Hey Guys, I want to build a new PC again, its been a few years and my current machine is a P4 2.2Ghz with 2GB PC3200 of RAM and an ATI 9800 128mb AGP card. I want to know if installing an OS on a flash drive is a good idea, I've heard of it being done, so I know its possible. The thing I like most about it is NO moving parts, less power consumption and quick speeds of todays current flash drives, (I'd love for XP or Vista to start up in like 5 seconds of me hitting the power button if thats at all possible, speeds important.) So I'd like to get any ideas of how to do this, if anybody has done so. Or a link to a site that has good documentation, or just overall opinions if this is a good idea or even a bad idea. I've provided a couple of links.
Here's what my specs will look like when all is said and done.
Processor:Intel Core i7 Procecssor Extreme Edition (3.20GHz)
Hard Drive(s): Master 32GB CF Sandisk Extreme III, Slave 1TB SATA II
Memory: 12GB DDR3 1600
Video Card:GeForce GTX 280 (SLI 3-Way)
OS: Windows XP Pro or Windows Vista Ultimate Running on a 32GB CF
Flash drives in the traditional sense are very slow compared to hard disks even today, because while they are quicker to access, their data transfer speeds are very low (typically 25MB/s at most versus the 80MB/s of a modern hard drive). However, new Solid State "hard disks" dedicated to the job of being in a PC are the best of the best now. They are not cheap, a 30GB one costs about the same as a 500GB Hard drive, but solely for the purpose of installing an operating system, they are lightning fast, offering the tiny response times of flash drives with data transfer far beyond that of PC hard drives (130MB/s). I see you have already selected an SSD in your build, so you are obviously aware of them. For reference, S-ATA has no master/slave, just a list of drives in numerical order.
That system will certainly make a decent PC, but it will cost an absolute fortune. It is rare for people to have budgets anywhere near what this will cost, and unless you use a 30" PC monitor, the graphics setup is ludicrously unnecessary, you can get away with just one GTX260, not even a 280, at the resolution the next size down (24-28") offers. Also, 12GB of RAM is absurd - even now using Vista, 4GB of RAM is ample - it's also worth noting that XP can't recognise more than 3.5GB, so it'd definitely be a waste if you install XP.
Very imformative, thanks sammorris! Actually I didnot know they have SSD's for Desktop PC's, I knew they were availible for Laptop's. If I decided to go the SSD 30GB route for my OS, what brand would you recommend? I realize that it is probably gonna be an expensive upgrade (of all that I listed), but doing side jobs help, I install computer networks (i.e. Pulling CAT5e Data cable and CAT3 Voice cable, and terminating everything). I'm doing up a new residence right now and it's gonna pay out approx $3500.00 I assume that should be enough, if not close to it.
i hear the intel X25-E is the fastest SSD drive. does come at a hefty price; $720 for 32gigs. but if you want the ultimate OS drive, that's the one to have.
Originally posted by sammorris: it's also worth noting that XP can't recognise more than 3.5GB, so it'd definitely be a waste if you install XP.
in a tri sli system with 3 gtx 280s xp will see less than 1gb. each card has a 1gb frame buffer that takes up some of the address space. you will need to use vista 64 to get the most out of the system. i would personally like to have 12gb of ram. i have 6gb right now and i have used more than 4gb while gaming and multitasking. but you wont get much performance benefit from the extra ram. it would be better to get another set a year from now when prices are significantly lower.
Doesn't actually work like that.I'm not sure what happens to the rest of the memory for the graphics card, but Windows XP will never allocate more than 768MB away. You will always see 3.25GB of RAM with a card that uses more than 768MB.
Also note that Windows XP can only see two GPUs. Triple SLI and CrossfireX are for Vista only.
