Solid Workstation & Gaming PC, questions on SSD

[nyquistcondition]

I'm an engineer but not an enthusiast. I'm writing this on a home built PC from 5 years ago:

Conroe E6600 processor
ASUS P5k Deluxe LGA 775 P35
Lian Li Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112122)
ATI 5770 (Upgrade every 2 years)


After 5 years, it is time for an Mobo upgrade. I am particularly interested in adding SSD as it seems like a quantum leap, but even after reading many articles I can't answer the following question:

- Is it better to use an SSD as a system drive, or as a cache when using the new Z68 chipset?

This is the one question I cannot resolve, and it sort of determines the SSD I should buy.

Parts needed:
Mobo - Thinking Z68. Any reason to wait 3 months?
Processor - Hard to see why 2500K isn't perfect
Power Supply - 450W enough?
New DRAM - No clue here. Want 8Gb
SSD - Big Question
CPU Cooler - Do I need a new one?


Approximate Purchase Date: Next 1-2months
Budget Range: Flexible
System Usage from Most to Least Important: MS Office, Gaming

Parts Not Required: Video Card (5770 currently, upgrade at some point), Hard Drive (2x500Gb RAID is plenty), Power Supply (450W), ATX Case (Nice Lian Li)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg
Country: USA
Parts Preferences: by brand or type: Intel
Overclocking: Most likely no
SLI or Crossfire: No
Monitor Resolution: 2560x1600

Additional Comments: Want it to be reliable, quiet. Other than swapping Video cards I don't want to touch it for 5 more years. I'd like something that can rock BF3 with the right Video Card, I know mine won't cut it at this resolution.

 

[venom4u]

I'm an engineer but not an enthusiast. I'm writing this on a home built PC from 5 years ago:

Conroe E6600 processor
ASUS P5k Deluxe LGA 775 P35
Lian Li Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112122)
ATI 5770 (Upgrade every 2 years)


After 5 years, it is time for an Mobo upgrade. I am particularly interested in adding SSD as it seems like a quantum leap, but even after reading many articles I can't answer the following question:

- Is it better to use an SSD as a system drive, or as a cache when using the new Z68 chipset?

This is the one question I cannot resolve, and it sort of determines the SSD I should buy.

Parts needed:
Mobo - Thinking Z68. Any reason to wait 3 months?
Processor - Hard to see why 2500K isn't perfect
Power Supply - 450W enough?
New DRAM - No clue here. Want 8Gb
SSD - Big Question
CPU Cooler - Do I need a new one?


Approximate Purchase Date: Next 1-2months
Budget Range: Flexible
System Usage from Most to Least Important: MS Office, Gaming

Parts Not Required: Video Card (5770 currently, upgrade at some point), Hard Drive (2x500Gb RAID is plenty), Power Supply (450W), ATX Case (Nice Lian Li)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg
Country: USA
Parts Preferences: by brand or type: Intel
Overclocking: Most likely no
SLI or Crossfire: No
Monitor Resolution: 2560x1600

Additional Comments: Want it to be reliable, quiet. Other than swapping Video cards I don't want to touch it for 5 more years. I'd like something that can rock BF3 with the right Video Card, I know mine won't cut it at this resolution.

I am also an engineer

Anyway, regarding your SSD question I cannot find any benchmarks on the subject at the moment although I would imagine that an SSD as a system drive would be faster. For instance, lets say you have a HDD and an SSD and the SSD has a faster read and write speed. Then if you have a cache configuration that SSD would occasionally need to request info from the HDD which would lower the net speed of that system to less then that of the fastest component (the SSD). However, a SSD only system would not need to request info from a slower median.

 

[cpatel1987]

Agree with venom4u: Always faster to put the OS on the SSD, if you think about it, not only is boot time faster, but even if a programs not saved on the main OS drive, it has to make a call to it since the programs running in an OS environment. On the power supply, I would go 500-600w to play it safe, in case you ever require it on a new graphics card upgrade in the future. Example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182200

Your slightly confusing me though. Under parts not needed, you wrote graphics card, yet in additional comments, you know BF3 won't run well on the 5770. Well anywhos, example of a good card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125353

 

[nyquistcondition]

Sorry for the confusion. I have no questions on the Graphics Card, I just don't plan to upgrade it at this time. I'm mainly looking to rebuild around an SSD.

My main questions are whether this is a good SSD choice, and if the memory and cooler are good match for the board.

Proposed Build as of right now:

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233144

ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131792

Intel Core i5-2500K

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

Crucial M4 SSD 64Gb (Need help here)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148447


Re-used Existing Components
Lian Li Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112122)
2x500Gb RAID Configured Samsung 7200RPM drives
DVD-CD/ROM
ATI Video Card