About to splurge...

Fanaticjam · 16 Sep 2012 at 15:57

About to buy this lot; got some Q's about it and any suggestions are welcome! Just waiting to hear back from OcUK about returning a bunch of SSD's before throwing more money at em'

This is to upgrade my current system :

i5 @4.3
Z68AP-D3 mobo
Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer 8GB (soon to be doubled to 16GB)
Antec TruePower New 650W Modular PSU
EVGA 460GT SC 1GB
Samsung SATA II 2TB HDD
64GB M4 SSD

The new HDD will be going in a external caddy for backing up my data.
The new SDD's will be in Raid 0 and will be used only for program installs. All music/photography/etc will be on Data drive.
I will move the existing OS SSD to the PCI card as the mobo lacks support for so many SATA III devices. I'm intending to upgrade the mobo when intel launches new chips and mobo chipsets, so want a cheap option till then.

So, my questions are:
1. Will I have any issues running OS from a PCI controller?
2. Is raid easy to set up? And I heard there was some piece of software you need to run on SSD's to make sure they stay working well, no idea what it was called; does anyone know what I'm thinking of, and will it have issues with RAID SSD's?
3. How is best to set up an external backup? Do I need to purchase some software or does windows have something for it?(Like RAID, it'll be a first for me!)
4. Is there a way to move my programs folder from my 2TB to the raid ssd's without creating a **** ton amount of errors? The folder is near 400gb I think, so I REALLY don't want to have to reinstall it all..
5. Is it worth switching the current 2TB drive to backup and having the new one as main? (I believe it's faster..)

I think that is all, thanks!

Fanaticjam · 17 Sep 2012 at 10:42

Anyone able to answer any of my questions? o_O

Gav_881 · 17 Sep 2012 at 11:21

1. Will I have any issues running OS from a PCI controller?

pass, but i doubt it, i have a server at work thats running on a Raid 0 hosted on a PCIe come to think of it. you have to load 3rd party drivers sometimes though.

2. Is raid easy to set up? And I heard there was some piece of software you need to run on SSD's to make sure they stay working well, no idea what it was called; does anyone know what I'm thinking of, and will it have issues with RAID SSD's?

TRIM keeps SSD's together and most of the new gen come with it. raid its soooooooo easy to set up just follow the step by step instructions that come with your hardware.

3. How is best to set up an external backup? Do I need to purchase some software or does windows have something for it?(Like RAID, it'll be a first for me!)

windows has software for it, backup is part of the OS.

4. Is there a way to move my programs folder from my 2TB to the raid ssd's without creating a **** ton amount of errors? The folder is near 400gb I think, so I REALLY don't want to have to reinstall it all..

use windows backup to make an image and then put it onto the new drive, remember to re-letter the drive so the paths match. or use steammover to create junction files that move all the data but still point the PC to the correct folder.

5. Is it worth switching the current 2TB drive to backup and having the new one as main? (I believe it's faster..

Yup if you have a spare SATA 3 port.

Fanaticjam · 17 Sep 2012 at 11:31

Thanks for your response!

Simply moving the folder then switching the drive letters will work?! I was thinking of that but thought it'd probably fail! Steam mover looks really handy too, will give that a blast.

No spare SATA 3 port, but I think it has a larger buffer, no idea how much difference I'd notice with that though..

TRIM was the one! Thanks again