Hard drives- Seconday Hd's

SDA1C

Why is a 320 gig (320GB SATA SSD RAID 0 (2 x 160GB HDD) a $650 upgrade over a 2 tb (2TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive)?


Thanks as always

1C

Glowrdr

It's new. Problem being that it's so new, that nobody has any accurate longevity tests regarding SSD's. From what I recall, the SSD's actually have a slightly higher fail rate. No documentation to back that up, but I believe I did read that somewhere. Not sure how far things have come in the past couple of years though.

I think for SSD's, get it for speed, and keep it an OS drive. Still not there for storage purposes. You could have 10 TB of drive space for that price.

Found this - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-reliability-failure-rate,2923.html

SDA1C

ok Not worth it lol.

Drenis

If your going to buy one, go Intel. Mine has been stable and solid for 2 years. I have two X25-M G2 drives, 160 & 80GB.

SDA1C

I was thinking 2 tb primary with 1 tb secondary. I just don't get why its a $650 upgrade for 320 gig. Seems counter intuitive. I am sort of in the market for a new PC and was thinking some type of HTPC but at what cost...? Might be better to get an oppo afterall. I am stuck on the analog conversion at this point. I am not sure a soundcard would cut it.

BlueFox

ramashsin is a spammer. Reported.

Syndil

SDA1C wrote: »

I was thinking 2 tb primary with 1 tb secondary. I just don't get why its a $650 upgrade for 320 gig. Seems counter intuitive.

You missed the part where the 320GB drive is actually a RAID array made up of two solid-state drives. Solid-state drives are ridiculously expensive compared to platter drives. They are much faster, and since they have no moving parts, make no noise.

Also since it's a RAID 0 array the extra cost may also include a RAID controller if one is not built in to the motherboard. But the main reason for the difference in cost is the solid-state technology.

SDA1C

So it is worth it? lol 128 is plenty you say? Would that be sufficient for media storage?

Syndil

Depends. Movies? No, you want as much storage as you can afford. Music? You can fit a crapload of music in 320GB. But the speed of the drives is not really a factor in a HTPC, so you'd be paying a huge premium for the silence of the solid-state drives. A premium that may not be worth it, if there are fans in the HTPC. Fans are often louder than hard drives. If the HTPC is passively cooled (zero fans) then sure, get solid-state drives, and if you need more storage, maybe get a NAS and put it in a different room. But if it is not passively cooled and you don't want to purchase a separate NAS, and you want to store movies, get the biggest hard drive you can.

Sherardp

Like Las I own Intel & Crucial. Both are insanely fast, though the Crucial is in a Sata III rig, vs the Intel in an older rig. SSD as an OS drive is simply awesome.

SDA1C

My thought is just abvout anything these days is going to blow my mind. I just want it to still be bada$$ in a couple years. how about the 128 with a tb secondary. ? would that be the way to go?

Syndil

Well, I am sure there will be huge differences of opinion here, but in my opinion the days of the HTPC have come and gone. There are plenty of inexpensive, purpose-built devices for bringing media into the living room without the need for a separate, specialized computer. The Logitech Squeezebox is a prime example of this. And there are devices for movies as well, like the WD TV Live or Seagate GoFlex or D-Link Boxee Box.

Sherardp

I run the Crucial 128gb SSD with 1tb Secondary. My media drive is also 1tb, with my externals being 2tb and another 1tb. So plenty of backup space and media. That combo you mentioned is going to scream.

SDA1C

I am definitely getting what I ask for here.:biggrin:

So 128 ssd 1tb secondary.
Skip the htpc Idea and get a new brd player.

Does that pretty much sum things up?

How about the sound card for the pc. Do I take the options at HP or buy an aftermarket card?

Syndil

If this is going to be your regular, everyday computer in addition to your HTPC, I'd say sure, go for the SSD for the speed. But if it's just going to be for HTPC use, you won't see any benefit from the speed of the SSD, and having a 1TB secondary will negate the silence of it.

SDA1C

Its more like my main pc and possibly htpc as a side note. I do want quiet though. Does that mean (2) ssd's for main and secondary?

Syndil

AH, that does make a difference. If this is your main PC, going with all SSD drives would be very limiting as far as space is concerned, and very expensive. Of course whether or not it would be too limiting depends on how you use your PC. But the general recommendation is to use an SSD drive to boot the OS from and store your most-often used programs, then get a larger, platter-based HDD for storing your media and less-often used programs.

And you can get relatively quiet platter-based hard drives. My recommendation there would be a Samsung Spinpoint drive. Samsung has always focused on making quiet, reliable drives, where others have focused on making cheap, reliable drives.

Of course now is a horrible time to need to buy a hard drive. Prices have started to go down since the flooding in Thailand, but they are still roughly twice what they were before the flooding.

Drenis

SDA - You're wasting your time trying to RAID the SSD's. TRIM is NOT supported over RAID.

Pick up a single larger drive then like a 240GB if you want a larger size. Windows, programs and games (Space permitted) should be put on an SSD. leave your large drives for STORAGE ONLY.

SDA1C

I will use it for home office and probably a cad program in the near future.

EndersShadow

SDA1C wrote: »

I will use it for home office and probably a cad program in the near future.

As a graphics major here is what I would do.

1. Get an SSD with enough storage space for just the OS and programs you plan to install that you need to run fast (like CAD, SolidWorks, etc). Something in like the 120 gig range would work well. Keep things like games OFF of it (like WOW, Battlefield, etc)

2. Get other hard drives for long term storage of files and any games you plan to install. These can be 1TB or larger and either 5400 or 7200 rpm. I personally like the Samsun Spinpoints as well as I have been using a 1 TB one for about 3 years with NO problems at all. Look at the Western Digital Green Drives as well. They dont use lots of power at idle and have ample storage.

3. Get another large HDD just to backup ALL your files to. I have 2 640 gig Western Digital drives AND a 1 TB Samsung. 1 of the 640 Western Digitals is JUST for backing up all my files weekly. I keep about 2 weeks worth of files on it before it starts replacing them. This way if my main drive ever fails I am good for a bit.

4. If your seriously into CAD look into adding a ATI FirePro graphics card in addition to whatever you have. It will help your render times in CAD.

5. Make sure you have enough RAM as well.

Marty913

SDA1C wrote: »

So it is worth it? lol 128 is plenty you say? Would that be sufficient for media storage?

FLAC music files = about 35 per GB
DVD Movies = 4-6 GB each (depends on movie only or menus/extras/movies)
Bluray Movies = 30 - 40 GB each (but could go higher)

A typical Windows 7 operating system load is very roughly 65 GB (depends on apps, MS Office) Games would probably raise that a lot as would extensive CAD work. Hard to tell but certainly figure half of the 128GB SSD will not be open for media. So, using the above rough estimates, the 60 GB left would hold:

2100 FLAC Music Files OR
5 DVD Movies OR
2 Bluray movies

SDA1C

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=desktops&a1=Category&v1=High+performance&series_name=h8xt_series&jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg/desktops/High_performance/h8xt_series


I was going to start here and deck it out from there. ...yes? no?

The options I went with brought it to roughly 2250 with no monitor or software and no ssd

Syndil

Not a bad PC. Core i7-2600 CPU should be good for a very long time. Rest of it is fine. Just be prepared to deal with a lot of bloat-ware. I'd go with Lenovo myself, but it's no secret that I'm a Lenovo fan. HP still makes good computers, just hate dealing with all the bloat-ware.

Sherardp

I use the Asus Xonar D2 in my rig for audio. Awesome performance in the Asus cards, and a huge improvement over onboard sound.

SDA1C

is there a way to eliminate the bloatware right out of the gate? I have to be honest and say I have never heard of Lenovo:redface:

Syndil

No, pretty much any computer you buy that is intended for home use will come with bloat-ware on it. Basically it's a way for the computer manufacturer to get ad revenue. Software companies pay them a fee in order to have trial versions of their software pre-installed on the PC.

Really the only way I know to avoid bloat-ware is to buy a system that is intended for business use. In other words, start shopping HP's (or Lenovo's) small business website instead of their consumer website.

EndersShadow

Build looks decent. As far as price I dont really know since I build my own desktops. I wouldnt add a "good" soundcard if your going to use it for connecting to your rig.

Either use HDMI (using your AVR's DAC's) if you can, or get a USB to RCA DAC like the Musiland Monitor or others in the 125-250 range. Will cost you the same or just a bit more than a onboard soundcard, but sound MUCH better IMHO.

SDA1C

Almost sounds like time to build one. That ASUS is killer!. Ok the millinoin dollar ?....Can I get what we are discussing for around $2k For just the tower?

Syndil

Don't know. I have built every computer I've ever owned, but I'm starting to think those days are passed as well. You can get pre-built PCs using the same high-end components you would if you built one yourself, and if it's pre-built it will be cheaper. When it comes time to replace my current PC I will probably buy my first pre-built PC.

EndersShadow

SDA1C wrote: »

Almost sounds like time to build one. That ASUS is killer!. Ok the millinoin dollar ?....Can I get what we are discussing for around $2k For just the tower?

Without actually adding the parts to a newegg.com cart I want to say should be possible for under 1.5k. I can build you out one later tonight when I get home and link you to it.

SDA1C

That would be cool if you have time. Also as quiet as possible. I know some folks like the sound like a gear drive in a chevy but I am more of the sleeper type.