I'm looking for a good developer box centering around an i7 920 and a SSD for booting and main programs, perhaps two SSDs in a performance raid. Ideas? $1000-2000 budget.
Some light gaming will be done on the computer so I'd at least like a good single card. More than one video card isn't really necessary unless I decide to run three monitors at the same time. Two will probably be my limit.
About the SSD and since you are running Windows 7(there is TRIM support). Dont know what is it? Check here when your free: http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3667 Although there is a firmware bug, rest assured once Intel fixes their firmware you will get TRIM. W/o TRIM SSDs slow down gradually after use. that link I gave you will explain everything nicely
Yes, I'm excited about the TRIM support! Unfortunately, I hear that it doesn't work with RAID - in case I wanted to combine two SSDs to make a larger boot drive.
How quiet is this going to be? Ultra quiet isn't necessary, but quiet is nice.
Also, do I need anything special to mount the Intel SSD? Isn't it laptop sized?
There also seems to be a lot of debate between the 860 and 920 - which is better for everyday use? There's also some things that are pretty CPU intensive in programming / development.
I would stay away from Hanns monitors. If you are going to spend a lot of time in front of a computer, S-IPS or IPS would be superior for image quality. I personally use the HP2475 and find it worth every penny. It's got the best color for the money and comes with a 3 year HP warranty (under their business line, so it's not the ratty retail warranty if you ever have a problem).
Startech.com makes a good 3.5" to 2.5" adapter w/ power and sata cable for about $12 at Microcenter.
The point in the 500GB is performance. The 1TB model has 2 platters, the 500GB is a single platter drive. Combined with NCQ, the single platter drive is quite a performer. Grab a few of those for a raid0 or raid1 setup and they will be screamers.
OP asked for an i7 920, but whatever.
Also OP, you asked in an earlier post about how quiet an SSD is...well it has no moving parts, its silent. First time i use one, i couldn't tell if it was on or off
About the SSD and since you are running Windows 7(there is TRIM support). Dont know what is it? Check here when your free: http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3667 Although there is a firmware bug, rest assured once Intel fixes their firmware you will get TRIM. W/o TRIM SSDs slow down gradually after use. that link I gave you will explain everything nicely