms of games I know that Flight Simulator X will happily use whatever memory you have, but I don't know anything at all about the popular FPS games, etc.

By the way, EchDskEch, I wonder if Supreme Command itself simply has memory management problems. You make it sound like the app is whining, rather than Windows complaining about running out of virtual memory, right?

And yes, the 32-bit desktop versions of Windows will only see about 3.5GB if you install 4GB. That doesn't mean it's a bad idea, it just means you're being cheated out of 25% of your investment. Though if you consider what it could cost to upgrade to a 64-bit OS, that 25% loss should seem insignificant.

My feeling is that you are probably going to feel the most benefit from buying a 150GB Raptor, using that as your boot drive and loading most of your applications on it, and leave that existing 500GB drive to store your swap file, the bulkier game data, your music and pornos, etc.

Now here's something interesting about the Raptors... In most benchmarks, the Raptor exceeds the performance of the Raptor X. At first I made a vaguely educated guess that perhaps the clear cover on the X imposed some other design limitations such as case rigidity or heat dissipation, that required lowering the overall performance of the drive slightly. Then I noticed that the X out-shone the regular Raptor in two game benchmarks. So now I'm not so sure about my original assumptions. The weird and proprietary science that is cache management and seek optimization surely plays a significant role here. Something to think about when choosing which Raptor to buy!

Lastly a slight tangent, have you given any thought to backing up your stuff?

-Brad

I dont want to, simply because I can use this card for a little longer and then save up and get something better   I really want a GTX card. this card has a little more to give me.



I should be buying this Raptor like in a week probably.

Proof, you really need to stop with the hard drives   You are like a fan of them.

And no, I dont recommend buying hardware on eBay, there are a lot of good stuff in there but you never know their history behind.