eric_larsen1

<p>I, too, would like to hear about this.</p>

<p>What would you do?<br>

It's with dread that I just found out that there is a very restrictive carry-on policy on Singapore Air -- the carrier on which I'm booked to India in October. Get this (from their website):<br>

All carry-on luggage must fit in the overhead bin or under the seat in front of you and adhere to the following requirements:<br>

•Baggage Allowance for Economy Class passengers: 1 bag<br>

•Baggage Allowance for First/Raffles Class passengers: 2 bags <br />•Maximum Dimensions of Carry-on Luggage: 45 linear in/115 cm (length + width + height)<br>

•Maximum Weight of Carry-on Luggage: 15 lb/7 kg<br>

I plan on taking a 1DsIII, 17-40, 24-70, 70-200 f2.8 IS, and 300f4 IS with speedlite, small netbook and 1.4x TC -- all in a Minitrekker. I haven't weighed this gear but it aint gonna be 15 lbs!<br>

While clearly I should have checked prior to purchase, I didn't. I found out about this on a dive photography forum where this is a very hot, passionate, and distressing topic.<br>

I need a plan B in case I get pegged while boarding -- what would you do?</p>

<p>Hello,<br>

I'll be travelling in India for 5-6 weeks and have been trying to figure-out the storage and duplication of image files thing. I'd like to bounce this "solution" off of those more experienced.</p>

<p>Money is tight so buying pricey storage devices are probably out of the question. I do, however, have the opportunity to pick-up a new Asus Eee PC 1000HE netbook by cashing in my credit card reward points. Obviously, I'd be making an allowance for bulk going that route but hey, it won't cost me anying.</p>

<p>I was thinking of replacing the netbook's 160 gb HD with a 500 gb drive ($89) and then taking the 160 gb drive and putting it into a USB/SATA external enclosure (one that has USB-powered capability) for use as the backup drive (about $30). So essentially, I'd shoot on CF cards, download files to PC, copy to external HD, and then reformat and re-use CF cards if needed. I have three 8 gb cards and will probably pick-up three more. This scenario would leave me with three copies of files or at least two copies if CF cards had to be re-used.</p>

<p>Does this sound like a good strategy? Am I missing anything obvious here? I figure this is the cheapest way to get massive storage and duplication. The upside is that the cost is low here. The down side is the bulkiness of this setup and the fact that transfer speed from PC to external Hdd is going to be slow with USB 2.</p>

<p>I wish this netbook had eSATA! Any comments or suggestion for improvement?</p>

<p>Thanks<br>

Eric</p>

<p>Great! Cheers and thanks!</p>

<p>VERY interesting! Thank you all very much for the opinions! I'll start with the two HDs I have and configure them as you've suggested. <br>

Am I correct in assuming that I still have to configure a PS scratch on the data drive (separate from the OS/apps drive) even though it may not be used much?<br>

Thanks all -- very helpful!</p>

<p>Hi there,<br>

I wrote late last summer inquiring about a PC build that I was contemplating at that time. Many useful responses were made and for that I am appreciative. I ended-up building this:<br>

MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R LGA 775 <br>

Processor: Intel Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66 ghz 45nm 12mb L2 cache quad core processor 1333 Mhz FSB <br>

RAM: 2 X 2GB Corsair XMS2 DHX DDR2 (will be getting two more shortly for a TTL of 8GB)</p>

<p >Hard Drives: 2x WD Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 7200 RPM 16MB cache SATA 3.0Gb/s</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Graphics: EVGA NVIDIA 8600 256mb 128-bit dual DVI SLI DirectX-10</p>

<p > </p>

<p >PS: BFG Tech ES-800W continuous hybrid SLI</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Case: Antec 300 ATX Mid-tower</p>

<p > </p>

<p >OS: Vista 64 SP2</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Main Use: CS4</p>

<p > </p>

<p > </p>

<p >I built this and loaded the OS then had to put it away and finish graduate school (which I just did!). The new "box" is now awaiting final configuration and a ceremonial flip of the switch. My question has to do with configuring hard drives. I've read and read about this and I always find it confusing. I know I want simple. Speed is relative and since I'm upgrading from a 1.6 GH machine with 1GB of RAM, I think standard hard drives will be fine. I considered RAID 0 or the use of a velociraptor but don't think I'll need such speed for what I do. Data protection, however, means that I would consider a RAID 1 for the data disk...</p>

<p > </p>

<p >I have the two 640 gb caviars and can always buy more of them. How do I configure the system? I understand that I'll need one drive for OS/Apps, one for data (or two if RAID 1), one for Scratch, and one for Page files. Then I can use ESATA drives for storing mirrors made with Ghost, off-site backups of data, etc. Is this correct? That's five drives without any backups!</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Bear with me, I'm smart but when people start talking about partitioning drives and setting-up raid arrays, it all gets mushed up in my mind.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >My priorities are Data Safety, Ease of Use, Fast...in that order. </p>

<p > </p>

<p >What do you recommend?</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Thanks!</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Eric Larsen</p>

<p > </p>

I can't speak to how a 24" monitor substitutes what one is doing with two monitors but I can attest to the fact that in a two monitor setup (CRT 4:3 for images; 16:10 in portrait for "other stuff:) works well for me. In fact, I'm looking at mimicking this set-up with a 22" in portrait and a 27'-ish lcd for images. To each their own but I also am a student and use the portrait mode extensively while writing. To each their own!

Thanks Patrick, I will also check-out the Samsung as well.

 

This is the sort of info I was looking for!

 

Thanks!

Thanks Tony -- I will do that pronto.

 

Patrick, thanks for bringing that up! I'm thinking under $400 for this monitor -- I'll go all out on the next one :)

Hi there,

 

I'm finishing a new photo editing PC build. This pc eventually will be used in a dual monitor set-up (using one very nice and

yet-to-be-determined image monitor and another monitor for palettes, menus, text, etc.). I am finishing graduate school and

cannot yet afford (in time or $) to spec-out the image monitor right now and will deal with that next spring after I graduate.

In the mean time, I'd like to use this new machine as my primary PC and therefor, need a monitor. I envision this monitor

being relegated to the palettes/menu monitor once I'm out of school and can purchase a nice image monitor to go with it for

the two monitor set-up mentioned above. I've done a bunch of research and am more bewildered than when I started. I

could use some assistance.

 

I think I'll be targeting a future image monitor in the 24 - 27 inch range. As such, what size monitor would best accompany

that as the accessory menu monitor?

 

What about aspect ratio? I currently use a 4:3 CRT for images and a 5:4 LCD for menus, email, word docs, etc. The LCD

seems to work for me and I keep it in portrait. I suspect that the image monitor that I get next spring will be 16:10.

 

The second area of uncertainty is what monitor to get. Yes, I realize that it doesn't have to be anything great as an email,

palettes, menus monitor, but I will have to look at it every day for a long time, use it for everything for 9 months, and write a

thesis on it as well.

 

To recap in a nutshell, I'm looking for advice on the monitor size and aspect ratio that will compliment a 24 - 27 in monitor in

the future, but also will work well as the only monitor on this machine in the meantime for school work, web, email, photos,

etc. I'd also like to hear any recommendations for actual makes and models. Many of the better rated LCDs in the 20 -22

inch class that I've been reading about have been discontinued. Okay, I hope this makes sense!

 

Thanks up-front!

 

Eric

 

(I likely will post this elsewhere as well)

Thank you, Charles, I suck at spelling too!

Well, here’s what I ended-up with:

 

Case: Antec 300 $59

 

PSU: BFG Tech ES-800 Continuous 800 watt Hybrid (worth checking-out this PSU in that it stays in the highly efficient zone even when using a fraction of it's rated output -- that is evidently rare) $89

 

MoBo: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R LGA $122

 

CPU: Intel Q9550 Yorkfield $349 (This drive was over $500 last week and is now the same price as the Q9450 was last week due to big Intel price drop)

 

RAM: 2 x 2GB Corsair DHX PC2-6400 $75 (these reviewed very well and spec'd out well too).

 

Drives: 2 x WD Caviar 640 GB $170 (what can be said?)

 

DVD Burner: LiteOn $29

 

GPU: EVGA e-GeForce 8600GT 256mb DDR3 $49 (this presented the most difficult element of the build research. I finally stumbled on this card which has extensive positive review for vista stability which was my chief concern.

 

Vista 64 bit $100

 

Acronis TrueImage (have)

 

about $1050 after rebates. I will add a Velociraptor in the spring for OS and Apps and RAID 1 the two caviars at that time.

 

Still need a monitor….

 

This has been an immensely drawn-out research project that I hope will be over-shadowed only by how easily and effortlessly the build goes together next week! HA!

 

Thanks for all of the help everyone!

 

Cheers

 

Eric

Hi Garrison, I was hoping that you'd chime-in :)

 

I'm thinking this setup:

 

Case: Antec 300

 

PSU: Antec TPQ-850W ATX12V / EPS12V (package deal with case) $179.94

 

MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R LGA 775 $134.99

 

Processor: Intel core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66 ghz 45nm 12mb L2 cache quad core processor 1333 Mhz FSB $349.00

 

Memory: 4x G.SKILL 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5S-2GBPQ - Retail $163.96

 

Hard Drives: 1x 300 gb velociraptor for OS and Apps $299.00

2x 500 gb Seagate 7200.11 Barracudas in RAID 1 array for data $169.98

 

Not sure about the RAM

 

Not sure on optical drive(s) yet.

 

Vista home premium 64 bit.

 

Portable HDs for backup via ESATA.

 

I may go 2 X 2gb RAM for now.

 

May not go RAID 1 but have two data drives.

 

Acronis for mirrors.

 

Q's:

 

Is it okay to use RAM not specified by the MoBo manufacturer? If so, how do you spec it out?

 

Is this power supply too big?

 

Thank you!

 

Eric

Great responses – thanks to all!

 

Clearly I was over-specifying the drive configurations s given my needs. Last time I looked seriously at PC performance, you really couldn’t over-develop a home system. Times have changed.

 

I understand the 4 gig limit and it’s good to know I could add RAM later when usable.

 

I am looking to CS4 and think that a quad core and 64 bit OS is worth doing now.

 

As for drives, again, I can modify this set-up as needed. I do want a snappy system and I have had the pleasure of having drives crash before so I’m not entirely ruling-out a fast OS/Apps drive and a raid 1 setup for the data drive but I may just continue a disciplined manual mirroring regime from one data drive to another. The backup discussion is very much appreciated. I will be looking into optical solutions as well as esata for backups stored off-site. Marc’s articles were very helpful (and convincing).

 

I will re-think this build and may start more conservatively regarding the drives knowing I can always move them around and reconfigure that system if I think it needs improvement.

 

Thanks for the reality checks guys!

Hello,

 

I have been following a number of recent threads on this forum that have provided great discussion on different approaches

to hard drive configuration on PCs for PS work. These include (for reference):

 

http://www.photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00Q5Ds

 

http://www.photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00QBfp

 

http://www.photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00Q5Au

 

However, I have been struck at the level of disagreement on what constitutes the best approach to hard drive configuration

in terms of scratch, RAID arrays, and the like. My inquiry revolves around two arenas -- comments on the build choices I

propose here, and more specifically, the hard drive configuration. I do have a budget of about $1200 or so but for a

compelling reason, I could stretch that a bit higher. This machine will be an all around PC but it needs to be able to handle

CS 3 and 4 and will be used to process 5D (or successor) composite raw files. Multi-tasking is a must. I want as much room

to grow as possible for the price and want as high of a performing machine as possible for the money. I will run Vista 64 bit

and am concerned with stability, ease of maintenance and configuration, performance, and redundancy. This is my first

build but I'm not a complete newb -- I've modified but that's about it.

 

This is the build I'm considering:

 

Case: Antec 300 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

 

PSU: Antec TPQ-850W ATX12V / EPS12V (package deal with case) $179.94

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371009

 

MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R LGA 775 $134.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?

Item=N82E16813128344

 

Processor: Intel Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66 ghz 45nm 12mb L2 cache quad core processor 1333 Mhz FSB $349.00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115042

 

Memory: 4x G.SKILL 2GB (8GB TTL) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) F2-6400CL5S-2GBPQ - $163.96

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231121

 

Video card: I plan to use my current Matrox Millenium P650 64 mb graphics card for now.

 

Monitors: I plan to use my existing two monitor set-up (CRT and LCD) for now.

 

Comments appreciated.

 

So.....for the hard part....

 

Hard drives: Some say for best performance you should separate your OS from your apps (on different physical drives).

Some say that you should put your OS and Apps on a single velociraptor while others say you can get as fast with a striped

set of Caviars or Barracudas. Some say you MUST have a dedicated photoshop scratch on a separate physical drive and

others say not (Adobe says you should). Still others state that you should have a dedicated scratch, and raid 1 your storage

drives....the lack of agreement is maddening! BTW, I plan to mirror backup my OS and apps so I think that they could be on

a RAID 0 array if that's really that much more performance. Otherwise, stability, ease, fast, etc....

 

Some ideas I've had include:

 

1x 300 gb velociraptor for OS and Apps $299.00 2x 500 gb Seagate 7200.11 Barracudas in RAID 1 array for data $169.98

 

or

 

1x 300 gb velociraptor for OS and Apps $299.00 another fast drive for scratch (?) 4x 500 gb Seagate 7200.11 Barracudas

in RAID 0+1 array for data $339.94

 

or

 

4x 500 gb Seagate 7200.11 Barracudas in RAID 0+1 array for OS, Apps, and data (with partitions??) $339.94

 

All of this is predicated on the assumptions that RAIDed 0+1 Barracudas are pretty damn fast and are probably as fast as

similarly configured raptors or a single velociraptor.

 

How do you configure your apps, OS, scratch, and data? Drive read/write times are the bottleneck here, correct?

 

What to do? I ask that if you chime-in, please substantiate your recommendations and provide some sort of rationale for

your preferences.

 

You've been kind to read this far -- thank you!

 

Eric

Hello,

 

I have been following a number of recent threads on this forum that have provided great discussion on different approaches

to hard drive configuration on PCs for PS work. These include (for reference):

 

http://www.photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00Q5Ds

 

http://www.photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00QBfp

 

http://www.photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00Q5Au

 

However, I have been struck at the level of disagreement on what constitutes the best approach to hard drive configuration

in terms of scratch, RAID arrays, and the like. My inquiry revolves around two arenas -- comments on the build choices I

propose here, and more specifically, the hard drive configuration. I do have a budget of about $1200 or so but for a

compelling reason, I could stretch that a bit higher. This machine will be an all around PC but it needs to be able to handle

CS 3 and 4 and will be used to process 5D (or successor) composite raw files. Multi-tasking is a must. I want as much

room to grow as possible for the price and want as high of a performing machine as possible for the money. I will run Vista

64 bit and am concerned with stability, ease of maintenance and configuration, performance, and redundancy. This is my

first build but I'm not a complete newb -- I've modified but that's about it.

 

This is the build I'm considering:

 

Case: Antec 300

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

 

PSU: Antec TPQ-850W ATX12V / EPS12V (package deal with case) $179.94

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371009

 

MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R LGA 775 $134.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128344

 

Processor: Intel Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66 ghz 45nm 12mb L2 cache quad core processor 1333 Mhz FSB $349.00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115042

 

Memory: 4x G.SKILL 2GB (8GB TTL) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) F2-6400CL5S-2GBPQ - $163.96

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231121

 

Video card: I plan to use my current Matrox Millenium P650 64 mb graphics card for now.

 

Monitors: I plan to use my existing two monitor set-up (CRT and LCD) for now.

 

Comments appreciated.

 

So.....for the hard part....

 

Hard drives: Some say for best performance you should separate your OS from your apps (on different physical drives).

Some say that you should put your OS and Apps on a single velociraptor while others say you can get as fast with a striped

set of Caviars or Barracudas. Some say you MUST have a dedicated photoshop scratch on a separate physical drive and

others say not (Adobe says you should). Still others state that you should have a dedicated scratch, and raid 1 your

storage drives....the lack of agreement is maddening! BTW, I plan to mirror backup my OS and apps so I think that they

could be on a RAID 0 array if that's really that much more performance. Otherwise, stability, ease, fast, etc....

 

Some ideas I've had include:

 

1x 300 gb velociraptor for OS and Apps $299.00

2x 500 gb Seagate 7200.11 Barracudas in RAID 1 array for data $169.98

 

or

 

1x 300 gb velociraptor for OS and Apps $299.00

another fast drive for scratch (?)

4x 500 gb Seagate 7200.11 Barracudas in RAID 0+1 array for data $339.94

 

or

 

4x 500 gb Seagate 7200.11 Barracudas in RAID 0+1 array for OS, Apps, and data (with partitions??) $339.94

 

All of this is predicated on the assumptions that RAIDed 0+1 Barracudas are pretty damn fast and are probably as fast as

similarly configured raptors or a single velociraptor.

 

How do you configure your apps, OS, scratch, and data? Drive read/write times are the bottleneck here, correct?

 

What to do? I ask that if you chime-in, please substantiate your recommendations and provide some sort of rationale for

your preferences.

 

You've been kind to read this far -- thank you!

 

Eric