Please advise on sys build pertaining to hard drive configurations

[snm]

I use the computer for everything (gaming, audio, video (viewing/no editing), scanning, printing. ect). I
cannot/will not place priority on one thing. I expect my comp to be a lean, agile, fighting machine. And
I got no reason to be green...


System Specs:

CPU :
AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket
AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680

COOLER : STOCK - BUT ALSO HAVE A -
COOLER MASTER Intel Core i7 compatible V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055&cm_re=V8-_-35-103-055-_-Product
(NOTE - USING THIS I HAVE OC'D AT 4GHZ)

MOTHER BOARD :
MSI 790GX-G65 AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130224&Tpk=MSI%20790GX

PSU :
Antec EarthWatts EA750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V version 2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire
Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7" Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371026&cm_re=antec_earthwatt-_-17-371-026-_-Product

MEMORY :
Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PVS34G1600LLK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220285&cm_re=viper_memory_ddr3_1600-_-20-220-285-_-Product


VIDEO CARDS :
2 EACH - HIS H489FP1G Radeon HD 4890 Turbo+ 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161298

MONITOR :
ASUS VW246H Black 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 20000:1)
Built in Speakers - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236049

DVD/CD RECORDERS:
2 EACH - PLEXTOR Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM
16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD/CD Writer
LightScribe Support - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827249054&cm_re=px-880sa-_-27-249-054-_-Product

STORAGE:
EXTERNAL 2 EACH - SIMPLETECH 1TB USB EXTERNALS - BASIC STORAGE
1 EACH - MAXTOR ONE TOUCH 500GB EXTERNAL - BASIC STORAGE
INTERNAL 1 EACH - SAMSUNG SPINPOINT 500GB SATA HD502IJ
1 EACH - SAMSUNG SPINPOINT 500GB IDE (I THINK)

OS: XP PROFESSIONAL



NOTE - The LCD, Graphic cards, PSU, the V8, DVD recorders are all staying....all the storage devices will be
kept for basic storage...everything else can and will go sooner or later...


Opinions needed on:

1) BAD CHOICE OF MOTHERBOARDS - Did not know pci-e would drop down to 8x in crossfire configuration..I goofed. What would you recommend as replacement ?
2) Is the viper memory a descent enough choice ? will be adding another 4gb when they come on sale..
3) CPU will be replaced sometime in the future (or not)....
4) OS will be W7 when available
5) The real problem/question :
should i go raid or not ?....what drives should i get ?


I think the best configuration would be OS (W7) on one drive (or two drives as a raid) and apps on another
(ditto). I've read raid will have only minamal performance gains when gaming. so I not convinsed it's worth
the extra money. I think raid would be most beneficial when moving files and backups. Which is when I can afford
to wait the extra few seconds (not hours). But never having had a raid I don't know for sure.

drives under possible consideration are :
(A) - Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Interna
l Hard Drive (bare drive) - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136296

- or -

(B) - Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard
Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136320

- or -

(C) - SAMSUNG F1 RAID Class HE502IJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152117&cm_re=samsung_500gb-_-22-152-117-_-Product

- or -

(D) - SAMSUNG HD502HI 500GB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152137&cm_re=samsung_500gb-_-22-152-137-_-Product



I was thinking possible 2 each of (A) or (B) in a non raid format - or - 4 each of (C) or (D) in raid. I'm not
sure which configuration would be best. I wish to hear your thoughts on this matter..unfortunatly I don't have a
raid system to compare to.

Please - I need only those who have expeirence in comparing raid to non raid systems and are familar with some of these drives to respond...


thanks

 

[Outlander_04]

8x/8x will probably make so small a difference to a 4890 you will never notice it .
MSI are rubbish though [ if it helps ]


Nne of the hard drives you list is worth considering .
The fastest desktop drives in hat size range are the samsung F3 500 gig , and the seagate 7200.12 500 gig . Both of these are often faster than a velociraptor [ but not in every situation ]

RAID 0 will speed loading and booting times by a few seconds , but double your chances of a hard drive crash wiping out your data . Its not worth it .

Install the OS and apps and data on the same drive . Use a second drive to make copies of data and store an image of the boot drive when it was a clean install IMO

 

[snm]

thanks for the info...yep i listed the wrong samsung drive....didn't catch that...thanks...i read a hard drive comparison somewhere here on TH that showed the velociraptor was slow in loading the os which suprised me...i think the Samsung hd502hj is my best all around choice...

I am still waffling on raid however...i have only a hand full of "data" files that i keep backups of and I keep these copies on 3 different hard drives....so in the event of a failing disk or a screwed up file system I "always" am prepared...the biggest task is re-install of os and apps...i have learned backups\system restore do not work here...however a disc image made with driveclone is wonderful....hence the extra storage drives i have..i keep one image of a clean and fully updated os...one image of os with programs i know and trust...the other programs i just re-install fresh...i keep a 3rd image of a os configured strictly for gaming...i just re-image the drives for whatever i want to do at the moment (office work, system meddling, gaming...ect)...i think i will go with a raid 0 config - provided that driverclone supports raid (i'm not sure) if it doesn't then I'll just stick with a standard setup..thanks for the help....


i agree with you that msi are 2nd rate....personally i prefer Asus..but Fry's didn't have a comparable Asus at the time i was "forced to buy" (long story involving a toshiba laptop)..and i have been out of the computer hobby for approximatly 8 years now....(and now i find myself getting sucked back in)......
i didn't have current knowledge of todays crap....the board was recommended by a fry's salesman based on what i told him i was looking for at the time (i find that changing now)..i think this particular msi mb is not a bad board (surprisingly) but i think Asus could do much better...and i am not familar with what else is out there that may be better....any recommendations ? As i really am disappointed in the 8x/8x....i would hate to handicap these GPU's as they are expensive....


thanks so much for your imput....even if i'm not following it...you still were of great help....