upgrading my computer. any advise?

[ironchef]

Yea hp pavilion only has 1tb hdd. Im going to google the difference between ssd and hdd. Im looking at a barebones kit from tigerdirect. Which comes with both ssd and a hdd. How does that work? Can i set up a raid 1 or raid 0 o it. Or can i add extra ssd or hdd to setup a nas within the computer? Or should i save up for a seperate nas? I would wait for a seperate setup. But if this barebones kit supports it. Why not?

 

[CropMarks]

Anyone looking to expand to 3+ monitors, I've found a great little tool by HIS that lets you go beyond 2 monitors pretty dang easy. I was thinking about getting a more expensive video card (like something with eyefinity) then I came across this for $45 and it works like a charm. I was really skeptical about buying this, but it turned out great.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815136004

I buy all my stuff through newegg and have never had any issues. I build all my own computers (6 of the 9 machines I built myself) - waaaaayyyy cheaper than buying anything already built.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Anyone looking to expand to 3+ monitors, I've found a great little tool by HIS that lets you go beyond 2 monitors pretty dang easy. I was thinking about getting a more expensive video card (like something with eyefinity) then I came across this for $45 and it works like a charm. I was really skeptical about buying this, but it turned out great.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815136004

I buy all my stuff through newegg and have never had any issues. I build all my own computers (6 of the 9 machines I built myself) - waaaaayyyy cheaper than buying anything already built.

I like my Sapphire card way too much. Looks pretty cool, but I enjoy the video card a lot.

But it helps that my video card was on sale when I got it though. That helped with going to the more expensive card. I think they had one card that could support 9 HDMI inputs. That's just way too many monitors. My desk is filled up with 3 as it is.

 

[CropMarks]

I have had good luck with the cheap sapphire cards that I've used. I really don't do "gaming".... so insane graphics aren't high on my list. I did learn to stay away from Zotac... it seems their capacitors like to mushroom. I did try my first SSD and man-o-man is that a world of difference! They keep coming down in price, which is cool (I got a sandisk 120GB sata II for around $100). I've had great luck with Biostar Motherboards. I'm still torn between AMD & Intel - I've used a bunch of both. AMD does have a A10 APU coming out that I want to try. My home machine has an AMD A8-3850 that is pretty great. My main work machine has a i5-2500 - really nice processor. fun nerd stuff

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I have had good luck with the cheap sapphire cards that I've used. I really don't do "gaming".... so insane graphics aren't high on my list.

I've never had luck with cheap anything, so I hunt for deals rather then try to get the cheap stuff. That's just me though.

I do quite a bit of gaming with this rig, a lot of streaming, but oddly enough my embroidery programs render in 3D and they are quite resource hogs. You would be surprised. But I like doing that on all 3 monitors at the same time and that's where it really comes in handy.

It just sucks when I have to use my laptop with the small Cintiq and I'm stuck with just 2 monitors. Once you get used to 3 it's hard to go back down. I don't think I could ever go back to 1 monitor on a laptop or computer. That would just be too much for me to bear.

 

[choucove]

Most of your basic Pavilion desktops do not have support for RAID in their BIOS, and if this is your first time upgrading and replacing out to an SSD I'd recommend to stay away from the RAID anyways. It really is something you should only do if you know why you need it and exactly what you're doing to set it up. RAID arrays on an integrated or onboard controller tend to fail very frequently as well.

I would recommend you keep the original hard drive from your Pavilion for storage (and you can boot up to it if you need as well) but install a 120 GB - 250 GB SSD for your boot drive and programs. They are very reasonably priced right now, and there are many step-by-step guides out there for upgrading to an SSD in your computer including the task of migrating or, ideally, reinstalling your Windows OS, optimizing settings to improve performance and longevity of your SSD, and transferring back necessary programs and data.

 

[ironchef]

Nice. Good advise. Thanks.... i will look for a ssd. Anyone know what the difference is? Or how to set it up?....i was askong about the internal raid setup for the next computer i want to buy. On the tigerdirect website. It says it supports raid. It has an ssd and a hdd. Its a barebones kit for just over a grand.

 

[SightLine]

For the most part, as choucove said you do not want to mess with "free" onboard RAID. It's generally a poorly implemented software RAID solution that is thrown in free as a feature on many motherboards. There is a reason it is free, its crap. A decent hardware RAID controller is a different story and is generally much more expensive than your entire motherboard, and also much more complex to implement correctly.

As far as SSD's go, check reviews on them. You want one that is current and has no issues. You also need Windows 7 as your operating system for a SSD to truly work with no intervention or add on programs for TRIM and garbage collection. Not going to try and explain what those are but on pretty much any lower version of Windows those can be done but generally require add on programs or other workarounds. Get a 120GB or larger SSD, that will be your boot drive where Windows is installed as well as the majority of your programs. The regular hard drive will be for bulk data storage like client files, and if you use your work computer for personal use then other crap like movies, music files, etc.

We started with SSD's a couple years ago with Intel 80GB G2 drives. Recently upgraded those to 256GB Crucial M4 ones for under $200 each. Not the absolute best SSD's out but it was an excellent deal and they are pretty darn good. Not one issue with them so far in a couple of months use and the extra space is nice. I changed the older Intel G2 ones over as secondary drives as a strictly dedicated swap and temp file drive. Plus these machines still have regular hard drives as well for bulk data storage.

To get the most performance you defintiley want a 64 bit OS - Windows 7 x64. A 32 bit OS cannot use any ram over 4GB.... plus Photoshop comes in a 64 bit version and now Illustrator does as well. Both can really scream with gobs of ram and a SSD for their temp files.

 

[ironchef]

Thanks sightline... i was only thinking of using the free raid as raid 0 for performance. But ill take you advice and wait to buy a separate nas. I have a win 7 64bit pavilion just put 16 gb of ram in it. So i will shop for a ssd. I just hope it isn't hard to transfer and do all i need to set it up. The barebones kit im looking at has the free raid. Only I'm looking at it because it can take 32 gb of ram, oh and i don't have any movies or songs. I use it just for work files. I wish there was a build your own barebones kit. Because some come with blueray. I don't need that. I just want alot of ram. An i5 or i7 processor, 1tb or so. Media reader,lots of usb ports, ethernet, no wifi card needed. Maybe some liquid cooling. Oh what's better a higher ghz i5 or a standard ghz i7?

 

[CropMarks]

I agree with SightLine & Choucove.... Get a 120GB or larger for your main drive to run your OS, programs, etc...and use your large regular hard drive as storage and backup. The only thing in my shop that I use my NAS (Network Attached Storage) which is basically a hard drive unit that is attached to our network in our network closet. It has 2 mirrored 2TB hard drives in it.

 

[SightLine]

This is the SSD i recently got.... this particular one includes the data transfer kit. You can get it without the data transfer kit as well for about $15 less. The kit includes everything you need to clone your existing windows install to it. Even at $225 or so it's a pretty good deal. They also have them in smaller capacities as well of course.

http://www.buy.com/prod/crucial-m4-...ive-ssd-with-data-transfer-kit/221150376.html

The speed difference going from a regualr hard drive to an SSD is the single most noticable speed difference you will ever see on your computer. It is truly jaw dropping the first time you boot it up and it gets to the Windows desktop in under 20 seconds.

 

[ironchef]

Sweeet. How do i know which one i need. Or that will work with my pc. When i bought the ram i just asked someone at the local pc store.

 

[CropMarks]

I love making my own "build a barebones kit on my own"..... I do all my shopping at newegg.... the things I like, I put in a "Temporary Wishlist" which adds up all the totals. I've never found a bundle that I liked, they've never really fit my needs. As far as i5, i7, etc... I always shop "bang for the buck". If I wanted to put something together right now, I would either get a ivy bridge i5 - or - an AMD FX-8120. I've never had overheating problems myself with stock coolers.... I'm not gaming or doing crazy rendering all the time. Here's a good site to compare chips: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

 

[choucove]

I can help you out with a custom setup of hardware if you wish, but I'd need to know a little more details to be able to make some suggestions. First off, what is your budget to work with on this computer? Are you looking to buy something mid-range that supports a ton of RAM and add-ins and grow into it, or just get something completely loaded right off the bat? What kind of software are you planning to use on the computer?

 

[ironchef]

Thanks cove. I'm down with that. I use omega 4.0 by gerber. And im going to buy x5 soon. I want to buy later in a nas and a switch. And network all my plotters and the mimaki. And centralize all my files and backup. Probably with raid 1. I want the ability to add 32 gb of ramor even 64 if you think its worth it. But 16 is fine for now. A gigabit ethernet for the nas. The usual connections. Usb. Sata. Card readers, Etc. Some liquid cooling maybe if its an easy setup. my budget is around a grand. I know i cant get it all. Just be setup for it all so important thing is the motherboard. A good graphics card. I don't watch movies or 3d rendering. But i don't want a cheapo gpu.a fast processor. I5 or i7. Still don't know the big difference... dvd writable. 1 tb. An ssd. Sata2 sata3?difference is?

 

[choucove]

Given the performance and features that you are looking for, you're probably going to be a little over $1,000 for your final budget for a good performance desktop system if you go with Ivy Bridge and the latest chipset platform. Here's the system we recently did:

- Intel Core i5-3570k 3.4 Ghz Quad-Core LGA1155 processor
- ASUS P8Z77-M PRO LGA1155 mATX motherboard
- Corsair Vengeance 16 GB (2 X 8 GB) DDR3 1600 CAS 9 memory
- Intel 520 Series 120 GB SATAIII SSD
- Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB 7,200 RPM SATAIII 64 MB Cache hard drive
- ASUS Radeon HD 6450 1 GB Silent LP PCI-Express 2.0 graphics card
- Corsair Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 power supply
- Lite-On DVD-Burner Black SATA
- Fractal Design Core 3000 ATX mid-tower chassis
- Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU cooler
- Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound
- Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OEM

Total Price: $1,175

I'd also recommend you taking a look at some possible upgrades including:

PNY Quadro 600 PCI-Express 2.0 Professional graphics card +$100
Corsair H80 Liquid CPU cooler +$60

If you're looking at a true workstation-grade system, including Xeon processors and workstation graphics while keeping the ability to run 32 GB to 64 GB of RAM, I'd suggest the HP Z210 or Z420 series of workstations for you. We don't normally do too much with pre-built systems, custom-built desktops are my specialty, but we recently worked with some of these computers and I am incredibly pleased with their quality, performance, and value. In fact, we will be using many more of these HP systems in the future I believe. You're looking at closer to $1,500 for a workstation-grade HP Z-series computer, but it really is quite a deal when you compare prices elsewhere stepping into the Xeon-based and Quadro-based workstation systems.

 

[ironchef]

How is xeon better then win 7? I thought xeon was for nas.

 

[SightLine]

Xeon is a processor, a bit of hardware like Pentium, Core i5, etc.... Windows is software - the operating system. Xeon processors are ultra high performance versions of the processors you know as Pentiums, Core i5, etc. Xeon processors are essentially unknown in "consumer" grade computers. You only see them in servers and professional workstations which are a totally different class of hardware than your typical computers.

 

[choucove]

SightLine is correct. The enterprise-class processors, such as the Intel Xeon and the AMD Opteron are built for the highest performance. These processors generally have specialized hardware features utilized in server and enterprise workstation environments (like high-end 3D rendering and architectural design) as well as offering greater efficiency, longevity, and greater clock-for-clock performance than their desktop counterparts.

Going to server-grade hardware also opens up the door to greater expandability, though at a greater cost. For instance, with server-grade hardware some platforms can run dual physical processors with upwards of eight, twelve, even sixteen cores per processor, and can support a much greater capacity of RAM than desktop systems. They are also generally built for better reliability and longevity in a high-demand and high-performance 24/7 work environment.

 

[ironchef]

Wow. That's more then i need guys. I'm on a budget also.