You can already fit an F3, even two if you want to raid them for security, along with a 120gb ssd for the operating system, frequently used programs and games. Solid State Drives offer much more than fast boot-up times. They also make games load incredibly fast and make opening programs almost instant. With this much of a budget there is no argument for that small of a solid state drive. I wouldn't even recommend anything below 60-64gb for an OS drive for any build, let alone a $4,000 build. You can't go wrong with: i7 6gb DDR3 ATI 5870 2x 1TB Spinpoint F3's in Raid 1 120gb OCZ Vertex SSD, Maybe even one of Intel's new SSD's High Quality 750W or so PSU (Corsair's and Be Quiet's come to mind) Accessories to taste (nobody can tell you what keyboard, mouse, case, headphones ect. that you'll like) Just remember, your computer is only as strong as it's weakest component, so don't try and cut corners because you'll end up regretting it in the end.
Well anyone who knows what an SSD is in the first place should figure that out pretty darn quick, but if you pile on 120GB of crap onto it and something has a virus/bug etc... then it defeats the point does it not?
My bad, I thought that it didnt actually matter, you still got ~0.1-0.2ms access time no matter what the capacity or space used
No, it defeats the point having a fast drive that isn't large enough to install any programs on. What's more is that SSDs get slower the more you fill them up, so a small drive is going to suffer from performance degradation much sooner than a larger drive. TRIM and Windows 7 go some way to solving this problem, but with a larger drive you have the option partition off a certain amount space for the OS install, and having the rest of the drive free for applications while still maintaining peak performance for longer than a smaller drive.
Thanks for all the replies chaps. Still got my heart set on the 3D Vision set up which will mean an Nvidia card so I'll be waiting for the GT300 or buying a 2nd hand "place-holder" like a 260. Plenty of food for thought in this thread. Now to make some tough decisions.
At least read Anandtech's review of 3D Vision before you decide to blow the few hundred dollars on it.
I don't know whether you posted that review to try and put me off? If anything it has made me want to try it more! This review was written in January 09 and the main complaint/concern seems to be driver support which, I'm sure, has improved by now as more developers start to embrace the technology. It also confirms that it works well with ALL pictures and movies which is half the reason I want to get it. Here's a more recent review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/nvidia-geforce-3d-vision-review/1
I think his point was just informative.. like the type of monitor to use (I think they are only 2-3 models which are quiet bad TN LCD panel... but I think Samsung one it descent one), and that these monitors/projectors, cost more than normal.
Intel Core i7 920 $279 MSI Eclipse Plus Motherboard $379 CORSAIR H50 $79.99 CORSAIR DOMINATOR 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 $189 SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5870 $379 Corsair Obsidian Series 800D $279 Corsair CMPSU-850HX 850W PSU $199 SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 79.99(x 2) SAMSUNG SH-S223L DVD Burner $31.99 Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 7000 $109.99 Logitech G9x $94.99 <--best mouse evar!!1!!! $2106.89 USD or £1325.25 + VAT I left out the speakers + display since they are subjective to opinion. But for sound, I still would recommend: Logitech Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Speakers or a step down with the G51
