My new workstation

[Canonopathy]

Recently I've been working on a new home workstation that will be used for photo & video editing (hobby not business), web surfing, and a little office work from time to time. Here's what I have put together:

-Dell XPS8100: i7-860, 8GB RAM, 1TB 7200RPM HD, BluRay writer, ATI Radeon HD 5770, installed LR3 and PS (waiting tor CS5 to get here). I am a real novice when it comes to backing up but what I have ready to setup (one part in the mail) is a eSATA Lacie 2Big Quadra 2TB (2x1TB) in RAID1 (for photo storage) backed up on a 1.5TB Seagate FreeAgent external drive and 2TB Western Digital drive that I keep off-site. Back up is strictly photo as I have a seperate pair of drives for video.

-Dell U2711 27 in. IPS monitor calibrated with Spyder3 Elite

-Set up also includes Canon PRO9000 II, Logitech backlit keyboard, Logitech MX Revolution, Audioengine A2B speakers, B&W P5 phones, and a Herman Miller Aeron loaded up (love this chair!).

-Also able to use with the 27in IPS is my Macbook Pro i7 (8GB), which is newly acquired (via trade on this forum) that I have already used for travel, etc. For this I also have a pair of 22in IPS monitors (one at work and the other in my bedroom).



I'm very excited using the system so far but I have a few questions.

1.I have considered boosting my PC's RAM (as I did the MBP, 4GB to 8GB) from 8GB to 12GB. For editing photos and video in small batches will I likely see a performance gain (primarily Canon DPP, LR3, and CS5)?

2.What are your thoughts on the backup plan:
eSATA RAID1 to another external as well as off site stored drive (backed up once a month or when large numbers of files added)? If anyone has suggestions on how to improve it or change all together I can still easily use these drives at work so please feel free to make any suggestions.

3.Anyone have suggestions for a good ergonomic keyboard arm/drawer?

[Rson]

1: Prob very minimal gain, but since you are on a Intel chipset, they support triple channel memory. You should have matched pairs of 3. So, you should have 6gb of ram. IMO, anything over that will be over kill. The Mensa builders at Dell should have spec'd that for you.

2: Raid 1 is great for backup, it means that you are mirroring drives for backup.

out of curiosity, what does a machine like this run? Why not build your own, prob save some $$

[Canonopathy]

Originally Posted by Rson

1: Prob very minimal gain, but since you are on a Intel chipset, they support triple channel memory. You should have matched pairs of 3. So, you should have 6gb of ram. IMO, anything over that will be over kill. The Mensa builders at Dell should have spec'd that for you.

2: Raid 1 is great for backup, it means that you are mirroring drives for backup.

out of curiosity, what does a machine like this run? Why not build your own, prob save some $$

This one came with 4x2GB RAM. I can also sell this RAM and do 4x4GB for under $600. I picked it up as Dell outlet "perviously ordered new" for just over $800 so the deal was too good to pass up.

[Zack Davis]

He couldn't have built the machine for that price, the processor is $550 or so and the video card is about $150, toss in that ram and you're already way above $800.

I can't even see how Dell resold it for $800 unless it was an exchange that they repaired and are selling to for a second time or something cause dang that's cheap. haha

[Rson]

Originally Posted by Zack Davis

He couldn't have built the machine for that price, the processor is $550 or so and the video card is about $150, toss in that ram and you're already way above $800.

I can't even see how Dell resold it for $800 unless it was an exchange that they repaired and are selling to for a second time or something cause dang that's cheap. haha

agree'd pretty smoking for that price. As for ram, I would sell it, and get a matched tri-channel set.

[Canonopathy]

Originally Posted by Zack Davis

He couldn't have built the machine for that price, the processor is $550 or so and the video card is about $150, toss in that ram and you're already way above $800.

I can't even see how Dell resold it for $800 unless it was an exchange that they repaired and are selling to for a second time or something cause dang that's cheap. haha

It would have been impossible to build at this price. I was actually searching the Dell outlet for well over a month for a great deal. On that day I had an outlet coupon combined with an already great price. It is previously over $1000 in the outlet in this configuration. Now it is more like $1200. There are three types of outlet products on Dell: Refurbished, scratch n dent, and previously ordered new. I have had experience with all and I have yet to encounter a problem with any item. Their customer service sucks though. Scratch n dents are usually their best bargains and most of the time it is not even distinguishable from new. Their refurbed 22in IPS panels can sometimes be picked up for less than $200 with a coupon. Thats a great deal for an excellent monitor. One of my 22's was a refurb. I had to buy the 27 factory fresh.

[Canonopathy]

Originally Posted by Rson

agree'd pretty smoking for that price. As for ram, I would sell it, and get a matched tri-channel set.

I will look into that. I only searched Crucial and this is all that is available:

Chipset: Intel H57
External Drive Bays: 2 x 5.25" and 1 x 3.5"
Graphics Support: PCI Express x16
Internal Drive Bays: 2 x 3.5"
Maximum Memory: 16384MB
Slots: 4 (2 banks of 2)
Standard Memory: 3072 to 8192MB removable
USB Support: 2.x Compliant
Although the memory can be installed one module at a time, the best performance comes from using matched pairs of modules.

US $319.99
8GB Kit (4GBx2)
Part #: CT1164531 • DDR3 PC3-10600 • CL=9 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1333 • 1.5V • 512Meg x 64 •

US $97.99
4GB kit (2GBx2)
Part #: CT1164536 • DDR3 PC3-10600 • CL=9 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1333 • 1.5V • 256Meg x 64 •

US $97.99
4GB kit (2GBx2)
Part #: CT1164549 • DDR3 PC3-8500 • CL=7 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1066 • 1.5V • 256Meg x 64 •

US $49.99
2GB kit (1GBx2)
Part #: CT1164544 • DDR3 PC3-8500 • CL=7 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1066 • 1.5V • 128Meg x 64 •

[Rson]

You should be running dual channel, I don't see any gain by swapping 4x2 for 2x4 ram. Unless you are going to jump to 16gb to maintain parity with the ram modules.