# Building new pc help



## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

I want it to be able to play modern games well and to have no troubles with a really big display. I also need to edit high quality photos. I've been researching a lot about computer parts and how everything works together but it's a lot to process and if I could get some suggestions or something from somebody who has more experience then me in this field, I would appreciate it. Here's what I have in mind right now. I can spend a few hundred dollars more or something if needed. 

Rosewill THOR V2-White Edition, THOR V2-W Gaming ATX Full Tower Computer Case, support up to E-ATX / XL-ATX, come with Four Fans - Retail - Newegg.com
Western Digital VelociRaptor WD5000HHTZ - Newegg.com
CORSAIR HX Series HX750 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 - Newegg.com
ASUS P8Z77-V LK ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS - Newegg.com
Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K - Newegg.com

Any help is much appreciated. Maybe some of these parts don't work together or even fit. I'm not sure I've really just started researching today. But I plan on getting it within my next 2 paychecks. I want it to be fast and reliable. And I'm willing to spend extra money for it. 

Wanna use it with this dislpay 

Amazon.com: Dell UltraSharp U3011 30" Monitor: Computers & Accessories

Again, I really appreciate any feedback. Tell me it's a horrible idea to get some of this stuff idc.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

Pass on the Corsair Psu, it made by CWT, a very poor maker. Go with this one instead:
SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com
Everything else is fine though I bet you can find a Cooler Master white case that is a better case for less $.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

Here is a Thermaltake who also makes a nice quality case for the same $:
Newegg.com - Thermaltake Overseer RX-I Snow Edition VN700M6W2N White Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
and a Cooler Master for a bit more:
COOLER MASTER Storm Stryker SGC-5000W-KWN1 Black and White Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Newegg.com

Rosewill is Newegg in house brand and my only problem with them is no clue who really makes them.


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

Thank you very much for the input. I really appreciate it.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

No problem I am sure some others will add their 2 cents in time.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

Only thing that jumps out at me: No graphics card. You may rely on the Intel HD graphics IGP for documents/internet, but it will be severely lacking in a gaming system.


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

Woops, dunno how that didn't get in there. Here it is. 

EVGA 02G-P4-2680-KR GeForce GTX 680 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Newegg.com

Not sure if the video card should be the most expensive part. I want it to be fast and responsive regardless of the high resolution on my monitor.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Drop the RAM to a 2x4GB matched pair.
Raptor HDD's are overpriced for the small advantage over a 7200RPM Hdd.

You'll want to be at 620W minimum with a good quality PSU for the GTX 680.

SeaSonic S12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com

XFX Core Edition PRO650W (P1-650S-NLB9) 650W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com

Modular
SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com

XFX P1-650X-XXB9 650W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

Well about the only thing left I heavily disagree with Tyree on is the Raptor hard drive which I have proven to myself is worth its weight in gold so you have to decide that one, I never build without them. One time I tried using 2 WD Black Label 64 meg cache hard drives as everyone advises and after a few months I went back to Raprtor for main drive and the difference was incredibly noticeable!


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

500GB Raptor- $150
500GB WD Black- $85
Both 64MB Cache & 5 yr. warranty.
Your money-your choice.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

Sometimes you have to try a little harder, try $129 and free freight:
New Western Digital Velociraptor WD5000HHTZ 500GB 10000 RPM Bare Hard Drive 718037788074 | eBay


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

I posted I want that 750w power supply. But I will look for a better pcu if it will ensure my graphics card is being used to it's full potential. And I was thinking 16gigs of ram because I use a lot of layers of high quality pictures in Photoshop. And I don't like being limited. But maybe 8gigs is enough. Thanks a lot for the feedback by the way.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

750W is overkill but it won't hurt anything as long as it's a good quality unit. i.e. SeaSonic or XFX.
8GB of RAM should be sufficient for your posted application.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Rich-M said:


> Sometimes you have to try a little harder, try $129 and free freight:
> New Western Digital Velociraptor WD5000HHTZ 500GB 10000 RPM Bare Hard Drive 718037788074 | eBay


I do not do or recommend ebay. :smile:


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

Maybe I'll get a 700w then. The graphics card is mostly what makes sure I can fluently play on high resolutions right? And the pcu. And a little bit of everything I guess. But it will be at 2560x1600 for a 30" monitor. Purhapse that isn't a big deal.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

Tyree said:


> I do not do or recommend ebay. :smile:


Your choice, but its only money! You are aware BTW that your favorite online store Newegg sells for less on eBay than they do on their site in addition to 
Tiger Direct, Gear XS, Staples, Office Max, BestBuy, Amazon.com, 3B Tech, B&H Camera and Adorama Camera, Overstock.com and so many more!


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

There are no top quality PSU's at 700W. SeaSonic & XFX come at 620-650-750W.


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

Ok. I'll get the xfx 650 you posted then.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Good choice and it will be plenty.


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## Vadigor (Apr 19, 2009)

At that resolution the GTX 680 may be the recommended buy, though I'd still opt for a cheaper GTX 660 myself. At 2560x1600, the 660 will struggle to maintain 60 FPS in the latest games, though it's still playable. If you have the money and want the performance stay with the 680.
EDIT: I just saw the price of that monitor. If you've got that kind of cash to burn you'll want to get the 680.

The i7 is overkill for games where an i5 3570 will do just fine. However, if you routinely use expensive filters in Photoshop the i7 may be worth it. The AMD FX-8350 is a low budget alternative but less recommended for single-threaded use such as gaming.

Even with multiple layers in high resolution you're unlikely to need more than 8GB, but RAM is cheap so go for 16GB.

With your budget, I'd recommend an SSD like the Samsung 840 250GB over the Raptor drive, unless you need the extra 250GB. A dedicated SSD for your photos is also an option.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

I agree with everything Vadigor said.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

An SSD, faster boot/access times for a very premium price, is an option but even a lesser value than a Raptor. 
RAM is cheap but 16GB is most likely overkill. Why spend extra money on something you can't use regardless of the price?


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

Thanks a lot for the input Vadigor. Ya I think I want a SSD. I have a 2tb external hard drive with usb 3.0 and plan to keep my pics and videos on that. So I don't need much on my pc.

Ya I do a lot on photoshop and these pics are very high quality with a lot of layers needing to be used. But I might just stick to 8gb ram if it really isn't necessary to have 16. I would like this pc to last the next few years though.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

> Ya I think I want a SSD. I have a 2tb external hard drive with usb 3.0 and plan to keep my pics and videos on that. So I don't need much on my pc.


That is almost what I do though I don't trust any hard drives over 1 Tb for stability but I use extra internal drives which I think are much more reliable than usb external drives, inside the tower and then get away with a 128 gb ssd drive for OS and programs.



> Ya I do a lot on photoshop and these pics are very high quality with a lot of layers needing to be used. But I might just stick to 8gb ram if it really isn't necessary to have 16. I would like this pc to last the next few years though.


I am a retried photographer so I think you may have hit the one area where even if you don't fully utilize the ram today a time will come with Photoshop where 16 Gb may well be desirable so I would leave the ram if I were you.


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

It's really scary thinking something might happen to that external hard drive. My old pc completely broke. Went to get it fixed and they said nothing could be done. So everything I had was put on that hard drive. I have years of pics on it.

My old pc was ok. It got things done but I purchased it pre-built. And I would like to know more about what's going on with my computer.

An internal drive plus a small SSD sounds a lot more satisfying if it will keep my files safe. It just sounded convenient to use the external drive I already have.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

jonoj said:


> It's really scary thinking something might happen to that external hard drive. My old pc completely broke. Went to get it fixed and they said nothing could be done. So everything I had was put on that hard drive. I have years of pics on it.
> 
> My old pc was ok. It got things done but I purchased it pre-built. And I would like to know more about what's going on with my computer.


That is exactly why you need more than 1 backup of what is important to be safe. Most simple drive crashes are easy to recover data on though with various versions of Recovery Software but why chance it? I just have always been leery of external drives because they are dependent on conversion chipsets that are crap first of all, and when they corrupt they easily can destroy everything on the drive so I prefer using direct internal drives and the odds of 3 internal drives all going at once are so slim, unless of course you have poor power surge protection and have a lightening strike. If I had a quarter for every forum post that starts out "my usb external drive says format is raw and I need to format it" or "my usb hard drive is not recognized by my laptop", I wouldn't have to work!


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

Then I think I will get a 1tb internal drive and like a 200gb ssd for my pc. And I'll just keep large video files and tv shows on my external. I would hate to have to deal with that. Those pics are important.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

jonoj said:


> Then I think I will get a 1tb internal drive and like a 200gb ssd for my pc. And I'll just keep large video files and tv shows on my external. I would hate to have to deal with that. Those pics are important.


Sounds good to me but then its what I do and I have to say I have yet to lose anything this way whereas I have external drives and every few years one goes away but I only use them for second and third instances of backup, never to depend on. Most mid size towers can hold at least 2 or 3 extra drives and most motherboards have at least 4 sata connections, separate from the raid sata connections. I also make image files of my system,s every few weeks and store those on internal hard drives as well as using file backup software that backs up all important files also to extra internal hard drives and I have been doing something like this for over 15 years now. I use "Acronis True Image 2012" for image files and "Handy Backup" to synchronize important files. You cannot be careful enough these days.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The best option for an external Hdd is to purchase a standard Hdd and install it in an external enclosure. Standalone externals usually have better circuitry.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

Tyree said:


> The best option for an external Hdd is to purchase a standard Hdd and install it in an external enclosure. Standalone externals usually have better circuitry.


Agreed assuming you buy a quality external unit with an on/off switch and fans inside, but I still say the internal does not have a cheap crappy conversion chipset to convert sata to usb so the odds are better it will survive.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

A on/off switch is handy but no switch or fan is needed for the external enclosure. Any well ventilated aluminum enclosure kept in an open area is fine.
WD and SeaGate both have a free downloadable version of Acronis for imaging that is just as reliable as the purchased version of Acronis.
I have an old Masscool brand that has outlived 2 WD Hdd's.


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## Vadigor (Apr 19, 2009)

jonoj said:


> Thanks a lot for the input Vadigor. Ya I think I want a SSD. I have a 2tb external hard drive with usb 3.0 and plan to keep my pics and videos on that. So I don't need much on my pc.


Well as Tyree said, SSDs are less cost efficient but offer advantages in boot and access times, which can speed up loading in videogames. Whether that is worth a factor 10 increase in price per GB is something you'll have to consider. I'm not sure where you currently store your photos but as others have said an external enclosure has downsides and I agree that you'd be better off sticking a 1-3TB internal HDD into your PC.

Another issue to consider is access times for your photos. My 5 year old DSRL doesn't have the megapixels and resulting huge files of current cameras but even then I get annoyed when I'm browsing through the results of a shoot. Dedicated solutions such as Lightroom offer more aggressive caching (which is where your RAM will come in useful) but if you're storing your photos on a Green drive or, worse, an external enclosure that may still form a bandwidth bottleneck.

As for the backup, having triple copies of your data is the bare minimum. Your main file system will be the HDD in your PC. A first backup you can do on an external HDD. A second backup is recommended and can be another external HDD if you want. If you have another PC in your home network, an ideal solution would be adding an identical-size HDD to that PC and configuring a backup program to mirror all data from your new PC's HDD to the backup disk.


You also mention videos. Will you be doing much video editing? The system requirements for high-resolution video processing can be higher.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

> A on/off switch is handy but no switch or fan is needed for the external enclosure. Any well ventilated aluminum enclosure kept in an open area is fine.


No I never said a switch is needed but promoting better air flow in an enclosure will make the drive last longer.


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

I'm for sure getting a 250g Samsung sdd. Then 1 maybe 2 tb raptor internal. I download a lot of hd movies and tv shows that take up space after a while. But I will be doing very minor video editing.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Anything over 1TB tends to have issues. I would recommend just buying 2 x 1TB 7200RPM HDDs.


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

Then I'll get 1tb and if I need more then I'll get another in the future


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

No need for a raptor drive by the way. A 7200RPM drive is more then enough.


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## Vadigor (Apr 19, 2009)

Indeed, if it's just for file storage you don't really need the performance. A sub-6000 RPM drive can save you some money. You can load the photos from a shoot onto your SSD, process them and then archive them to your storage disk.


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

Sounds good. I'm very excited for this computer.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

If you want you can list over your final buy so we can take one last look at it.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

I would still go with a 7200RPM Hdd even if you splurge for the SSD.


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

So this is what it's looking like. 

Newegg.com - Thermaltake Overseer RX-I Snow Edition VN700M6W2N White Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

ASUS P8Z77-V LK ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS - Newegg.com

EVGA 02G-P4-2680-KR GeForce GTX 680 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Newegg.com

XFX Core Edition PRO650W (P1-650S-NLB9) 650W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com

Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K - Newegg.com

SAMSUNG 840 Series MZ-7TD250BW 2.5" 250GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - Newegg.com

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9 - Newegg.com

Western Digital WD RE4 WD1003FBYX Internal Hard Drive - Newegg.com

Amazon.com: Dell UltraSharp U3011 30" Monitor: Computers & Accessories

If there's any cheap upgrades I could make that would improve the performance that would be good.

Thanks a lot for all the help you guys have provided too. I really appreciate it.

I'm going to be using this site for a long time.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Looks like a keeper.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Lot of money for that case.

I personally own this case here and love it: NZXT Guardian 921 RB 921RB-001-BL Black SECC steel chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Newegg.com

Otherwise the rest looks fine.


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

I notice you have a WD RE4 drive in the list. Are you planning to run it in a RAID array? Many SATA drives use data caching methods which boost single-drive performance but can cause a myriad of issues if they're run in a RAID array. The RE4 drives avoid those, so you actually may be paying more money to get a drive which underperforms in the role for which it's intended.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

Tyree said:


> I would still go with a 7200RPM Hdd even if you splurge for the SSD.


Agreed for the second drive!


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

I love that case...keep it!
One thought though, I am sure you have your reasons for choosing a 30" monitor but you can save $500-700 switching to a 27".


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Good point on the monitor. Infact you could get a Samsung 27" 3D Monitor for around $600.

27


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

I'm not exactly sure what RAID is other then something to do with the booting. But a large portion of the reason I love that display is because of how much color percentage it has and the resolution. And the 30" is nice.Rather then the average monitor with 1920x1080. And I like the 16:10 rather then 16:9.


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

You're saying I should get a sata hard drive? And that monitor is spendy because of the resolution and not the size if that didnt make sense. And I'm looking for a full tower case just because I've always liked them. And I do really like the way the one I picked out looks. Especially the white.


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

I'll get this one instead if it will work better. 

Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX Internal Hard Drive - Newegg.com

Has SATA

Looks almost exactly the same. 1tb 7200rpm and it's 20$ cheaper... weird.

Looks like the other hard drive was made for servers and stuff. This one looks better for sure. Thanks Fjandr.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

jonoj said:


> You're saying I should get a sata hard drive? And that monitor is spendy because of the resolution and not the size if that didnt make sense. And I'm looking for a full tower case just because I've always liked them. And I do really like the way the one I picked out looks. Especially the white.


I am just saying it is really expensive and personally I don't understand having the size though either.


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## jonoj (Mar 3, 2013)

Well, regardless of the monitor. I'm diggin the pc and appreciate all the help you guys have provided.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

That's fine it's just opinions is all and you are buying good components.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

jonoj said:


> I'm not exactly sure what RAID is other then something to do with the booting. But a large portion of the reason I love that display is because of how much color percentage it has and the resolution. And the 30" is nice.Rather then the average monitor with 1920x1080. And I like the 16:10 rather then 16:9.


RAID - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

RAID really isn't needed for new PCs.


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

You'll get as good or better performance out of that Black drive than you would with the RE4 as a single drive, so that's a good choice.


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## Vadigor (Apr 19, 2009)

jonoj said:


> You're saying I should get a sata hard drive? And that monitor is spendy because of the resolution and not the size if that didnt make sense. And I'm looking for a full tower case just because I've always liked them. And I do really like the way the one I picked out looks. Especially the white.


They're both SATA. It's also a fair guess that they're physically identical with the "enterprise" drive simply enabling some RAID-specific features. You'd be paying 20$ extra for buzzwords you wouldn't ever use, so go with the WD Black.


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

They are not the same as an enterprise drive. Enterprise drives are extra heavy duty for server use and will last a lot longer.


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

Technically, the RE4 is a nearline hard drive, which puts it right between "enterprise" class and standard SATA. They are designed to run 24/7/365 (standard SATA drives are not), but are not designed at a reliability level to be used in critical storage systems.

The critical difference between it and the Black drives (which are also high-reliability SATA) is that it supports TLER. Without that support, automatic bit error recovery can exceed the timeout threshold on RAID controllers. The controller may then drop the drive from the array even if it is a recoverable error.


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