Benefits of solid state drive?- $1000 build

mighty_mouse007

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Nov 16, 2009
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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within the next couple of weeks

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Just general use, movies, surfing the web, etc

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, monitors, OS

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS:newegg.com

PARTS PREFERENCES: I have had good luck with the ASRock mobos, but open to suggestions.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Graphics are not the most important thing with this build. I want it to be as fast as possible, with a budget of $1,000. I put together a couple of setups and was wondering which of the two would be faster. They share much of the same hardware, except for the CPU, RAM, and HD's. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Build #1

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156
ASRock P55 Deluxe LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s ATX Intel Motherboard
NZXT Apollo SILVER NP Silver SECC Steel Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX30GXXX 2.5" 30GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model
XFX HD-485X-ZDFC Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support
Rosewill RCR-IM5001 USB2.0 75 in 1 internal Card Reader w/ 3 ports USB2.0 Hub / eSATA port / Extra silver face plate

Build #2

For the sake of saving some space and time I am just going to list what is different between the 2nd build and the 1st. The differences are CPU, mobo, RAM, and storage setup.

ASRock X58 Deluxe ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i7-920 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor
CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

******To sum it up, I was wondering which of these you guys think would be a better setup for $1,000. Would the i5-750 setup with the SSD and dual-channel 4gb of ram be faster than the i7-920 setup with the triple channel 6 gb of ram without the SSD? I would put Windows 7 on the SSD along with anything else that would be used often- antivirus and other programs. The higher prices of the i7-920 and the ram do not allow for the SSD to be used with that setup. Anyways, thanks for the look and let me know what you think.


 

coldsleep

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Dec 18, 2009
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Depends on where you're looking for speed. The SSD will be noticeably faster when you boot, and faster at launching applications that are on the SSD. It is unlikely to show much improvement with any other tasks.

Honestly, a 30 GB SSD isn't going to fit a whole lot more than your OS. Ideally, you want to keep the SSD at least 20% free, more is better. However, for your intended use, I don't think you need the i7-920. I'd recommend just going with the i5 and not buy the SSD right now. Consider buying an SSD when the prices come down a little bit.
 

coldsleep

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How are you defining "fastest"? If you're looking at user-perceived response time, then yes, get an SSD and go cheap on the other parts. If you're looking at fastest once you're actually doing some sort of processing or gaming or whatever, then you'd probably be better served by not getting the SSD and paying more for a better processor.

Re-reading your original post, if you're just going to be surfing & watching movies...perhaps you should get an i3 and an H55 motherboard for the HD integrated graphics, and spend on an SSD.