33 replies to this topic

[SilentPulse69]

I been thinking of getting a new PC for a while now and this is what I have come up with so far. Let me know what you guys think.

60GB SSD will have my OS and Office on it, while the 240GB SSD will have Games and Programs on it. I will be booting for my 60GB SSD.

Please, post any valid information that I could use.

Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V
CPU: Intel i7 3770
RAM: 16G Kit 1333 G.Skill Ripjaws-X
Boot HD: Sandisk SSD G25 Ultra 60G
Second HD: Sandisk SSD G25 Extreme 240GB
Graphics Card: Asus GTX570
Case: Antec 900
Power Supply: Coolermaster GX Power 750W

Edited by SilentPulse69, 19 June 2012 - 03:26 AM.

[7h3 n00b m4573r]

60GB SSD will have my OS and Office on it, while the 240GB SSD will have Games and Programs on it. I will be booting for my 60GB SSD.

Why not just consolidate it all on one SSD?

[way2lazy2care]

Why not just consolidate it all on one SSD?

It's actually cheaper if you want ~300 GB. SSD prices don't scale very linearly yet unfortunately 300GB is around 500 bucks, 240 is around 200-300 and 60 is around 100. Also programs will probably get written more frequently than the OS disk. As SSDs have a fixed number of writes it's probably better to get 2 separate ones that fit your needs for each disk rather than one that has to fit all the needs.

I also find that keeping windows away from Apps tends to keep things much tidier also.

[SilentPulse69]

Well, it's either 240GB SSD or 480 SSD lol there is no 300 SSD in Australia, weird I know.

Plus like the above said.. want to keep it separated..

[7h3 n00b m4573r]

Personally I'd keep it to one SSD for simplicity sake.
My preference would be put everything on one big partition, alternatively partition a larger SSD into OS and games.

[x_byakugan_x]

I'd save the money and do OS on SSD, other shit HDD.
That's what I did.
Whatever you do have an SSD for OS... I will never in my life build another computer without an SSD for the OS. So fucking nice.

Be sure to have only the SSD in the computer when running the first install.

[SilentPulse69]

I am.

But like I said.. I want my entire PC to run a lot quicker.. hence the SSD for programs and games too.

[way2lazy2care]

I'd save the money and do OS on SSD, other shit HDD.
That's what I did.
Whatever you do have an SSD for OS... I will never in my life build another computer without an SSD for the OS. So fucking nice.

Be sure to have only the SSD in the computer when running the first install.

You don't have to have just the SSD in, but there are a bunch of gotchas to it like moving your users and programs to the other drive, which was more difficult than you'd expect, but not super hard.

There's a bunch of good guides around for exactly what you want to keep separated taking into account reducing writes as much as possible for your OS drive.

[SilentPulse69]

Now you are confusing me haha.

Edited by SilentPulse69, 21 June 2012 - 03:33 AM.

[j type]

On the subject of using SSDs, here's a rather convenient little program, Steam Mover. It allows you to move steam game installations quickly and easily, so you can keep your main steam installation on your HDD and just move games over onto your SSD (for super-fast load times!!11) as and when you need to.

I haven't actually used it myself, as I'm still on HDDs (just waiting for the right time to pull the trigger on parts for my next rig), but it comes highly recommended.

[way2lazy2care]

On the subject of using SSDs, here's a rather convenient little program, Steam Mover. It allows you to move steam game installations quickly and easily, so you can keep your main steam installation on your HDD and just move games over onto your SSD (for super-fast load times!!11) as and when you need to.

I haven't actually used it myself, as I'm still on HDDs (just waiting for the right time to pull the trigger on parts for my next rig), but it comes highly recommended.

Why would you want to move your games around? Why not just have your game folder live on the SSD and never have to worry about over writing?

Now you are confusing me haha.

SSDs have a fixed number of writes in their lifetime before they start to die. There are some files in windows that get written to a lot. Users folders get written to a lot, but don't need really fast read times, so it's good to move them to a different drive to prolong the life of your SSD. Virtual memory is another one, and there's a couple other features that let you read faster from disks, but shorten the life of SSDs significantly.

[j type]

Why would you want to move your games around? Why not just have your game folder live on the SSD and never have to worry about over writing?

Because game files are massive nowadays and SSDs arent?

[way2lazy2care]

Because game files are massive nowadays and SSDs arent?

SSDs also have a limited number of writes. If you want to buy a new SSD every year to wait for the files to transfer before every game instead of after a game boots, then by all means.

[x_byakugan_x]

The money isn't worth it for games imo.
You wont get higher frames, just quicker load times for maps etc.
You can get an SSD big enough for OS and your most commonly used programs.

And yes after you get an SSD there are a few things you do to make the best use of it. There are really easy guides out there though on what to do, and you can skip out on things you don't want to. One of the most basic things is moving your pagefile/temp folders on to the HDD.
Heres what I used a few months ago, and I'm sure I skipped a bunch of steps.
http://thessdreview....tion-guide-2/2/

[7h3 n00b m4573r]

Virtual memory is another one, and there's a couple other features that let you read faster from disks, but shorten the life of SSDs significantly.

Windows 7 will detect that you're using an SSD and not put page file on it without you having to do a thing

Because game files are massive nowadays and SSDs arent?

OP wanted to put all games on SSD anyway

SSDs also have a limited number of writes. If you want to buy a new SSD every year to wait for the files to transfer before every game instead of after a game boots, then by all means.

You're not really keeping things in proportion here with your fear of limited write cycles. SSDs have wear balancing algorithms and spare space, plus the number of cycles is in hundreds of thousands. Realistically with normal use you'd have to run the SSD for at least 10 years before you start to see any issues, a lot of SSDs come with five year warranty anyway so if it wears out you get a new one free of charge

[x_byakugan_x]

My windows 7 didn't detect it was an SSD. I had to move temp/pagefiles to D manually

[way2lazy2care]

My windows 7 didn't detect it was an SSD. I had to move temp/pagefiles to D manually

Mine either

You're not really keeping things in proportion here with your fear of limited write cycles. SSDs have wear balancing algorithms and spare space, plus the number of cycles is in hundreds of thousands. Realistically with normal use you'd have to run the SSD for at least 10 years before you start to see any issues, a lot of SSDs come with five year warranty anyway so if it wears out you get a new one free of charge

The warranties are tricky though. For example, the intel one I believe only covers read/write speed, but not the size.

It really depends on the generation and manufacturer of the SSD though. When I was shopping for them people were using up their SSDs in under a year mostly just because of their users folders.

[j type]

Isn't pagefile activity mostly reads anyways? Or are you thinking more in terms of space-saving?

[Kazaii]

Why 16GB of 1333mhz ram? I'm guessing this is a gaming rig, not a workstation. Couldn't you settle for 8GB - 12 GB max of 1600mhz spec'd ram?

Why the 3770k if you're just gonna rock a 570? Do you intend to use Hyperthreading?

Why Coolermaster for your PSU and why the small case? Does this system fit exactly into your maximum budget? If so maybe you could spread the money a little better by settling for an i5 3570k (or a 2600k since it's so close to the 3770k), 1 SSD and a HDD You already have or can get for cheap as your storage. This is something I would recommend especially if you don't actually play that many games (to fill over a 120GB SSD).

What I do love:

The new Asus Z77 Boards. Dear lord, they are sexy. I just can't decide if I want the Sabertooth or the one up from the one you posted. The sabertooth is sexy and has great cooling but the Deluxe (for $40 more, wow) has the Dual band WiFi which acts as a DLNA and works very well with my Asus tablet (Transformer Prime) thanks to their app/software.

I'm officially an Asus fanboy, come at me world.

Overall, a great rig. Truly overkill for today's PC gaming world . Hopefully you decide to utilize some of those features by either movie render/editing, virtual machines, or something productive.

Edited by Kazaii, 25 June 2012 - 02:27 PM.

[SilentPulse69]

What do you guys recommend for the Power Supply? How much wattage and what brand?