Queries on SSD, Flashdrive, Soundcard and Keyboard

Buggaton

Buggaton

Buggaton

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25 Oct 2009
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I'm in possession of a great gaming PC but I'm looking at getting a number of accessories and stuff because my system isn't optimal yet. I have a 5.1 logitech surround sound that with my on board realtek soundcard doesn't seem to want to function properly. So my first question is:

1) What soundcard would be best for a Logitech X-540?

The PC has a 920 i7 in it, as you know a Quadcore with Hyperthreading(?) so it's got something like 8 cores in it? I don't know. It's also sporting an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 and 6GB of healthy RAM. Regrettably the person who built this PC decided to put Windows XP 32 bit Home Edition on it. I'm going to acquire a copy of Windows 7 64 bit (Ultimate) but I quite like having XP on the machine so I was just going to leave it on my HDD (1TB). I've been told that a computer running with all of the above (win7) would welcome an SSD for the OS to run on.

2) What SSD would be good to get for this purpose? Would I need one larger than 64GB? Games run fast enough when installed on the HDD that I don't think I'd need to store any media or games on it at all.

3) What programs IS it worth running/storing on an SSD and for a computer user who mostly only plays games and watches movies etc is there actually much point in one at all? I don't NEED any extra speed, my computer is already a monster but is the difference in performance for various things big enough that I would want one?

I've heard about harddrive thrashing and how it's very bad for SSDs because they have a lesser ability to handle multiple writes to the drive. Using a flashdrive (16-32GB) as RAM I've been told aids this if you have a USB2 or USB3 port in your Motherboard.

4) Is it worth the small price for a flashdrive? Which drive would be best suited for this purpose? (I own an external 1TB drive so movable storage isn't an issue)

Lastly my keyboard is just fine but I'm all nuts about gadgets.

5) Can someone recommend me a comfortable and responsive keyboard. I use a logitech MX-518 mouse if that makes any difference. NON-Wireless!

Since I ended up getting a computer from a friend I want to finish optimising it with Overclockers so please don't recommend anything from any other company/website as I've great faith in their customer support from previous experience and want to reward them with my loyalty. Cheers in advance! :D
 
Buggaton said:
1) What soundcard would be best for a Logitech X-540?

2) What SSD would be good to get for this purpose?

3) What programs IS it worth running/storing on an SSD

4) Is it worth the small price for a flashdrive?

5) Can someone recommend me a comfortable and responsive keyboard.
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1) The Xonar cards are all excellent, pick one depending on how much you want to spend.

2) You've already said your PC is fast enough, so do you really need one? If you do then this one has quite impressive read/write speeds.

3) Operating system and games really, I think if you're doing a lot of heavy graphical/video work then some people use it for that too.

4) Personally I wouldn't bother with the flash drive idea. Just using the SSD will be fine.

5) Logitech G11 or G15 if you're a gamer. :)
 
OK firstly you need to give a budget for your purchases, its very hard to advise you what to look out without one

Secondly re sound card Id look at one of the asus xonar D series, depending on budget and whether youre gonna want PCI or PCI-E, these are your best bet

Re SSD, if your PC is fast enough then I wouldnt bother, Ive got an Intel X25M and its nice but if youre happy as you are its a lot of money for something you dont think you need to improve. re the thrashing of them I dont think its as big an issue as people make out, you got to really use em constantly to start getting near their life expectancy, its not an issue for most ppl so I wouldnt worry

Never bothered with the flash drive for RAM because again I dont use any RAM intensive programs, 4-6 gig is still plenty adequate for most peoples needs

Youll get a 101 different bits of advice re comfortable keyboard, but whats comfortable for one person isnt necessarily comfortable for another, the fact you have MX518 mouse doesnt make any difference but if it were me Id get a logitech kb, just so they match, lol
 
1) I second Xonar. I'd avoid creative Bloatware like the plague it is.
2) You don't really need a super fast SSD. I'd get a Intel 40GB, a 64GB Crucial C300, the Vertex 2E 64GB, or the Intel X25-M 80GB, depending on your budget.

With low capacity, you'll have to be careful what you install on it, as it will fill up pretty quick (windows will take 20GB to function).

Once you try a SSD, I doubt you'll go back to HD in a hurry. It makes everything smooth and responsive. IMO, worth the £150 investment.

I'd just store windows on it, and stuff like Chrome, Word, Acrobat Reader, your favorite software, maybe one or two of your favorite games. I'd leave about 10 gigs if possible, and put the rest (Steam, ...) on HD. The primary benefit will be memory paging, windows loading and unloading, all programs on the SSD will load a lot quicker, so that's your priority right there, what you want to load quick, and how much memory they take and leave you with.

I'd also be careful with what goes on the User folder (My documents, My pictures, My Crap...), where the garbage can, and the temp folders go. Windows is just not very tidy!
 
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Thanks for all the advice Redmint, 94thwaterpistols and Olivier Renault. I'll be getting a Xonar card and I'll look into their merits and stock list myself before jumping into a purchase.

Last think about the SSD; would I put my firewall, antivirus and other background programs on there or would they be just as well suited to the HDD since they're mostly just sitting in the RAM all the time anyway?

I think everyone has answered all of my other queries but I had one more about the Flashdrive.

96thShotguns said:
Never bothered with the flash drive for RAM because again I dont use any RAM intensive programs, 4-6 gig is still plenty adequate for most peoples needs
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What constitute RAM intensive programs? I have 6 gigs and I doubt I'd NEED more than that. I'm just worried about some of the games I play which have horrible memory leaks. I don't want them screwing up my sexy SSD, but if people think there's no cause for concern in this area then please let me know. I primarily game and stream and download. Not much else.
 
why win 7 ultimate? windows home retail should be all you need really unless you are running 16 gb ram or are very very heavy into networking tools.
 
SSDs are more of a luxury item if you would imagine that your i7/etc are essential. It's not needed but it is nice to have things load up instantly. I got the one Redmint linked yesterday and it has made a big improvements to load times. So if you have the money and are thinking of reinstalling Windows anyway I would say go for it. I wouldn't have considered an SSD if I wasn't upgrading and only bought it at the last minute as I didn't want to have to reinstall Windows. :P

To what programs to put on. I put the basic programs on there. Office, firefox, iTunes, along with some games just so I could see how quick it is. :)
 
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