Uber PC

[MaDMaN_26]

Damn... that's disappointing... what chipset is needed then?

I'll keep reading...

[photon]

Probably anything with 77 in it at least, which means LGA 1155 instead of 2011..

I haven't been able to find much detail on it yet so not sure exactly what chipsets it does and does not support.

In fact it might not even be supported outside Intel boards at this point, the linked drivers say "RAID: Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Driver for Intel Desktop Boards", not for generic chipsets.

[MaDMaN_26]

So is this a situation where in a few months a new ??bios/driver?? update comes out and the x79 chipset is supported or the tech is not there and it will never be capable of it?

Reading the comments it seemed like some felt the x79's just work differently and so they will not support it.... but I couldn't determine if that was a software/driver issue or a physycal limitation.

Because if its software only, it might be ok to to raid-0 a couple SSD's and just wait for the software to catch up and then bam - 1GB/s

[photon]

You can still stripe them to get the speed, you just won't get TRIM passed through to the drives to maintain top performance.. and if you went with a SandForce drive like the Intel 520 for example it has good garbage collection without TRIM (and TRIM seems to be more of a suggestion to the SandForce drives than a command).

In theory the X79 could support it because as far as I understand it's a driver level thing to implement, but will they put resources into it is the question. But that's just guessing on my part, I don't know if anyone outside Intel knows for sure if it's a physical limitation or not at this point.

[MaDMaN_26]

Originally Posted by photon

You can still stripe them to get the speed, you just won't get TRIM passed through to the drives to maintain top performance.. and if you went with a SandForce drive like the Intel 520 for example it has good garbage collection without TRIM (and TRIM seems to be more of a suggestion to the SandForce drives than a command).

In theory the X79 could support it because as far as I understand it's a driver level thing to implement, but will they put resources into it is the question. But that's just guessing on my part, I don't know if anyone outside Intel knows for sure if it's a physical limitation or not at this point.

Kinda what I came to with my research/googling as well. Appreciate your help. I am going to stripe two 520 series drives... guy at mem express said he has never built a faster PC.

I'll post pics (maybe a video) when its done.

[Codes]

That's an interesting thought with putting SSDs in RAID. I don't think I can afford to do that at this point. I recently decided to try building my own computer from components so I've been putting a lot of effort in researching various components. I'm also a complete n00b, so it has been a lot to take in. This PC won't necessarily be for gaming, or photo editing, but I'm hoping to futureproof it. One thing I would expect doing with it is bioinformatic analysis.

Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core

Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM

Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 ATX LGA1155

Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM

Intel 520 Series Cherryville 240GB 2.5" SSD

Asus GeForce GTX 680 2GB

Asus Xonar Essence STX

Cooler Master Storm Stryker (White)

Power Supply Corsair 850W ATX12V / EPS12V

(Sorry about the formatting)

Not to steal the discussion away from MaDMaN_26, but advice is certainly sought. Again, I'm hoping to futureproof this as much as possible, hence the higher end video card, and 2x8GB RAM upgradable to 32GB.

I need some schooling in RAM. I chose Corsair as I have read that it is consistently among the best available. Can anyone recommend a different brand that is just as good and perhaps a little cheaper? As well, how important in regards to future proofing is it to look into RAM with lower latency values and increased speed (ie: 2133)?

Does it make sense to go with this higher end Ivy Bridge CPU, or a Sandy-Bridge E CPU?

Anyway, if anyone has thoughts, I would love to hear it!

[DownInFlames]

I built almost the exact same system recently. I went with the Asus P8Z77-V PRO Mobo instead.

The onboard audio is excellent, so I'd hold off getting a sound card until you give it a listen.

[Codes]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

I built almost the exact same system recently. I went with the Asus P8Z77-V PRO Mobo instead.

The onboard audio is excellent, so I'd hold off getting a sound card until you give it a listen.

Yes, that was another question I wanted to ask. The sound card I have penciled in is almost $200, and if it is not required, then certainly I'd be willing to either downgrade it, or hold off on it all together.

Also, how come you decided on the P8Z77-V Pro? I like the Sabertooth, primarily because it looks so cool, but if there are better technical reasons to choose a different one, I am all ears.

[DownInFlames]

I have a Xonar sound card that I used in my previous machine (which is now my HTPC) and I think the onboard sound is just as good. Give it a try and you can always get the card later.

The P8Z77-V Pro had the best set of features for the price when I bought it. The Sabertooth looks to be just as good. It's only missing things like wifi, which is almost worthless in a desktop pc. I agree that the Sabretooth looks cool and it will likely stay cooler, so go for it.