Adding raptor drive, what to put on it?

[regeisle]

I'm planning to add a 74gig 10k raptor drive in the next couple weeks. Just wanted to know see what everyone thinks is the best way to benefit from it. My main goal is to speed up program loading and general overall performance. Right now I have a 120gig 7200rpm/8m buffer ide drive split into 3 partitions - 1 for xp pro, 1 for other program files (adobe & macromedia stuff, etc etc) and 1 for work files (large design and photo files mostly).

What I thought would work best is to split the raptor into 2 partitions - 1 for xp and 1 for programs, and devote the whole 120 drive to files/data. The only downside to this is a clean install of xp and apps, which I just did over the summer. Will that by far be the best overall performance booster, or would it be about as benefitial to put the data/work files on the raptor and speed them up some? I guess the real question is will THAT (2nd) approach only speed up the opening/closing/saving of files and do nothing else, whereas the 1st approach will speed up both XP boot, application startup and general speed when working in the apps?

Thanks in advance - Richard

 

[Alex81388]

The rapters definetely give you the best performance with OS core files on them. What you plan to do after that you won't see much difference. Games and most apps will run very much the same, as once they are pulled OFF the harddrive, they go into RAM and its all done from there.

Just make sure you put your OS on the drive, maybe some programs but when I had my raptor there wasnt a huge increase. Don't waste it on files, you have the right idea.

(Boot-up will be the most affected).

 

[regeisle]

so based on your experience, is the only benefit xp boot times? right now i'm only at about 30 seconds, so maybe it's not worth it. maybe you could recommend something then...

my biggest issue i'm trying to fix is when working with a large file, say 200mb+, in photoshop and any action at all takes a few seconds to process - a simple eraser, paintbrush, etc. It's not unbearable, but when there's a lot of work to do, it more than doubles my time.

My specs below are all the same expect for another gig added (2g total) of Kingston ValuRam (which I went with because I was told lower latency ram isn't really needed unless you're a gamer). I'm waiting on a processor upgrade (dual core) until more apps start supporting it. Think there's a fairly inexpensive solution right now, or just wait out for a more thorough upgrade along with the cpu?

I have a gfx card upgrade in the near future since i'm bumping up to the 24" dell lcd, and my current card won't support the rez.

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[Alex81388]

Thanks for describing your problem before the upgrade.

CNTRL + ALT + DEL for us and tell use HOW many processes you have running (lower left), and your CPU usage (right next to it).

::: Couldn't stay for your response this time, but my bet is you have a bunch of programs in the background.

You shouldnt have more than 35 process max, no matter how many 'visual' programs and media **** you have open in windows, and if you do, you can bet they are hoging resources.

Get back to us and I'm sure we can help you out. That HD won't help this issue much though.

 

[regeisle]

thanks man

here it is: http://urlci.com/6e9637

42 processes at the time, 8% cpu usage. i keep a pretty close watch on startup programs and running processes, and this is probably on the high end (there's 4 'extra' adobe processes running toward the bottom of the list, but they go away when i shut down photoshop and illustrator, no both running). i've gone through the whole black viper list and really only have running what needs to be, for whatever difference that makes.

i have an idea - go ahead and send me your 64-fx and i'll test it out for a few weeks. lol, jk.

any thoughts? as i said, it's not unbarable but i feel i have a powerful enough system that it should be able to handle a large digital file without too much of a sweat, especially when i only have 1 or 2 apps running.

thanks again

Richard

 

[EndofSanity]

Dont make multiple partitions, Just simply put xp and games/programs on your Raptor while having all of your other files/data on your other one.

 

[Alex81388]

Well for one, firfox is using a TON of resources in that pic.

But, I'm sure you could get rid of some of those processes, even if they aren't using all that much.

Let me put it this way - a new harddrive, no matter how fast, isn't going to help all that much. While a new CPU, and usually ram will.

If you are set on getting a new harddrive I suggest looking for one with a largest CACHE than RPM. This would especially beneifit those beefy files of yours.

hope it helps will check back later.

 

[regeisle]

thanks guys. i'm not at all set in stone on a new hd - i just saw the 74 gig raptor on sale for 99 bucks (AR) at tigerdirect and figured it might give a boost.

i'm more just trying to figure out if any upgrade under $250 is worth it right now. we seem to be at an in-between with processors, where dual cores are the future but not too much takes advantage of them yet (ior maybe i'm a few weeks behind with news) and since they're new, the price tag is still steep. do you think getting some better/faster ram would zip things up a bit, or is it better to just sit tight? also, any guess as to why firefox was up that high? i only had 2 or 3 tabs open at the time and didn't have anything fancy loaded up.