It's that time again...
I built my current desktop computer back in January of 2008, and you know that for us geeks, any system over three years old is obsolete. Though this PC might be an exception; it's been the best one I've ever built... Of course, it could just seem that way because before I built it, I used an incredibly crappy Compaq.
So what do I want to do? Well, right now here's what I've figured out.1) A solid state OS drive of at LEAST 128GB. I only have experience with SSDs on portable products (iPad, etc.), but I hear they're the way to go these days. What I'd like to do is partition it to where I would be able to dual boot into both Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. It's been SO long since I used a Mac operating system... Mid-90s, I'd say. The old Performa 6200! Man, that thing sucked. But Macs have come a long way since then, and I'd like to give them another try. Still, the dual boot is important to me... Gotta have Windows 7 on there.
2) 4TB RAID5 Hard Drive Configuration. This is why I don't care if my SSD is small or not (pause while mid-90s me laughs at 2011 me considering 128GB to be small). I'll have 4TB of hard drive space. RAID5 is pretty cool, and I've been learning more about it lately. Basically, I'll have three 2TB hard drives networked together. RAID5 ensures that data is written in such a way that if one drive ever fails, all you'll need to do is switch it out and you won't lose any data. The sacrifice is that you lose hard drive space - even though I'll have 6TB of space, I'll only be able to use 4TB. But come on... 4TB!? More than enough space! (Pause while future me laughs at 2011 me).
3) Intel processor. I've done the AMD thing for my past three computer builds. They're good, cheap processors. But this time, I want the best. And I've heard it's much easier to do the Mac/PC dual boot with an Intel processor - something about the kernel for AMD processors being a bit buggy. I definitely want to go quad-core this time around, but I don't want to go crazy and drop $1,000 for the latest and greatest. I looked at NewEgg and they have some Intel quad-core i7's for around $300 or so.
That's all I have for now... Not much, I know. But I do need to plan and budget accordingly. In the meantime, I have a bunch of Amazon.com gift certificates and was thinking about going ahead and picking up the three 2TB hard drives. My current computer's motherboard actually supports RAID5, so it would be nice to get that configuration going. If anyone has any suggestions for what I might need for this new super-PC, please tell me! I feel a little blind at the moment.
So what do I want to do? Well, right now here's what I've figured out.1) A solid state OS drive of at LEAST 128GB. I only have experience with SSDs on portable products (iPad, etc.), but I hear they're the way to go these days. What I'd like to do is partition it to where I would be able to dual boot into both Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. It's been SO long since I used a Mac operating system... Mid-90s, I'd say. The old Performa 6200! Man, that thing sucked. But Macs have come a long way since then, and I'd like to give them another try. Still, the dual boot is important to me... Gotta have Windows 7 on there.
2) 4TB RAID5 Hard Drive Configuration. This is why I don't care if my SSD is small or not (pause while mid-90s me laughs at 2011 me considering 128GB to be small). I'll have 4TB of hard drive space. RAID5 is pretty cool, and I've been learning more about it lately. Basically, I'll have three 2TB hard drives networked together. RAID5 ensures that data is written in such a way that if one drive ever fails, all you'll need to do is switch it out and you won't lose any data. The sacrifice is that you lose hard drive space - even though I'll have 6TB of space, I'll only be able to use 4TB. But come on... 4TB!? More than enough space! (Pause while future me laughs at 2011 me).
3) Intel processor. I've done the AMD thing for my past three computer builds. They're good, cheap processors. But this time, I want the best. And I've heard it's much easier to do the Mac/PC dual boot with an Intel processor - something about the kernel for AMD processors being a bit buggy. I definitely want to go quad-core this time around, but I don't want to go crazy and drop $1,000 for the latest and greatest. I looked at NewEgg and they have some Intel quad-core i7's for around $300 or so.
That's all I have for now... Not much, I know. But I do need to plan and budget accordingly. In the meantime, I have a bunch of Amazon.com gift certificates and was thinking about going ahead and picking up the three 2TB hard drives. My current computer's motherboard actually supports RAID5, so it would be nice to get that configuration going. If anyone has any suggestions for what I might need for this new super-PC, please tell me! I feel a little blind at the moment.