Most bang for buck...?

[Killerbob]

Hi,

I am eagerly awaiting my MP (2.8GHz, 2GB RAM, 8800GT, 500GB HD, 2xSuperDrives, Airport Card), and my 1TB Time Capsule. I have already received an Airport Extreme, an additional 8GB RAM, 2xSamSung SpinPoint F1 (750GB), as well as a Logitech Z5500 speaker system.

However, as I have decided to wait for the upgraded ACDs, I will stick to my ViewSonic VP201b for now. Hence, I have a few extra money to spend on upgrading somewhere, and I am wobbling in between:

1) An additional 8GB RAM
2) The Accusys 61000 Raid card (Raid0 on the 2xF1s)

The price is about the same (~400USD).

I will use the MP for ordinary office work, graphics-, and video editing, as well as playing games in Vista (yes, I am using Vista, and have been doing so very happily the last 20 months). What will give me the most tangible improvement? RAM or Raid?

 

[aaronw1986]

Doesn't sound to me like you need 16GB of RAM.

 

[tersono]

OS X will do RAID 0 and 1 in software, so you don't need a card to do it. However, RAID 0 is a very bad idea indeed as it effectively doubles your chances of losing data - if either drive fails, you lose the whole array.

If you're going to spend more money, I'd suggest buy two extra HDs and set yourself up with a couple of RAID 1 mirror arrays - that way you've got that extra level of data security

 

[Killerbob]

I have been using HW Raid0 for years on my PCs, and I will not put any data there, only applications, scratch disk etc. (I have a NAS for all the data.)

I understood that the SW based Raid0 is not nearly as good as a proper HW based one? ANd, there is a thread which explains how to set up the Accusys 61000 for hosting the OS as well.

 

[tersono]

I have been using HW Raid0 for years on my PCs, and I will not put any data there, only applications, scratch disk etc. (I have a NAS for all the data.)

I understood that the SW based Raid0 is not nearly as good as a proper HW based one? ANd, there is a thread which explains how to set up the Accusys 61000 for hosting the OS as well.

You can host the OS on software RAID too. Yes, hardware RAID 0 will be marginally faster on paper, but there's really very little perceptible difference in practice.

In addition - RAID 0 really only comes into its own if you ARE using it for data - it's commonly used for video / high-resolution audio where large amounts of data are being moved around. For simple launching of applications, the benefits are minimal.

 

[doubleohseven]

I would get the 8GB RAM instead of the graphics card- the one standard on the Mac Pro is good enough.

 

[aaronw1986]

I would get the 8GB RAM instead of the graphics card- the one standard on the Mac Pro is good enough.

You do realize they've already placed their order and have an additional 8GB of ram. Are you recommending that they not get the 8800, but then get 16GB of ram?

 

[Killerbob]

You can host the OS on software RAID too. Yes, hardware RAID 0 will be marginally faster on paper, but there's really very little perceptible difference in practice.

In addition - RAID 0 really only comes into its own if you ARE using it for data - it's commonly used for video / high-resolution audio where large amounts of data are being moved around. For simple launching of applications, the benefits are minimal.

This is different from PCs, where hosting the OS on a Raid0 array is much faster, as well as major applications, as well as of course a scratch disk.

I would use the Raid0 for exactly these things, but yu say this is only marginally faster on the MP?

 

[doubleohseven]

You do realize they've already placed their order and have an additional 8GB of ram. Are you recommending that they not get the 8800, but then get 16GB of ram?

Sorry, I didn't realise.