Gaming PC drive configuration.... - GoFuckYourself.com

PersianKitty · 09-17-2009, 03:17 PM

My son is going to buy a new PC for gaming, etc. (his money, not mine so it's his choice).

He's decided he wants an Alienware (I told him he should get a custom built box local) ...

anyway... what he's figuring on so far..

AlienWare Area 51 X58 box

Intel® Core? i7-975 Extreme 3.33 GHz 8MB Cache
Alienware® Approved CPU Liquid Cooling
Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply
Either single or dual 1.8GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260
12GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 6 x 2048MB
Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1 plus Free Windows 7 Upgrade (Bleck (I'm an XP person)

Now... here's the rub... I'm clueless as to advice on what hard drive config he should go with.... I don't use alot of HD space on my computers.. he never has either...

these are the options..

Single Drive Configuration
500GB SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 16MB Cache
750GB SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 16MB Cache [+$50]
300GB Velociraptor SATA 3.0Gb/s 10,000RPM 16MB Cache [+$250]
1TB SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 32MB Cache [+$150]
256GB Solid State Drive [+$600]

Extreme Performance (RAID 0) [+$100]
1TB (2 x 500GB) SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 2 x 16MB Cache
600GB (2 x 300GB) Velociraptor SATA 3.0Gb/s 10,000RPM 2 x 16MB Cache [+$400]
1.5TB (2 x 750GB) SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 2 x 16MB Cache [+$100]
2TB (2 x 1TB) SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 2 x 32MB Cache [+$200]
512GB (2 x 256GB) Solid State Drive [+$1,100]

High Performance with Data Security (RAID 1)
750GB (2 x 750GB) SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 2 x 16MB Cache

I've never messed with more than one drive.. don't really think he needs one..nor does he.. nor have I dealt with a RAID configuration on a home PC.

Suggestions (other than.. don't buy Alienware... cause he's set on it)

Elite Porn Reviews · 09-17-2009, 03:20 PM

Convince him he can get twice the machine for half the price.

Alien is way over priced to get a cool lookin PC

sandman! · 09-17-2009, 03:22 PM

raid 0 is fun as long as your not worried about data loss.

im building a new workstation and going raid 0 again.

munki · 09-17-2009, 03:23 PM

If he's gaming Raid 0 for the win.

2TB (2 x 1TB) SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 2 x 32MB Cache [+$200]
512GB (2 x 256GB) Solid State Drive [+$1,100]

who · 09-17-2009, 03:23 PM

Single drive configuration every single time.

yys · 09-17-2009, 03:27 PM

Tell him to run his games from an SSD; he'll think he fell asleep and woke up in a new century.

ProG · 09-17-2009, 03:30 PM

Swap GTX260 with GTX295 (You are already balls deep in an Alienware)

Either single SSD or 2 x Velociraptor in RAID 0

beta-tester · 09-17-2009, 03:35 PM

man, this is monster machine

I'd go with SSD drives though.

qxm · 09-17-2009, 03:41 PM

Solid state drives for max performance... at least in the short run.... thats a monster computer btw.... with a monster of a price too as I do seem to recall the price tags on Alienware stuff....

area51 - BANNED FOR LIFE · 09-17-2009, 03:43 PM

Please hit me up on icq, we can talk about it.

dready · 09-17-2009, 03:49 PM

For crazy speed, dual Velociraptors in RAID0 can't be beat, but you'll want a nice fat drive (1TB+) to back it up to.

I think you're crazy to buy Alienware. Get a Core i7 920 and overclock it to 3.2

I'd consider the following:

Thermaltake SwordM w/ Water CS $500
Seasonic M12D-850W $200
Asus P6T Deluxe V2 $300
Intel Core i7 920 $320
OCZ (OCZ3X1333LV6GK) 6x2GB $300
Asus ENGTX260 $200
WD Velociraptor 150GB x 2 $400
WD 1.5TB HDD $130
MS Vista Ultimate 64bit $240

Total (CAD$) $2590

You could easily add $1000 (better cpu) or take away $500 (No RAID, cheaper case) and have pretty much the same system.

wargames · 09-17-2009, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elite Porn Reviews

Convince him he can get twice the machine for half the price.

Alien is way over priced to get a cool lookin PC

Right on the money

ToplistBlog_Com · 09-20-2009, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elite Porn Reviews

Convince him he can get twice the machine for half the price.

Alien is way over priced to get a cool lookin PC

PersianKitty · 09-20-2009, 08:33 PM

Well.. I got him off the Alienware by finding him a 'kewl' box with blue lights.. LoL

here's where we're at now...

AZZA Solano 1000 Full-Tower Advance Cooling Case w/ Dual 230mm Fan + Extra 3 Fans
Intel® CoreT i7-975 Extreme Edition 3.33 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366
Thermaltake W0133RU ToughPower 1,200 Watts Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready
EVGA X58 SLI Classfied Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX DDR3 Mainboard /GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394a,&7.1Audio
12GB (2GBx6) DDR3/1800MHz Triple Channel Memory
NVIDIA GeForce GTX295 2GB 16X PCIe Video Card
Gaming Western Digital VelociRaptor 10,000RPM SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache X 2 in Raid0
Pioneer 8X BDR-203BKS Blu-Ray Disc Rewriter
Creative Labs X-FI XtremeGamer 24-BIT PCI Sound Card
Killer Xeno Pro Gigabit High Speed Online Gaming PCI Network Interface Card
Windows VistaTa Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 with Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade

Gee.. maybe once Win7 comes out I should buy a new PC..mine is over 3.5 years old..
Dell XPS-600 Win XP Pro, Pent 4 3.8Ghz, 2Gig Ram.... yeah.. dinosaur... but it's not as old as my laptop.

I hate setting up new computers to work on (can you tell?).

Serge Litehead · 09-20-2009, 11:32 PM

10,000 rpm is sexy

cess · 09-21-2009, 02:53 AM

Any hard drive won't get near the performance of a good solid state disk. Although I wouldn't buy any SSD without knowing which one it really is. Here's the problem with that $600 SSD drive Alienware lists...

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/sho...px?i=3631&p=19

"The largest SSD maker in the world is Samsung. Samsung makes the drives offered by Apple in its entire MacBook/MacBook Pro lineup. Samsung makes the drives you get if you order a Lenovo X300. In fact, if you're buying any major OEM system with an SSD in it, Samsung makes that drive.

It's just too bad that those drives aren?t very good."

That's putting it lightly, they just suck.

09-17-2009, 03:17 PM	#1
PersianKitty Meow Media Inc. Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: In the valley of the sun, cactus, tacos, tequila, and nod Posts: 7,785	Gaming PC drive configuration.... My son is going to buy a new PC for gaming, etc. (his money, not mine so it's his choice). He's decided he wants an Alienware (I told him he should get a custom built box local) ... anyway... what he's figuring on so far.. AlienWare Area 51 X58 box Intel® Core? i7-975 Extreme 3.33 GHz 8MB Cache Alienware® Approved CPU Liquid Cooling Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply Either single or dual 1.8GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260 12GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 6 x 2048MB Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1 plus Free Windows 7 Upgrade (Bleck (I'm an XP person) Now... here's the rub... I'm clueless as to advice on what hard drive config he should go with.... I don't use alot of HD space on my computers.. he never has either... these are the options.. Single Drive Configuration 500GB SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 16MB Cache 750GB SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 16MB Cache [+$50] 300GB Velociraptor SATA 3.0Gb/s 10,000RPM 16MB Cache [+$250] 1TB SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 32MB Cache [+$150] 256GB Solid State Drive [+$600] Extreme Performance (RAID 0) [+$100] 1TB (2 x 500GB) SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 2 x 16MB Cache 600GB (2 x 300GB) Velociraptor SATA 3.0Gb/s 10,000RPM 2 x 16MB Cache [+$400] 1.5TB (2 x 750GB) SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 2 x 16MB Cache [+$100] 2TB (2 x 1TB) SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 2 x 32MB Cache [+$200] 512GB (2 x 256GB) Solid State Drive [+$1,100] High Performance with Data Security (RAID 1) 750GB (2 x 750GB) SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 2 x 16MB Cache I've never messed with more than one drive.. don't really think he needs one..nor does he.. nor have I dealt with a RAID configuration on a home PC. Suggestions (other than.. don't buy Alienware... cause he's set on it) __________________ Wondering what webmaster programs PK uses? Check them out here!

09-17-2009, 03:20 PM	#2
Elite Porn Reviews Confirmed User Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 129	Convince him he can get twice the machine for half the price. Alien is way over priced to get a cool lookin PC __________________ Request a paysite review at ELITE PORN REVIEWS!! E-mail - web {@} elitepornreviews dotcom

09-17-2009, 03:22 PM	#3
sandman! Icq: 14420613 Industry Role: Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: chicago Posts: 15,432	raid 0 is fun as long as your not worried about data loss. im building a new workstation and going raid 0 again. __________________ Need WebHosting ? Email me for some great deals [email protected]

09-17-2009, 03:23 PM	#4
munki Do Fun Shit. Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: OC Posts: 13,393	If he's gaming Raid 0 for the win. 2TB (2 x 1TB) SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 2 x 32MB Cache [+$200] 512GB (2 x 256GB) Solid State Drive [+$1,100] __________________ “I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.” -Oscar Wilde

09-17-2009, 03:30 PM	#7
ProG Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 1,319	Swap GTX260 with GTX295 (You are already balls deep in an Alienware) Either single SSD or 2 x Velociraptor in RAID 0 __________________ History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.

09-17-2009, 03:23 PM	#5
who So Fucking Banned Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: ICQ #23642053 Posts: 19,593	Single drive configuration every single time.

09-17-2009, 03:27 PM	#6
yys Confirmed User Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 1,922	Tell him to run his games from an SSD; he'll think he fell asleep and woke up in a new century.

09-17-2009, 03:35 PM	#8
beta-tester Rock 'n Roll Baby! Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: USA, temporarly Posts: 22,562	man, this is monster machine I'd go with SSD drives though. __________________ Sig for sale. Affordable prices. Contact me and get a great deal ;) My contact: ICQ: 944-320-46 e-mail: manca {AT} HotFreeSex4All.com

09-17-2009, 03:41 PM	#9
qxm Confirmed User Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: NoHo Posts: 5,970	Solid state drives for max performance... at least in the short run.... thats a monster computer btw.... with a monster of a price too as I do seem to recall the price tags on Alienware stuff.... __________________ ICQ: 266990876

09-17-2009, 03:43 PM	#10
area51 - BANNED FOR LIFE So Fucking Banned Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 3,164	Please hit me up on icq, we can talk about it.

09-17-2009, 03:49 PM	#11
dready Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 5,247	For crazy speed, dual Velociraptors in RAID0 can't be beat, but you'll want a nice fat drive (1TB+) to back it up to. I think you're crazy to buy Alienware. Get a Core i7 920 and overclock it to 3.2 I'd consider the following: Thermaltake SwordM w/ Water CS $500 Seasonic M12D-850W $200 Asus P6T Deluxe V2 $300 Intel Core i7 920 $320 OCZ (OCZ3X1333LV6GK) 6x2GB $300 Asus ENGTX260 $200 WD Velociraptor 150GB x 2 $400 WD 1.5TB HDD $130 MS Vista Ultimate 64bit $240 Total (CAD$) $2590 You could easily add $1000 (better cpu) or take away $500 (No RAID, cheaper case) and have pretty much the same system. __________________ ICQ: 91139591 Last edited by dready; 09-17-2009 at 03:51 PM..

09-20-2009, 08:33 PM	#14
PersianKitty Meow Media Inc. Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: In the valley of the sun, cactus, tacos, tequila, and nod Posts: 7,785	Well.. I got him off the Alienware by finding him a 'kewl' box with blue lights.. LoL here's where we're at now... AZZA Solano 1000 Full-Tower Advance Cooling Case w/ Dual 230mm Fan + Extra 3 Fans Intel® CoreT i7-975 Extreme Edition 3.33 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366 Thermaltake W0133RU ToughPower 1,200 Watts Power Supply - Quad SLI Ready EVGA X58 SLI Classfied Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX DDR3 Mainboard /GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394a,&7.1Audio 12GB (2GBx6) DDR3/1800MHz Triple Channel Memory NVIDIA GeForce GTX295 2GB 16X PCIe Video Card Gaming Western Digital VelociRaptor 10,000RPM SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache X 2 in Raid0 Pioneer 8X BDR-203BKS Blu-Ray Disc Rewriter Creative Labs X-FI XtremeGamer 24-BIT PCI Sound Card Killer Xeno Pro Gigabit High Speed Online Gaming PCI Network Interface Card Windows VistaTa Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 with Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Gee.. maybe once Win7 comes out I should buy a new PC..mine is over 3.5 years old.. Dell XPS-600 Win XP Pro, Pent 4 3.8Ghz, 2Gig Ram.... yeah.. dinosaur... but it's not as old as my laptop. I hate setting up new computers to work on (can you tell?). __________________ Wondering what webmaster programs PK uses? Check them out here!

09-20-2009, 11:32 PM	#15
Serge Litehead Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Behind the scenes Posts: 5,190	10,000 rpm is sexy __________________ SilverCrocodile.com Adult web design since '05

09-21-2009, 02:53 AM	#16
cess Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 2,921	Any hard drive won't get near the performance of a good solid state disk. Although I wouldn't buy any SSD without knowing which one it really is. Here's the problem with that $600 SSD drive Alienware lists... http://www.anandtech.com/storage/sho...px?i=3631&p=19 "The largest SSD maker in the world is Samsung. Samsung makes the drives offered by Apple in its entire MacBook/MacBook Pro lineup. Samsung makes the drives you get if you order a Lenovo X300. In fact, if you're buying any major OEM system with an SSD in it, Samsung makes that drive. It's just too bad that those drives aren?t very good." That's putting it lightly, they just suck. __________________