Author Topic: nudone's new pc (Read 46966 times)

nudone · « **Reply #50 on:** December 20, 2005, 05:09 AM »

Carol, i'm glad you disagree with 'smids'.

i suppose what i should do is try both setups - i wouldn't be surprised if there isn't any difference at all, or at least nothing worth worrying about.

i'll let you know if i get that far.

f0dder · « **Reply #51 on:** December 20, 2005, 05:39 AM »

I can't think of any reasons why having multiple partitions would slow things down... sounds like bollocks to me.

nudone · « **Reply #52 on:** December 20, 2005, 06:42 AM »

ah even better, f0dder.

as you can see, at this moment in time i'm likely to believe anything regarding raid, as it's all new to me.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #53 on:** December 20, 2005, 08:56 AM »

Just thaink of your RAID 0 as a double capacity faster hard disc - and treat it exactly the same way you would treat a normal hard disc. There really isn't anything mystical about RAID ...

Call him Stripes if it helps

jpfx · « **Reply #54 on:** December 20, 2005, 05:26 PM »

The reason why I have little faith in the benefits of RAID0 is because for the cost of the drives and controller, Purchase more RAM and/or a higher speed CPU! There are speed improvements but they were neglible and RAM/CPU improvements are more tangible and effect the whole system not just i/o.
It wasn't a case of anything seeming much faster than a standard drive. The potential for data loss is not to be ignored either, that and the time/cost of keeping your data safe. I've had RAID0 fail due to PSU problems and you wouldn't even know that the psu was the cause from the symptoms either.
The areas of improvement are in specific situations which YOU don't necessarily practice. Also, If you see a boot-up increase of 5 seconds over non-raid and you boot 3 times a week... 15 seconds... so what?

Anyway, the data crunchers that I've set up at work with and without RAID, there's been small speed improvements with RAID) but nothing worth bothering about.

This is a good article here. I'd call this the definitive site for storage matters.

nudone · « **Reply #55 on:** December 21, 2005, 04:42 AM »

thanks, jpfx. not read the article yet - saved it for later.

i hear what you are saying and it makes perfect sense. normally, i would just take the advice of better informed people - i have a subscription to a 'performance' pc magazine and they don't really recommend using raid 0, which surprised me as i thought they'd do anything for that extra bit of speed.

so, instead of taking my usual line of sticking to what is safe territory, with this new computer build i thought i would just try all these exotic things like raid and sata and dual core. as i've never seen such things in action in real life i decided i would just have to pay up and get them myself. my curiosity needed satisfying more than the health of my bank account.

i didn't even buy products that were considered value for money. paying the premium rate for all the hardware is something i can live with even though i don't expect to see a premium performance from the machine - again, my curiosity needed to be satisfied.

currently, the machine is just about finished. it's quieter than the one i'm using right now... but it's not silent. it's faster than the one i'm using right now (an athlon xp2200 with 1.5 gig ram)... but it's not stupendously faster.

admittedly, i've not really tried to push the new machine. it plays modern games really smoothly (F.E.A.R. crashed after about 15 minutes - oh joy) but i'm hoping to see really big improvements when i do things like video encoding and editing.

the raptor raid 0 appears quick to me but i wouldn't be surprised to find that a sata II drive all on it's own would be very similar - that's what i keep reading elsewhere anyway.

things i have noticed so far during the new machine's brief lifespan: windows installed within 15 minutes, service pack 2 took less than 5 minutes, boot up and shutdown are quicker than i've seen on anything else. it's early days yet so i'm sure things will grind to a halt as i install more and more programs.

i've yet to put the 'silent' cooling fan onto the graphics card and drill a few holes here and there, after that's done i'll post some photos and a bit of commentary.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #56 on:** December 21, 2005, 05:24 AM »

Boot up and shutdown speed are (IMHO) more to do with the newness of the installation. I find Windows boot time deteriorates over time. I also find that application launching seems to suffer over time.

Having just reinstalled my computer it is very nice to have nippy boot times. Plus I can now load my TV (Intervideo WinDVR) in a couple of seconds - it used to take about 15 seconds to load and become active - which I suspect is more to do with registry bloat rather than any other optimizations.

nudone · « **Reply #57 on:** December 21, 2005, 06:39 AM »

i agree with the you, Carol.

jpfx · « **Reply #58 on:** December 21, 2005, 04:46 PM »

well , good luck with your endevours.
I used to have a serious rebuild every 2 years but now it seems to be half that.
I'm running an old (?) nforce3 with a dual 4400+ and an agp 6800GT, all water-cooled. single clicky raptor 74 for system, a 250 data drive and a 300 external backup.
My next move will probably be an sli capable board and new graphics. I go through fads with games and currently a nintendo DS/GBA supplies all my gaming. At considerably less cost too.
Half-life2 made me motion sick!!

nudone · « **Reply #59 on:** December 21, 2005, 05:22 PM »

jpfx, sorry to hear Half-Life 2 didn't agree with you. i really enjoyed it - played it through 3 times, but it did hurt my eyes when i tried it the other day - maybe you just have to get used to it.

pictures should be up tomorrow of my new machine. thanks all to those who've advised me so far.

Rover · « **Reply #60 on:** December 21, 2005, 07:51 PM »

Short RAID lesson for PC's. There are two types these days... Hardware & Software.

Hardware RAID is the old tired and true, better performance RAID we know and love from SCSI Systems. They use coprocessors on the RAID controller to offload some of the lower level drive operations from the CPU.

A few years ago, the Linux folks (Note: Someone else may have started this, I first saw it on Linux) started futzing with software RAID. The concept was simple, use a kernel lever drive to emulate Hardware RAID.

There are several inexpensive SATA RAID controllers available today. Many of them on the mobo. I would not be surprised to find that a software based RAID configuration did not improve performance by much. It will tax the CPU and general be more work to get the data off than a true hardware solution.

Disk access is usually the bottleneck for overall processing speed. It's why we still have mainframes in use today. They kick ass at moving data around on DASD. Offloading some of the disk processes to a RAID controller and adding more spindles to the mix should generally improve performance on any system. It may not be enough of an improvement to justify the cost, and hassle though...

As always, your mileage may vary.

nudone · « **Reply #61 on:** December 22, 2005, 01:43 AM »

will i be going for raid on the next pc i build - it looks doubtful doesn't it. but then again, i've yet to really put things to any kind of test so maybe i'll be pleasantly surprised - even if this raid 0 knocks a few seconds of loading in a few programs or booting windows i'll be happy. such is the length of time i spend in front of the computer any kind of speed increase will be appreciated.

roll on the day that solid state data storage becomes the norm (or whatever it will be called).

nudone · « **Reply #62 on:** December 22, 2005, 04:27 AM »

i was wondering about whether to keep the two 19" crt monitors i've already got or buy a new LCD 21" widescreen or maybe even buy two 19" LCDs instead.

i've solved the problem - just ordered one of these 'Eizo s2410w 24" widescreen LCD monitor' http://www.eizo.com/...lcd/S2410W/index.asp.

the actual visible display area is an insane 518.4mm × 324.0 mm.

i've been told that there's a 99% chance it will be here tomorrow - can't really see that happening but if it does you'll hear me screaming my head off with glee.

brotherS · « **Reply #63 on:** December 22, 2005, 04:46 AM »

i was wondering about whether to keep the two 19" crt monitors i've already got or buy a new LCD 21" widescreen or maybe even buy two 19" LCDs instead.

i've solved the problem - just ordered one of these 'Eizo s2410w 24" widescreen LCD monitor' http://www.eizo.com/...lcd/S2410W/index.asp.
-nudone (December 22, 2005, 04:27 AM)

Nice!

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #64 on:** December 22, 2005, 04:58 AM »

i've solved the problem - just ordered one of these 'Eizo s2410w 24" widescreen LCD monitor' http://www.eizo.com/...lcd/S2410W/index.asp.
-nudone (December 22, 2005, 04:27 AM)

You married?? I'm looking for somebody rich!

OO I forgot - you aren't any more.

This is going to be one nice beastie of a machine when you've finished ...

nudone · « **Reply #65 on:** December 23, 2005, 04:14 AM »

the new monitor arrived this morning. not actually turned it on yet. but the scale of it is amazing.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #66 on:** December 23, 2005, 05:20 AM »

Wow - that is big! You aiming for a video wall?

mouser · « **Reply #67 on:** December 23, 2005, 05:31 AM »

looks great except for that big white bumper sticker on it - i hope that's removable.

nudone · « **Reply #68 on:** December 23, 2005, 06:57 AM »

i daren't turn it on to be honest - whilst i leave it unplugged i've no idea how many dead pixels are going to be on the screen. not sure what i'll do if there are a few.

Innuendo · « **Reply #69 on:** December 23, 2005, 10:47 AM »

nudone,
You should have examined the manufacturer's/seller's dead pixel policy before you bought that puppy.

For example, Dell has an excellent policy in that regard. They will exchange the monitor till you are happy with it...even if there is only one dead pixel.

Fortunately, dead pixels are starting to become a rare problem as manufacturers get the kinks out of their manufacturing processes.

nudone · « **Reply #70 on:** December 23, 2005, 02:30 PM »

i'm happy to report that all is well with the new monitor - it almost made me weep when i saw it spring into life. having a quick go on 'far cry' almost made me orgasm (not joking).

anyone considering this sort of monitor should just bite the bullet and get one - i can only liken it to sitting in front of a cinema screen. it makes all LCD televisions look like a complete joke - and i mean ALL. comparing it to a plasma screen doesn't do it any kind of justice either.

look, just sell the kids or remortgage the house and go and buy one - this really is the future of entertainment.

mouser · « **Reply #71 on:** December 23, 2005, 07:31 PM »

rofl

an alternative strategy: just keep saving up and tell yourself that the longer you wait to upgrade, the more wonderful the feeling will be when you finally do.

nudone · « **Reply #72 on:** December 24, 2005, 03:30 AM »

well, these things are going to be a lot cheaper by this time next year. i didn't realise Dell were doing a 24" monitor too, looks like they are going to be everywhere soon.

brotherS · « **Reply #73 on:** December 24, 2005, 07:50 AM »

i didn't realise Dell were doing a 24" monitor too
-nudone (December 24, 2005, 03:30 AM)

https://www.donation...91.msg11988#msg11988

You must have been quite busy shopping for all those PC parts

nudone · « **Reply #74 on:** December 24, 2005, 07:56 AM »

well, it took about a week to work out what i wanted - most of the guess work was done from just reading the star rated products in various magazines. then i bought the whole lot from one computer shop except for the monitor which i ordered online.