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Windows 7 New Dell computer....

Oh ya, the SSD's make a huge difference with sound sample programs. Imagine someone playing a keyboard that uses the sound samples. The computer has to get the notes played, locate the desired sound sample, locate the notes played apply them to the sample, and send them out to the amplifier to be heard. All this takes up time which is known as latency. A slow computer means that you may not hear the sound for a second or two after touching the keyboard. This also presents buffering problems and poping and clicking in the sound. Using SSD's for the sound samples means that the computer can instantly play the desired note without latency, buffering, or other stuttering problems. With instant access you can also find the desired instrument in a matter of a second or two and load it up into your memory vrs a 10-30 second delay on a standard hard drive. The SSD's make a world of difference with sound sample programs, and that's why they are so desireable to musicians, and well worth the cost.
 


Hmm, that is really interesting. A whole world I knew nothing about. But then I am not a musician. Last time I made music was in a Jazz club playing alto sax - and that was over 50 years ago.
 


It's fabulous actually. I have sound samples of complete orchestras and very expensive piano's. On my midi keyboard, I can play a bunch of notes and apply them to any instrument I want, such as cello, violin, tuba, brass, choirs etc...I can also play Steinway piano's, Yamaha piano's...all to get different sounds for recording purposes, without having the actual piano in my studio. This is like giving somebody the keys to the orchestra to produce any type of music you want. The sounds are fabulous. I'll give you a sample of what sound samples can sound like....

MP3 Player SoundClick
 


Hmm, to tell you the truth, I like my Herbert von Karajan version with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra better. Your version has little accent and contrast. And I like the 6th better anyhow.
 


I am going to comment on something that was said a little earlyer in this thread, though I will take a few minutes to cool off and get some advice about it first.

Alos, djwayne...You might not have to give up any of your drives. While you are in your case installing the RAM, look twards the back, under the graphincs card. there should be a few slots open under it a couple short black ones and maybe a few longer white ones. If you have a short black one that is not being blocked by anything else, that would be a PCI-e x1, then you can add a SATA card to your system. That will add more SATA ports to your system really easyly and you will be able to use all your drives. I say that you need the PCI-e because it is a really fast conection, the other is PCI and it would work, but alot slower. If you do decide to get a SATA card, keep the price low. Make sure to get only what you need. SATA 2 or 3, and the more expencive doesn't mean better. Well it does, but not in your case. The more expencive stuff would come with special RAID capabilities and unless you are going to be doing that it is a waste of money. Any way, wanted to let you know that was an option.
 


Now that's a very good idea, I'll keep it in mind. I'd also have to add some power connections as well, but that certainly is a doable solution.
 


Depending on the out put of your power supply, I would take a molex and use a splitting adapter to change it to SATA power. Use that for the SSDs, since they dont need as much power as a HDD.

That card looks to be a good one, it has a PATA that can run two drives, then two drives on the internal SATA, with two drives on the eSATA so a total of 6 extra drives can be added. Very nice, not to mention that it doesn't have loads of features that you wont be needed. For what it dose and the price, a very good card.
 


Pretty soon, that new Dell computer won't be the same as it as coming through the door. See, there's room for improvement on any computer, no matter how expensive or cheap it may be.

Watch out though, & don't do anything that will void your warranty. Naiya gave me an idea about additional cooling for my PC, one that will work, but it'll have to wait until mid-November, when it's out of warranty. I need a couple of small fans installed to draw out the hot air buildup inside. But it'll require actually cutting into the case, which is why I have to wait.

Cat
 


whs said:
That is a good idea. Here is an example of a PCI-e card with 2 external eSata and 2 internal Ata ports plus one Pata port. But I think the external eSata and the internal Ata ports are on the same channel. So it is either, or. And it looks like a PCI-e x1, although it does not say.

Newegg.com - Rosewill RC-216 PCI Express eSATA II x 2 / ATA 133 x1 RAID 0/1/0+1/JBOD mode Controller Card
Click to expand...

I should note that if you're going for the RAID option, without on-board memory cache it is nearly the same or worse than using the standard built-in motherboard RAID if you have it. You might as well chalk up the extra couple hundred bucks and go with a real RAID card, although I know this is not about RAID specifically. As an alternative to SSD, RAID-0 would be a fine answer for so long as backups are maintained. The only difference here is that you are piping through the PCI ports, which could prevent bottle-necking under some conditions. I use eSATA extenders connected to PCI without difficulty.
 


I think in this day and age of SSDs, Raid is pretty useless. Raid was a crutch for the spinners, but for SSDs it makes little sense (except for Atto bragging rights). With Raid you just complicate your life for little gain and no raided spinners can ever reach the speed of the least SSD.
 


No I'm not going to be going with a Raid setup...too complicated and my space is limited. All I really need is just one extra SATA interior port and power connection and I'll be all set. So that SATA card would do the job.

My drive configuration will be:
500 Gig C drive
500 Gig back up drive
CD/DVD player
1st SSD drive for Symphonic Orchestral sound samples
2nd SSD drive for Piano Samples.

8 Gigs RAM memory

and that's it.

I'd have an extra interior SATA port which I could use for future use of a SSD card for the OS, and just use the current C:drive for storage.
 


WHS- I went ahead and ordered that SATA card you suggested. I also ordered a SATA power splitter cable, which will give me 2 extra SATA power connections. So I should be all set for now. Thanks for the suggestion. I did look at other SATA cards but most were too expensive or didn't have the right features. The one you suggested was just right for my needs.
 


djwayne, the way I would suggest running it would be,

SATA 0 - 500 Gig C drive
SATA 1 - 1st SSD
SATA 2 - 2nd SSD
SATA 3 - 500 Gig back up drive
SATA Card - CD/DVD player

That would do great. Keep the most used drives on the motherboard. I think that will get your best performance.
 


Well actually the least use drive I have will be the 500 gig back up drive. I use the cd/dvd drive constantly, and only back up my system once a month or so. So I was planning on putting the back up drive on the SATA card. Once I get another SSD for the OS, I'll put the current C:drive onto the second port of the SATA card, which will give me three SSD's and the CD/DVD player on the motherboard Sata ports.

The back up drive is currently sitting idle unplugged, while I get the rest of the sytem up to snuff. After I get all the parts this weekend, I'll be permantly installing the 2 SSD drives and back up drive.

So all in all I'll be doubling my memory to 8 gigs and adding two internal SATA ports, installing two SSD drives, and a back up drive. That's plenty for now. I've read that the SATA card I'm getting can only use two of it's ports at one time. Which is plenty for me.
 


Did you have a look where you are going to put the SSDs. Typically there are no extra bays in the Dell boxes. But since the SSDs are light and produce no heat, you can tag them to anything with double face Velcro dots.
 


Yes the SSD's are going to sit freely right on top of the hard drive enclosure. They won't be professionally mounted but will be tied in place with tie wraps on the wiring, so they won't go anywhere. There's no extra drive spaces in the rack so I have to make do with the space that's there. There is one drive space under the CD/DVD player, but I'm saving that for the future SSD for the OS. The future SSD for the OS is a long way off though, as I don't want to alter my current OS as long as it's working perfectly, which it has since day one. But when it comes time to re-install the OS, it'll go onto a SSD.

There's no heat issues with the SSD's, the only thing is wiring. They'll have to go where the wiring will allow. Who knows, maybe I'll put the two SSD's under the CD/DVD player...After I get the power wiring adapter/splitter, I'll see what works best.

Either way there's plenty of room and with the new SATA card and power wire adapter I'll have many options to consider. :)
 


It's not broke, so I'm not going to fix it !!!! I'm very happy with the performance of my OS they way it is. I read your tutorial and it seems complicated to me and out of my range of computer understanding, so I don't feel comfortable changing things. Believe me, if there's a way to mess it up, I will find it.
 


djwayne, I would say that with the lower transfer rate of the DVD drive, it would make less, if any, of an impact on the performance by putting it on the SATA card. Though the other drives may perform better with the onboard SATA controler.

whs, Why not just use a disk cloneing software. That should work with no problem regardless if it is a HDD or SSD.
 


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