Looking to build a PC for the following: Main uses of intended build: Photo and video editing, Gaming and general office stuff (Adobe CS5 Master suite) etc. Monitor resolution: Already have 24" 1920x1600 dell ultrasharp. Storage requirements: SSD for OS and main progs. I'm seriously looking at adding 3xSamsung F4 3TB disks in Raid 5 (I want redundancy for data etc) for data. One question on this, can I start with a single SSD then add in later 3xF4's in RAID 5 without causing any problems? Initially only planning to load W7, office and CS5. Will you be overclocking: yes - but only to 4.5 (maybe a touch more at a push). Extra information about desired system: Looking at GTX570/580 (don't want to have to replace with a much faster GPU in 18 months etc). Really would prefer the rig to run as quietly as possible. So, looking at; Intel 2600K Asus P8P67 Deluxe or Pro/Evo? Do the extra power phases etc REALLY matter that much? And also, is the USB3 head really worth having??? Fractal R3 or S'stone RV02 Corsair HX 750W (for a bit of h'room - not expecting to use 2x GPU any time soon if ever) Crucial C300-128GB day 1 (and fairly quickly add 1 (or 3 x F4's in RAID 5)) LG Blu-Ray Writer, BH10LS30.AUAU Corsair Memory XMS3 8GB DDR3 1600 (then later add another 8GB if needed for video enc etc) MSI GeForce 1 x GTX 570 (posd 580 but not sure at 24" 1920 x 1200 it would make much diff?) Already got W7/64 Quiet Air cooling wanted! comments pls...
Looks really solid. I would just go for the Pro. Do you need a blue ray drive? AS coolers go look at the Corsair H50 (I know it's not and air cooler) or The Cogage Arrow. The thermalite True 120 is also super. For unlimited quietness i would go for the R3 and the H50.
Fit a Frio with 2 Akasa Apache Black's. These things are awesome, shift 50cfm and won't be heard at all if you get an R3.
quiet cooling, go look at NHD14, its wisper quiet, even with fans on full speed, it is quiet large though, so check the measurements, I have it in an antec 1200 (not a small case by any means) and its just! fits, alternatively Noctua NH C14P, or the thermaltake frio, they reviewed the later I know a while back in a big cooler test, and it came out on top, it was quite noisey with fans at full speed but it has a speed dial with it so you can easily turn them down. I think the extra power phases matter if you're overclocking and guessing by the fact your getting the 2600k I'd guess you are? hope that helps
Yes, I'm going to be o/c'ing it (heavy photo-editing/manipulation and video enc), however I'm NOT going to thrash it; would be happy with around the 4.5-4.6GHz mark I guess, and on that basis is the extra power management/build of the deluxe REALLY worth it?
definitely go for the Raven case for excellent cooling with a bit of quietness. (compared to Define R3 which is super quiet, but not as good with cooling) Asus Pro version is more than enough, i have been looking at the Pro myself...... just couldn't justify to spend £200 on unnecessary upgrade. another vote for Corsair H50 cooler, or Thermalright TRUE 120 cooler.
- Re starting with the SSD then add RAID 5 array later - anyone know if there are any gotchas/problems/issues doing this? I'd really like to get a stable platform, then add the additional media storage after I know I'm fine with the base system.... - Re the RV02 or R3 case question, is heat likely to be that much of an issue with this config (although I do like the idea of the Penetrator fans anyway!)? Thanks.
If you want data-redundancy, then I'd suggest getting an external HDD for backups, which you detach from all sources and power after backup is done. When a thunder strikes somewhere near you and somehow hit's your PC, then all your disks will possibly fail, in which case a RAID doesn't help at all. The rest looks quiet OK, but I would choose a smaller case, like the Lian Li PC-P50 f.e. which is still sufficient enough for your hardware, especially if you don't want to use watercooling and only do some reasonable OC. Cooler, well... Gelid Tranquillo or Thermalright VenomousX.
I'll be taking at least 1 external back-up on a regular basis anyway, the RAID thought is for day to day redundancy plus a small performance lift. I suppose I looK at what's more likely, a disk simply failing of its own accord, or a lightning strike taking out the whole lot? I seem to hear a lot more about disks failing on their own... Per the original question, is it possible to drop in a 3xdisk RAID 5 set, AFTER building an SSD based main system?
Yes, you can setup a RAID in addition to your allready existing SSD. It's basically nothing else then adding an additional single HDD.
