Computer advice

[smarty2]

The higher capacity drive simply has the data packed closer together, meaning that the head has less far to move to seek across any given volume of data. The shorter the physical seek distance, the less time it takes for the head to settle on the new track - and since Railworks is made of of a very large number of small files, this is the factor that matters. In general if there is at least a 50% capacity advantage, a 7200rpm drive can outperform a 10000rpm drive for that reason alone.

You can assist this advantage by using MyDefrag (or similar) to put all of the Railworks files together. Indeed if you have MyDefrag sort files by name, Railworks can read all the files for a given piece of stock without any physical seeks at all, since they are all on the same track. Again, the higher capacity drive will have more data per track...

Hi Krom, you wouldn't recommend using the ssd defrag would you?

[Retro]

Just found for a small price extra I can have this instead of the slower speed 8 Gig Samsung Ram.
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)
Would this make a deal of difference.
Kind regards James.

[gptech]

Just found for a small price extra I can have this instead of the slower speed 8 Gig Samsung Ram.
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)
Would this make a deal of difference.
Kind regards James.

No. The Sandybridge spec calls for RAM rated at 1333MHz, anything else is considered over-clocking (http://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=147704.0) and to run at 1600MHz would need a certain tweak or two in the BIOS--could be as simple as just enabling XMP but could also involve bumping up the voltages particularly with all 4 slots populated (assuming the motherboard has 4 slots max)
For normal day to day use the extra 8GB wouldn't be particularly noticable but would stand you in good stead for the future. If the budget allows, go for it--but don't be surprised if you don't see a vast improvement.

[Retro]

Thanks would an alternative be 16 Gig of the 1333MHz Samsung Ram then to ensure a little bit extra.

16GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (4 X 4GB)

Kind regards James.

[gptech]

Thanks would an alternative be 16 Gig of the 1333MHz Samsung Ram then to ensure a little bit extra.

16GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (4 X 4GB)

Kind regards James.

Presuming this a built system and that the builders would ensure compatability of components then it'd be a decent choice. It's all down to your budget in the end though, if it's tight you could run with 2 X 4GB modules and add another 2 at some future point but if you have the funds available stick in as much as you can
1333 MHz is the standard, 1600 MHz makes only a little difference but once again if the budget allows there's nothing *wrong* with using it--anything over 1600 MHz is frankly a waste of money unless you're running lots of very memory intensive apps and even then can be more trouble than it's worth.

[Retro]

Thanks. Motherboards always worry me if more power is drawn through them so the Samsung Ram would not overtax the MOBO compared to the Kingston which might I suppose. This is the problem with my current MOBO in this Machine anything extra seems to cause problems and this is the second one on this Machine and it is showing signs of going again.
Kind regards James.

[gptech]

http://support.asus.com/download/downlo ... 68-V%20PRO is a link to the download page for a .pdf document detailing which RAM modules have been tested by Asus on the P8Z68-V PRO motherboard.

[Kromaatikse]

Hi Krom, you wouldn't recommend using the ssd defrag would you?

Yes - on an SSD.

[Retro]

Thanks for the links gptech.
Final Specification listed below. I am assuming this will be a 64 bit Machine. If anyone can see any errors which may cause problems let me know otherwise this lot is within my Budget and I will then order all the stuff.

COOLERMASTER CM STORM ENFORCER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE

Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard ASUS® P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3: PCI-E 3.0 READY, SLI, CROSSFIREX

RAM 16GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (4 X 4GB)

Graphics Card 1.25GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 570 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

1st Hard Disk 1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)

2nd Hard Disk 80GB INTEL® 320 SERIES SSD, SATA 3 Gb/s (upto 270MB/sR | 90MB/sW)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 10x LG BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£65)

Memory Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply CORSAIR 750W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX750 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE

Processor Cooling TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER

Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT

USB Options 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS)

TV Card PCTV SYSTEMS DUAL TUNER TV CARD & WINDOWS MEDIA CENTRE REMOTE

Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence

Keyboard & Mouse LOGITECH® MK520 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO

Monitor 24" Iiyama Prolite E2473HDS-B1 Black LED LCD, 1920x1080, 2ms Monitor

Thanks and kind regards James.

[theokus]

Hi Krom, you wouldn't recommend using the ssd defrag would you?

You don't defrag a SSD like a harddisk....
Intel has a special tool called "Intel SSD ToolBox" (only for Intel SSD).
You can use this tools for optimizing the SSD, takes a few seconds.

[smarty2]

Hi Krom, you wouldn't recommend using the ssd defrag would you?

Yes - on an SSD.

Sorry krom I wasn't being very clear, I have downloaded the mydefrag program and noticed the ssd flash drive defrag option which the author recommends using monthly, I was under the impression that it isn't advisable to do it and indeed not necessary? I have also noticed the date of the program as being from 2010 so I was a bit dubious.
@Theo my ssd is a Kingston jobby so I don't think it would work?
Apologies to the OP for hijacking the thread with the question.

[theokus]

sorry.

[Kromaatikse]

SSDs have a number of differences from mechanical hard disks, even though they appear the same to the operating system. They are based on fundamentally different technology. This also results in a number of misconceptions, especially if advice is based on early versions of the technology which have more severe restrictions than the current set.

The advice to avoid defragging an SSD is just such a misconception. It is based on the fact that the Flash devices within an SSD have a finite number of write cycles before they wear out - so very quickly, the advice was to avoid moving data around if possible, so as to minimise the number of writes. The very fast access speed of the SSD is supposed to compensate for any residual fragmentation.

Newsflash: mechanical hard disks wear out more quickly on average than the latest couple of years' SSD models, which under heavy workstation use (not home use, which is much lighter!) are expected to last 5 years minimum. The culprit in that case is the moving parts (spinning platters and rapidly vibrating heads) and the extremely close proximity they operate in (such that a single human hair inside the disk's case would rapidly destroy the heads). New controller technology for SSDs also helps redress the balance, by cleverly minimising wear on the Flash chips whenever possible. Some SSDs can now handle defragmentation by simply updating the block pointers, not actually moving the data.

Another point is that although the access time of a modern SSD is in the microsecond range, it incurs such a penalty for every fragment of a file. A defragmented file can be read with a single SATA command, but a fragmented file cannot - regardless of where the SSD has chosen to physically put the file. Windows loves to spray file fragments around, especially when the Steam Client installs them, for some reason I've never understood. So in practice, it could take several times as long as it should to read files that Railworks needs.

MyDefrag's SSD mode defragments files while doing the absolute minimum of extra work, giving the benefits of defragmentation without imposing excessive wear. If you plan to do so only every month, that represents a truly negligible amount of risk, even for an older-technology drive. So go ahead and feel confident in using it.

[Retro]

Hi if somebody can look at the Final Specifications I listed to see if they seem OK. No glaring errors. I would be very grateful.
Kind regards James.

[theokus]

Thanks. Motherboards always worry me if more power is drawn through them so the Samsung Ram would not overtax the MOBO compared to the Kingston which might I suppose. This is the problem with my current MOBO in this Machine anything extra seems to cause problems and this is the second one on this Machine and it is showing signs of going again.
Kind regards James.

James,

I have had never problems with:

- Asus and MSI (motherboard)
- Ati or Nvidia (used ATI from day one....)

>> I changed to Nvidia not so long ago)
(Why? Ease of use, ease of installation)

- Corsair (look at the Timings for speed etc.)
- BeQuiet (power)
- Chieftec or Cooler Master (cases).
- Noctua (all about cooling)

I did build my own pc in the early days.
NOW I chose the hardware and ask the store to build the pc (No extra cost).
So I have two years warranty on everything.