New i7 build parts check and compatibility

[radiowars]

Wishlist: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=14319647

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 3-4 weeks BUDGET RANGE: 1300-1500$ US

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, video editing, pictures (Photoshop), and music

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS- Hoping to use Windows 7

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: anything, as long as it is safe

PREFERENCES: I would like to use an Intel Core i7 920

OVERCLOCKING: Definite Yes

SLI: Probably, in the future.

MONITOR RESOLUTION:1680x1050 22''

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I want to have two hardrives- preferably a Velociraptor (for OS and games) and a large Terabyte WD Black. I'm hoping to fit this all (and another GTX 275 later) in a NZXT Tempest which is a midtower case. Does anyone think this is a bad idea?
I'm pretty set on the i7 920 and the GTX 275 so you'll have to be very convincing for me to change my mind .
Thanks- TH forums are the greatest

Oh, also this will be my first computer I'll build so if there's anything I should need (I literally have nothing I can reuse- except an extra DVD/CD drive, which I am including because I want two) just tell me, thanks.

Wishlist: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=14319647

If you need anymore info, I'll answer ASAP.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

The build looks pretty good except for the old Raptor drive. The current 7200 RPM drives are just as fast as those old Raptors for a lot less money. I would ditch the Raptor for another 1TB WD Black drive or the WD6401AALS.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319&Tpk=wd6401aals $74.99

If you really think you want a Raptor, check out the VelociRaptor's which replaced the Raptor drives quite a while ago.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=velociraptor&x=0&y=0

This thermal compound cools at least as well as the Arctic Silver, is not conductive, and has no cure time:

ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020 $7.99

 

[radiowars]

The build looks pretty good except for the old Raptor drive. The current 7200 RPM drives are just as fast as those old Raptors for a lot less money. I would ditch the Raptor for another 1TB WD Black drive or the WD6401AALS.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319&Tpk=wd6401aals $74.99

If you really think you want a Raptor, check out the VelociRaptor's which replaced the Raptor drives quite a while ago.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=velociraptor&x=0&y=0

This thermal compound cools at least as well as the Arctic Silver, is not conductive, and has no cure time:

ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020 $7.99

Thanks for the advice, I switched the compound and I added the newer Raptor. But I agree with your advice about just adding another WD Black. My friend is telling me how great his Velociraptor is and that I should get one for Windows 7 and games. Should I just add a WD Cavier Black drive and save myself some money? Would the Velociraptor actually impove OS load times and game load times significantly?
Thanks

 

[xthekidx]

If you really want fast load times get 2 WD3200AAKS drives in Raid 0, it will be faster than that VRaptor, quieter too.

Your build looks pretty good.

 

[radiowars]

If you really want fast load times get 2 WD3200AAKS drives in Raid 0, it will be faster than that VRaptor, quieter too.

Your build looks pretty good.

Thanks. Are there any articles I could look at because I've never setup a raid config?
http://www.pctechguide.com/tutorials/RAID.htm

I looked at that one, but I don't know the site. I like the idea of setting up 2 drives in Raid 0, but I have no clue what to do lol. Thanks for the help!

 

[xthekidx]

The motherboard manual would be a good place to learn about how to do that, since all boards are a little different.

 

[radiowars]

The motherboard manual would be a good place to learn about how to do that, since all boards are a little different.

Would it be faster if I got 2 WD Cavier Black drives? They're 70$ each for the 500GB drives, so that's 20$ less than I could have spent. It's not really about the space more about the speed.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074&Tpk=WD3200AAKS
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320

Would the extra 30$ help in terms of performance?

 

[xthekidx]

It would help your read speeds of small files, but large not large files. The Platter density of the WD3200AAKS makes it very fast, the 500gb Caviar blacks use 2x250gb platters, so when reading large files they are slower than the 320GB Caviar Blue drives, but the extra cache helps out the caviar black drives reading small and more commonly accessed files. The 500GB drives will be louder too, since you will have twice as many moving parts, and generate more heat.

 

[radiowars]

Great to know I can save some money lol.
Last question D).
Should I stick with the Asus p6t Deluxe V2 or go with the regular Asus p6T. I don't plan at any point to have Tri-SLI but I would like a nice SLI setup one day. And I doubt I'll ever use 24 GBs of RAM. Would the raid config work better on one of those boards?
Thanks for the excellent advice!