In the quest to stave off obsolescence I added 2gb more of ram to the system (2x1gb). This presented a new challenge as the installed ram and the new ram had different ram timings. After a bunch of memory timing changes in the bios(trial and error), I was able to get the system to run with 3gb of ram in it. Nice. Very nice! But alas, the system ran that way for a bit over a year, then the additional 2gb of ram decided it could not longer be pressed to perform at the memory timings I had set for it. So the system is back down to 1gb of ram and I see the effects every time I launch CS4, Bridge and Lightroom. I also upgraded the video card to obtain openGL support. Without openGL support I could not take advantage of some of the new features in Photoshop CS4, including the content aware scaling.
During this time, processors, motherboards and ram have advanced to dual core, quad core and now six core processors, while 64-bit operating systems have been polished (win sp 64-bit to Vista 64-bit to Win 7 64-bit) and motherboard manufacturers, along with ram manufacturers have helped all of it work well together with better design and engineering.
The declining performance of my current system coupled with the large performance gains to be had using newer components has finally pushed me over the edge and forced me to build a new system once again.
So where do you start to build a system that will last (performance wise) and not be crushed by the continued advance of software technology?
I chose to build a system based on the Intel i7 920 quad core processor. This processor has a lot of room for over-clocking giving it a built-in edge against obsolescence to begin with. The motherboard also supports faster i7 processors, so over clocking is not the only way to increase performance. In addition Intel has recently released a 6-core processor that is supposed to be compatible with this motherboards chipset. However, at a projected retail price of more than $1000 dollars, I’ll be waiting quite a while for prices to drop…
To support the i7 920 processor I selected the ASUS P6T Deluxe version 2 motherboard. This you-tube video provided all the information necessary to persuade me.
Computer cases cover a wide range of prices, from the barely gets it done cookie cutter, almost cut your fingers off while building type, to the top end, well thought out, wish there were all designed with this much though type.
I chose to go with the latter. Here is part 1 of a video showing the Corsair 800D case being used for a system build.
Part 2 for those of you that are interested.
Okay. We have the case, motherboard and processor identified. How much ram should I feed it? Well, I’ve had issues before with building systems that wouldn’t handle all the ram the specs said without causing stability issues or failing to boot, but this time I think the industry finally “gets it” and has designed everything to work as expected. I settled on G. SKILL Ripjaws Series 24GB (6 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800). Yes, that’s 24gb of ram. As long as the motherboard doesn’t balk at running the full 24gb matched set of 4gb sticks, I’ll keep it set up that way.
Okay, so why 24 gb of ram? Why not 12gb or 6gb? The answer to this question lays in the intended use of the system. This is primarily going to be a Photoshop computer. Here is what Adobe has to say about ram usage on a Windows 7 64-bit system. For you Mac users out there, here is what Adobe has to say about optimizing performance for Photoshop CS5 and CS4.
So that settles that, for a 64-bit OS running 64-bit Photoshop, Photoshop will use “as much ram as you can fit into your computer.”
Next on the list of parts is the video card. Adobe's "List of tested graphics display cards for Photoshop CS4" includes the n Vidia 260 GTX 896MB. I went with the EVGA 260 GTX 896MB which utilizes the nVidia chipset. The motherboard I’ve selected for this build will support three of these video cards, but since this system is for Photoshop and not for gaming, additional video cards will have to wait.
When you build a system for speed, it only makes sense to use the faster hard drives available for the OS and programs. I chose to use the WD VelociRaptor WD6000HLHX with a 6gb/sec transfer rate and 32gb cache. It is not the fastest hard drive available, but it has an acceptable price for the performance offered. Of the VelociRaptor series, only the WD6000HLHX and the WD4500HLHX offer 6gb/sec transfer rates.
Here is the information on Western Digitals new SATA Solid State Drives. Interestingly enough, while there is a lot to like about a solid state drive, the performance specs say the interface burst speed is rated at 3 gb/sec, with a sustained read speed of “up to” 250 MB/sec. If you can only read data at 250 MB/sec, how do you transfer it at 3gb/sec? This data point is not provided in the specs for the 600gb VelociRaptor, so I have nothing to compare with. Interested in the cost per gigabyte for Western Digital's 256gb offering? Want to compare that to the cost per gigabyte for the 600 gb VelociRaptor. Current pricing puts the 256 gb SSD cost per gigabyte at $2.54 and the cost per gigabyte of the 600 gb VelociRaptor at .47 cents per gigabyte.
Data storage is something a photographer is always thinking about. To that end I’ll be installing a Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB drive. This gem sports a 3 gb/sec max transfer rate and uses less energy than the 600gb VelociRaptor, although not significantly enough, in my opinion, to warrant calling “Green” until you compare it to a WD Black Caviar drive. Currently .07 cents per gigabyte.
Whoa! Stop the presses! The next drive to take a look at is the Western Digital WD2001FASS, a 2 TB, SATA 3 Gb/sec, 64 MB Cache, 7200 RPM drive. A quick look at the specs shows that not only is the WD20EARS Green, it is very GREEN. The WD2001FASS is rated for read/write at 10.7 watts and idle for 8.2 watts compared to the Green drives 6 watts for read/write and 3.7 watts while idle. The more amazing part of all of this is the 600GB VelociRaptors read/write rating of 6.2 watts and idle rating of 4.3 watts.
As long as we are thinking about reducing the cost of the operating system, lets take a look at paying a little more for a drive and getting performance and power out of it. Western Digital has a line of Enterprise SATA Hard Drives. For comparisons sake, we'll only look at the WD RE4-GP, a 2TB green enterprise drive. This drive is rated at 6.8 watts for read/write and 3.7 watts when idle making it a clear winner over the WD2001FASS 2TB drive. Newegg lists is drive for $279.99 which comes in at 14 cents per GB vs. $229.00 for the 2TB Black Caviar drive (which is power hungry) which is currently at 11.5 cents per gigabyte. Pay a little more up front and pay less to operate the system.
I think the WD RE4-GP 2TB drives may be optimum for use in a backup device such as the Drobo, but may be more than I need for data storage in my system build. I hope to know more once I see how the WD20EARS performs. Reviews of the previous version (WD20EADS) indicated it ran hot.
Well, all these components need a power supply that can not only do the job, but ensure that I have power to spare for additional drives, fans and perhaps another video card. I selected a CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply This unit should be able to handle my components power needs quite handily.
I’m looking forward to assembling this system and will post additional information once I have it up and running.
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